The Fireman (1916 film)
| The Fireman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by |
Charles Chaplin Edward Brewer (technical director) |
| Produced by | Henry P. Caulfield |
| Written by |
Charles Chaplin (scenario) Vincent Bryan (scenario) Maverick Terrell (scenario) |
| Starring |
Charles Chaplin Edna Purviance Lloyd Bacon Eric Campbell |
| Cinematography |
William C. Foster Roland Totheroh |
| Edited by | Charles Chaplin |
| Distributed by | Mutual Film Corporation |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 32 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language |
Silent film English intertitles |
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The Fireman is the second film Charlie Chaplin created for Mutual Film Corporation in 1916. Released on June 12, it starred Chaplin as the fireman and Edna Purviance as the daughter to Lloyd Bacon.
Plot
A young girl's father (Bacon) arranges with the local fire chief (Campbell) to have his house burn down so he could collect on the insurance money, in exchange he propose to the fire chief to marry his daughter.
However, a real fire breaks out elsewhere in the town. The firemen ignore an inhabitant of the burning building as he tries to alert them to the fire, first by activating the fire alarm, then by phoning the fire station, and then by going to the fire station in person. Eventually, a fireman (Chaplin), alerts the fire chief and the fire company goes to put out the fire.
Meanwhile the father set up a fire in the basement of his own house before realizing that his daughter is still inside in the upper floor. The fireman (Chaplin) who is in love with the daughter abandons the first house in fire to rush and heroically climbs the outside of the building to save her.
Production background
The film shows some early morning street scenes in the surrounding Los Angeles area.
The film makes use of reversing the film several times for comic effect: sliding up the fireman's pole, reversing the horses, hurrying back to station (in reverse) when he forgets the crew etc. The huge water tank in the station also comically has a second function as the coffee machine. A lot of the kicking in the film is clearly unfaked and fairly violent.
Cast
- Charles Chaplin as Fireman
- Edna Purviance as Girl
- Lloyd Bacon as Her Father
- Eric Campbell as Foreman of the Brigade
- Leo White as Owner of Burning House
- Albert Austin as Fireman
- John Rand as Fireman
- James T. Kelley as Fireman
- Frank J. Coleman as Fireman
Sound version
In 1932, Amedee Van Beuren of Van Beuren Studios, purchased Chaplin's Mutual comedies for $10,000 each, added music by Gene Rodemich and Winston Sharples and sound effects, and re-released them through RKO Radio Pictures. Chaplin had no legal recourse to stop the RKO release.[1]
See also
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Fireman (1916 film). |
- The short film The Fireman is available for free download at the Internet Archive
- The Fireman at the Internet Movie Database
- The Fireman (1916) on YouTube