''His New Job'' is a 1915 American short silent

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

written by, directed by, and starring

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...

Gloria Swanson Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...

appears as an uncredited extra. The title is an inside reference to this being Chaplin's first film after leaving

Keystone Studios Keystone Studios was an early film studio founded in Edendale, California (which is now a part of Echo Park) on July 4, 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by Mack Sennett with backing from actor-writer Adam Kessel (1866–1946) and Charl ...

for

Essanay Studios The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushma ...

. It was also the only film Chaplin shot at Essanay's Chicago studio. He found the facilities and climate (''His New Job'' was shot in mid-winter) not to his liking, and Chaplin soon relocated back to California.

Synopsis

Charlie sits in an audition queue for Lodestone Motion Picture Co. The girl next to him is interviewed first and gets a contract immediately. A strange looking man enters and jumps the queue for the next interview. A further man enters and they fight over who is next. Charlie twice walks onto set while they are filming. The director sends him to work with the carpenter. In the props store he becomes obsessed by a classical female statue. When one of the actors playing a Prussian officer in full uniform is fired, Charlie is asked to replace the actor. Charlie dons a somewhat less elegant uniform and is on his way to the set when he is distracted by the carpenter playing dice. They start gambling. When he finally gets to act, he ruins his scene, accidentally destroys the set, and uses the skirt of the star of the movie to wipe his face.

Notes

The movie's title, His New Job, had a subtle second meaning, as it was Chaplin's first film for Essanay after his contract with Keystone Studios expired at the end of 1914. The use of the name "Lockstone" for the silent film studio was an obvious humorous jab by Chaplin directed at Keystone. The movie was filmed at Essanay's Chicago studio in the dead of winter in January 1915. Chaplin found the city's frigid weather so objectionable that he quickly relocated his operations to balmy southern California. This was the first Chaplin film to be photographed by Rollie Totheroh who began a remarkable 40-year working association with Chaplin. A young Gloria Swanson—she was not quite 16 years old—appears in the background as a stenographer. She received no screen credit for this part.

Cast

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consid ...

- Film Extra *

Ben Turpin Bernard "Ben" Turpin (September 19, 1869 – July 1, 1940) was an American comedian and actor, best remembered for his work in silent films. His trademarks were his cross-eyed appearance and adeptness at vigorous physical comedy. Turpin wo ...

- His squint rival *

Charlotte Mineau Charlotte Mineau (March 24, 1886 – October 12, 1979) was a tall and thin American film actress of the silent era appearing in 65 to 80 films. Biography Mineau appeared in 65 films between 1913 and 1931. She supported Charlie Chaplin on nu ...

- The Leading Lady (the Filmstar) * Tom Nelson - as the Star *

Leo White Leo White (November 10, 1882 – September 20, 1948), Leo Weiss, was a German-born British-American film and stage actor who appeared as a character actor in many Charlie Chaplin films. Biography Born in Germany, White grew up in England where ...

- Actor,

Hussar A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...

Officer / Studio Clerque *

Robert Bolder Robert Bolder (20 July 1859 – 10 December 1937) was an English film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1912 and 1936. He was born in London and died in Los Angeles, California. In the early part of the 20th ...

- Studio President * Charles J. Stine - Director * Arthur W. Bates - Carpenter *

Jess Robbins Jess Robbins (April 30, 1886 – March 11, 1973) was an American film director, writer and producer. He directed more than 70 films between 1913 and 1927. He was the first director to direct Laurel and Hardy in the same motion picture, name ...

- Cameraman *

Agnes Ayres Agnes Ayres (born Agnes Henkel; April 4, 1896 – December 25, 1940) was an American actress who rose to fame during the silent film era. She was known for her role as Lady Diana Mayo in '' The Sheik'' opposite Rudolph Valentino. Career Ayres b ...

- Extra, Secretary (uncredited) *

- Extra, Stenographer (uncredited) * Billy Armstrong - Film Extra (uncredited)

Review

A reviewer for the motion picture trade publication Biograph glowingly wrote, "There is probably no film comedian in the world more popular with the average picture theater audience than that famous fun-maker Charles Chaplin, whose services have recently been secured by the Essanay Company. The art of Charles Chaplin defies analysis and disarms the critic. Just why he is so funny, it is almost impossible to say, and very probably he could not tell you himself. He possesses a naturally comic personality and its humor is accentuated by the originality of the innumerable bits of 'business,' with which his work is so profoundly interspersed. Scarcely a moment passes while he is on the screen, but he is up to some wild piece of mischief or committing some ludicrous folly."

Preservation status

A print of the film is preserved at the

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

and is now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

References

External links

* * {{Charlie Chaplin filmography 1915 films 1915 comedy films Silent American comedy films American silent short films American black-and-white films Essanay Studios films Films about filmmaking Short films directed by Charlie Chaplin Films shot in Chicago Articles containing video clips 1915 short films American comedy short films 1910s American films