Behind the Screen

For short-lived 1980s soap opera of the same name, see Behind The Screen (TV series).

Behind the Screen
Theatrical poster to Behind the Screen
Directed by	Charles Chaplin Edward Brewer (technical director)
Produced by	Henry P. Caulfield
Written by	Charles Chaplin Vincent Bryan Maverick Terrell
Starring	Charles Chaplin Edna Purviance Eric Campbell
Cinematography	Roland Totheroh George C. Zalibra
Edited by	Charles Chaplin
Distributed by	Mutual Film Corporation
Release dates	November 13, 1916
Running time	23 minutes
Country	USA
Language	Silent film English intertitles

Behind the Screen

Behind the Screen is a 1916 short silent film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and also starring Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance.

Synopsis

The film takes place in a movie studio. A stagehand named David (Chaplin) has a supervisor, Goliath (Campbell). Much of the film is slapstick comedy involving Chaplin manhandling large props, but other plotlines include a strike by the stagehands, and Purviance, who is unable to become an actress, dressing as a man and becoming a stagehand.

Chaplin kissing Purviance in Behind the Screen

References in documentaries

The 1983 documentary series Unknown Chaplin revealed previously unseen footage from this movie, including an alternate take where Purviance's character is shown playing a harp; an outtake in which Edna, playing the guitar, starts laughing (the documentary supports the belief that Purviance and Chaplin were romantically involved at the time); and several takes of a sequence in which Chaplin's character narrowly misses having his feet chopped off by an axe (accomplished by filming the scene backwards) - this sequence was never used in the final film.

The 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet draws attention to the scene where Chaplin's character - after learning that Purviance's character is really a woman - kisses her while on the set; at this point, a male stagehand enters and, thinking that Chaplin has kissed a man, starts acting in an overtly effeminate way until Chaplin kicks him.^[1]

Cast

Charles Chaplin - David (Goliath's assistant)
Edna Purviance - The Girl
Eric Campbell - Goliath (a stagehand)

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.^[2]

References

↑ The Celluloid Closet, DVD documentary (1995); Kenneth S. Lynn, Chaplin: His Life and Times (2003).
↑ SilentComedians entry

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Behind the Screen.

The short film Behind the Screen is available for free download at the Internet Archive
Behind the Screen at the Internet Movie Database

Films directed by Charlie Chaplin

Keystone Studios (1914)	Twenty Minutes of Love Caught in the Rain A Busy Day Her Friend the Bandit Mabel's Married Life Laughing Gas The Face on the Bar Room Floor Recreation The Masquerader His New Profession The Rounders The Property Man The New Janitor Those Love Pangs Dough and Dynamite Gentlemen of Nerve His Musical Career His Trysting Place Getting Acquainted His Prehistoric Past

Essanay Studios (1915)	His New Job A Night Out The Champion In the Park A Jitney Elopement The Tramp By the Sea His Regeneration Work A Woman The Bank Shanghaied A Night in the Show A Burlesque on Carmen Police Triple Trouble

Mutual Film Corp (1916–17)	The Floorwalker The Fireman The Vagabond One A.M. The Count The Pawnshop Behind the Screen The Rink Easy Street The Cure The Immigrant The Adventurer

First National (1918–23)	A Dog's Life The Bond Shoulder Arms Sunnyside A Day's Pleasure The Professor The Kid The Idle Class Pay Day The Pilgrim

United Artists (1923–52)	A Woman of Paris The Gold Rush The Circus City Lights Modern Times The Great Dictator Monsieur Verdoux Limelight

Later productions	A King in New York A Countess from Hong Kong

See also	The Chaplin Revue The Freak

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, January 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.