Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors.
He did do better than 'Dough and Dynamite', still made very early on in his career where he was still finding his feet and not fully formed what he became famous for. Can understand why the Keystone period suffered from not being as best remembered or highly remembered than his later efforts, but they are mainly decent and important in their own right. 'Dough and Dynamite' is a long way from a career high, but has a lot of nice things about it and is to me one of the better efforts in the 1914 Keystone batch.
'Dough and Dynamite' is not as hilarious, charming or touching as his later work and some other shorts in the same period. The story is flimsy and the production values not as audacious. Occasionally, things feel a little scrappy and confused.
For someone who was still relatively new to the film industry and had literally just moved on from their stage background, 'Dough and Dynamite' is not bad at all and there are flashes of his distinctive style.
While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick.
Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later, 'Dough and Dynamite' is humorous, sweet and easy to like. The support is above average, Chester Conklin providing amusing moments. It moves quickly and doesn't feel too long or short.
Overall, pretty decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox
He did do better than 'Dough and Dynamite', still made very early on in his career where he was still finding his feet and not fully formed what he became famous for. Can understand why the Keystone period suffered from not being as best remembered or highly remembered than his later efforts, but they are mainly decent and important in their own right. 'Dough and Dynamite' is a long way from a career high, but has a lot of nice things about it and is to me one of the better efforts in the 1914 Keystone batch.
'Dough and Dynamite' is not as hilarious, charming or touching as his later work and some other shorts in the same period. The story is flimsy and the production values not as audacious. Occasionally, things feel a little scrappy and confused.
For someone who was still relatively new to the film industry and had literally just moved on from their stage background, 'Dough and Dynamite' is not bad at all and there are flashes of his distinctive style.
While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick.
Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later, 'Dough and Dynamite' is humorous, sweet and easy to like. The support is above average, Chester Conklin providing amusing moments. It moves quickly and doesn't feel too long or short.
Overall, pretty decent. 6/10 Bethany Cox