Of all the 12 two-reelers that Charlie Chaplin made for Mutual Films, "Easy Street" remains the probably most famous one until today, because of its artistic value, its strong social message, and the charming humor that, as always, lightens up his movies, even if they occupy themselves with such serious subjects as here. It's also been accused by some as being 'over-sentimental', though - alright then, call it that if you like; if you've always lived in a nice, secure, warm home with a loving family, a thorough education and a good job; unlike Charlie, who had lived EXACTLY the slum conditions he depicts here from his earliest childhood on...
We find the little tramp, lonely, cold and hungry, outside a mission; he steps in, follows the service - and is just about to leave with the collection box when he's literally being reformed by the pretty mission worker Edna; he gives back the money, hanging his head in shame, and starts wandering the streets again - when he passes by a police station where a big sign says: 'Policeman wanted at once'... And so he makes his decision: for once, he becomes a cop; what an unusual picture of our little tramp! Anyway, he's told that his beat is 'Easy Street' - BUT it's not at ALL an easy beat, because it's one of the worst slum streets, dominated by the big bad bully Eric Campbell, whose favorite hobby seems to be to make mincemeat out of every policeman that comes near him!
So, as soon as he meets the huge muscle-man, he understands that he hasn't got the ghost of a chance to beat him in any way - EXCEPT by using his brains: he applies the famous trick with the old-fashioned gas street lamp, which he pulls over the bully's head, sending him to sleep and to jail. And now HE is the hero on Easy Street! But of course, in a slum quarter like this, there are endless problems for the good-hearted young cop: starving women, hungry orphans, drug addicts... And since Edna also works for the mission there, they meet again, and he helps her relieving the pain and the poverty of the people - until the Bully escapes from jail, hungry for revenge...
This UNIQUE movie is perhaps the VERY best example of a tragicomic short film ever made: classical slapstick chase scenes almost intertwine with moments of despair, crime, violence - life in the raw, mercilessly realistic and yet at the same time bearing hope and a vision for a better world. THIS is Charlie's message, and it's JUST as current today as it was in 1917...
We find the little tramp, lonely, cold and hungry, outside a mission; he steps in, follows the service - and is just about to leave with the collection box when he's literally being reformed by the pretty mission worker Edna; he gives back the money, hanging his head in shame, and starts wandering the streets again - when he passes by a police station where a big sign says: 'Policeman wanted at once'... And so he makes his decision: for once, he becomes a cop; what an unusual picture of our little tramp! Anyway, he's told that his beat is 'Easy Street' - BUT it's not at ALL an easy beat, because it's one of the worst slum streets, dominated by the big bad bully Eric Campbell, whose favorite hobby seems to be to make mincemeat out of every policeman that comes near him!
So, as soon as he meets the huge muscle-man, he understands that he hasn't got the ghost of a chance to beat him in any way - EXCEPT by using his brains: he applies the famous trick with the old-fashioned gas street lamp, which he pulls over the bully's head, sending him to sleep and to jail. And now HE is the hero on Easy Street! But of course, in a slum quarter like this, there are endless problems for the good-hearted young cop: starving women, hungry orphans, drug addicts... And since Edna also works for the mission there, they meet again, and he helps her relieving the pain and the poverty of the people - until the Bully escapes from jail, hungry for revenge...
This UNIQUE movie is perhaps the VERY best example of a tragicomic short film ever made: classical slapstick chase scenes almost intertwine with moments of despair, crime, violence - life in the raw, mercilessly realistic and yet at the same time bearing hope and a vision for a better world. THIS is Charlie's message, and it's JUST as current today as it was in 1917...