User Reviews

This is one of 5 Chaplin that are on the first DVD of Chaplin's Essanay Comedies. In general, compared to volume 2, the shorts on volume 1 aren't as well-made--because the DVDs are arranged chronologically. Chaplin's skill as a film maker and actor appeared to improve through his stay with Essanay Studios.

This short is not particularly memorable in some ways, as there is a very strong reliance on slapstick and very little regard to the development of the plot--something that would change as he made more and more shorts that became more and more plot-driven.

Charlie gets a job working at Lodstone Studios in the short. He is a carpenter but is able to insinuate himself into the films by posing as an actor. The biggest positive of this film is that it gives some insight into the film making process at the time. Other than that, there's little of an great significance to this film.

One of Charlie Chaplin's many comedic talents was a sly satirical steak. In naming his first short for Essanay studios "His New Job", Chaplin was having a subtle dig at his previous contract holders, Keystone. Many of Chaplin's Keystone pictures had been assigned titles like "His Recreation", "His Musical Career", "His Prehistoric Past" and so forth. "His New Job" is thus a big raspberry at Keystone and its naming system, and was of course the last "His…" title of Chaplin's career.

As he would in many of his Essanay shorts, Charlie emerges from the back of the set, before plodding his way into the foreground. Whereas most of the Keystone pictures were silly through and through – ridiculous situations, ridiculous characters – Chaplin's tack at Essanay is to begin with a normal setting, populated largely with serious characters (although there are one or two silly ones for him to play off) and then to have the tramp emerging from the background to create chaos within that environment. Most of the gags come from messing with the conventions of the setting, using and abusing its props, and pricking the pomposity of those serious characters. It all equals bigger laughs than, say, everybody accidentally walking off with each others wives then hitting each other over the head with mallets.

You can see how Chaplin's style as a director has developed since his earliest Keystone pictures as well. Chaplin's method is entirely based around one principle – that he is centre of attention. Even when he is not foreground and centre-screen, he still frames himself neatly to draw attention, like for example in the shot when the leading lady has come to sign her contract. Charlie has become a marginalized figure in the background, but he can still be fully seen and our eye is drawn to him. Another hallmark of Chaplin's style is these very long takes (as oppose to the frequent editing back and forth in Keystone pictures not directed by Chaplin), which allow him to draw out his comedy business and build up a series of gags. His New Job still features a lot of the Keystone-ish two-shot gags where someone is thrown or pushed off the screen, cutting to another shot of them falling over a few feet away.

Although he no longer had the collaboration of Mack Swain, Fatty Arbuckle or Mabel Normand, Chaplin was starting to put together his own team of regular supporting players. Most notable here is of course Ben Turpin, playing Charlie's rival. Turpin moves and pratfalls like a comedy star, and Chaplin would soon ditch him for being too good. Also worth noting are Charlotte Mineau, who went on to star in about a dozen Chaplin shorts, usually as a slightly older woman in whom Charlie has no interest, and Leo White, one of the funniest and littlest-known of Chaplin's character actors.

And there is another very important element here, one that would eventually be integral to Chaplin's later work – the mixing of comedy with poignancy. Towards the end of His New Job, the tramp plays a scene in which he begs the leading lady not to leave him. It is shot and acted exactly as if it were the finale of a romantic drama… right up until the point where Charlie blows his nose and wipes his eyes on the hem of her skirt. While it's only a little moment and has very little to do with the overall picture, it indicates a very important principle in Chaplin's style – that poignancy can enhance comedy and vice versa.

And finally, the all-important statistic –

Number of kicks up the arse: 4 (3 for, 1 against)

This fairly routine farce from Chaplin sees his tramp character apply for a job as a film extra with a talent agency, then subsequently cause havoc on the set. Throughout the film he has a running battle with cross-eyed foe Ben Turpin, who provided a foil Chaplin on a number of occasions during Chaplin's time at Essanay. The slapstick is mostly of the spitefully violent type so often provided by the tramp in his earlier incarnations. Odd, really, how lovable this character was considered when, in nine times out of ten, he initiated violent confrontations with unprovoked attacks on others. This is passable entertainment but is not one of Chaplin's best, and is noticeable only for the glimpse it gives us of the early days of film-making.

Besides being pretty good in itself, "His New Job" is also interesting in that it is a clear improvement over the previous features that Charlie Chaplin had made when he was with Keystone Studies. While the Keystone features were not bad, and often contained some excellent material, overall they generally gave the appearance of having been thrown together quickly, which often left a lot of unrealized potential in some of their ideas and themes. And, while these Essanay features themselves were usually not quite as good as his later Mutual features, they did give Chaplin a chance to perform quite a few kinds of material, and most of them are well worth seeing.

In this one, Charlie's character is competing with some other hopefuls who are trying to break into the movies. Ben Turpin and Charlie have quite a few scenes together, and although their scenes are primarily knockabout slapstick, they do work well as a team. The action takes place in several settings, and on average it is fairly creative in its use of the settings and props. Most of the gags come off all right, and overall the feature works pretty well.

Charlie Chaplin's first movie with Essanay (hence the title) casts him as a guy attempting to get a break in a movie, only to repeatedly make a mess of the production. There's plenty of funny gags, as is often the case in these relics of early cinema. The plot isn't the most complex, since Chaplin hadn't fully ironed out his style. A notable thing about the movie is that it features a young Gloria Swanson, years before her role as a certain big star amid small pictures.* It's not a great movie, but as far as I'm concerned, any Chaplin movie is a good one. You'll probably like "His New Job".

*Swanson later testified on behalf of John Lennon when he was trying to gain US citizenship.

As soon as he signed on to a lucrative one-year contract with Essanay Studios late 1914, Charlie Chaplin traveled at once from the warmth of Southern California's Keystone Studios to his new digs in Chicago, where Essanay had its headquarters. Not only was the money better at Essanay, but the studio gave the young comedian more freedom and time for teh development of his movies.

Chaplin's first scenario he wrote and directed for Essanay was January 1915's "His New Job," a fictional embellishment paralleling his new position at Essanay. The opening scene shows Chaplin going into the film production studio office to interview for a job. Seen in her first movie role as an office secretary is 15-year-old Gloria Swanson, soon to be a huge film star. Also, in one of only a handful of movies he's teamed up with Chaplin during his Essanay days is janitor-turned-main comic for the studio, Benny Turpin. And new to Chaplin was his name appearing for the first time in the opening credits. Since Keystone kept his entire tramp wardrobe, Chaplin personally was force to shop around Chicago to buy duplicate clothing.

A rewarding start for Chaplin's year with Essanay.

How appropriate that after leaving The Keystone Studios Charles Chaplin's first picture with the Essanay Studios was titled 'His New Job'. Although, new job in the new studio where Chaplin was allowed more creative freedom, this movie is nothing spectacular. The plot is quite loose and Chaplin uses all his old tricks he became known in the Keystone pictures. Chaplin's Tramp is still quite far from the loveable fella whom the world learned to admire. For me, the other silent comedy giant, Ben Turpin, managed to steal the whole show from Chaplin in this one. The fictional movie company in the movie was named Lockstone, an obvious jab at The Keystone. Not quite the riot fun like the poster promises neither it's very memorable but entertaining movie nonetheless. This movie is the first where Charles Chaplin starts to shine as a director.

Gloria Swanson also makes a screen appearance - the girl Chaplin is having a conversation with at the beginning of the movie.

There is something uniquely charming about the short comedies that Chaplin made that poke fun at his art form or that show us a little bit of the mechanics of how these movies are made. The most notable example other than His New Job is the charming and fun Behind the Screen, although this film is a lot of fun, too.

It starts out in the waiting room, apparently for the opportunity to interview for a job as a film extra. He immediately begins flirting with a woman in the room, and soon does the old hat gag where someone demands that he take it off but he keeps putting it back on, finally doing that cute trick where he flips it up in the air. I feel like I've seen him do that in at least four or five films, although I have to say that he does it best in The Immigrant.

It seems that the characterization is getting pretty developed by this point, and that the little tramp has earned a good following of fans who want to see him in each new Chaplin film. There is less and less effort put into giving him a role in each film, he generally just comes out and plays himself.

There are lots of traditional Chaplin antics in the waiting room as he competes for the film extra position, although when he finally gets into the interview room and blows into that earpiece, it might be the first time I've literally laughed out loud at one of these short comedies in quite a while.

Charlie is dressed as a soldier for his part in the film within the film, although as is to be expected, things soon go wrong and his lack of acting talent becomes abundantly clear. I always find it a little amusing when actors play roles in which, at some point, they lament the fact that they have no acting talent.

But my favorite part of the film is that it shows us behind the scenes, what some of the film sets looked like back in 1915. I always find it fascinating when I catch a glimpse of something real in these old movies, even if it's something tiny, like wafting smoke or the unintentional movement of curtains or a throw rug. It is endlessly fascinating to me to imagine what it was like to really be there, what the set looked like to the naked eye, in real life and in color.

Here, we are treated to some shots of the inside of the soundstage, which I guess is the next best thing. Generally, the movie is clever and fun, but other than some interesting behind the scenes shots there's really nothing new here. The ending is even a little violent, but this is still one of the more fun of Chaplin's earliest work.

Charlie Chaplin responds to open auditions at Lodestone Studios. Rival Ben Turpin arrives at the same studio, obviously another unemployed comedian! Turpin tries to horn in on Chaplin's action after the studio head hollers, "Next!" Chaplin manages to walk in over Turpin, however. Charlie amusingly manages to botch jobs as an actor and carpenter. In the end, he manages to get a big break, but will a star be born?

There are a lot of jokes involving the buttocks. The initial scene involving slapstick from Chaplin and Turpin is a relative highlight. Note that Gloria Swanson is the typist in the far background left on your screen, in the film's opening. Agnes Ayres also appears.

*** His New Job (2/1/15) Charles Chaplin ~ Charlie Chaplin, Ben Turpin, Charlotte Mineau

Charlie Chaplin turns up for an interview at the "Lockstone" film studios (they've even got a water cooler!) - desperate for a job... He'll do anything, which is just as well because every task he his assigned by the director he manages to cock up. It's funny for about ten minutes, the timing and precision seems effortless but, despite the introduction of a few new foils for his humour (the leading lady, leading man and a poor old chippie just trying to get the sets built) it gets quite predictably repetitive pretty soon. There are only so many times you can get away with poking someone with a sword, or a stick; or hitting them on the head with a plank - before the performance becomes, well, routine. It shows off the acrobatic talents of the star well, too - but again, as with slapstick in general for me, has no subtlety to keep the humour crisp and fresh.

Another great comedy from Charles Chaplin! This time Charlie plays Film Extra.He tries to get a job in a movie and, after causing a lot of trouble he is told to help the carpenter.But eventually Charlie gets his chance, when an actor doesn't show.Now he gets to act, but first he enters a dice game.And when he finally does act, it means a disaster.His New Job (1915) was Chaplin's first picture for the Essanay studios after Keystone.And he started getting more recognition.Charlotte Mineau does the female lead in this movie, playing Film Star.In the next one (A Night Out) Edna Purviance made her first appearance and was Chaplin's leading lady in many pictures to come.Also the great cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin is in this movie playing Film Extra, in Anteroom.He had his big break with the help of Chaplin, even though Ben didn't like being under his direction.Leo White plays Actor, Hussar Officer.Robert Bolder is Studio President.Billy Armstrong is Extra.And the big diva, Gloria Swanson is in a small role playing Extra, Stenographer.A lot happens in this movie.We see Chaplin with Ben Turpin desperately fighting on the door, both wanting to see the studio president.And the touching love scene in the movie they're making, and he tears the skirt of the star.And the whole set is in danger when Charlie gets going.That was the genius of Chaplin.He could include so many funny gags in such a short time.

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.

The first effort from his Essanay period after leaving Keystone, 'His New Job' is not one of his very best or even among the best of this particular period. It shows a noticeable step up in quality though from his Keystone period, where he was still evolving and in the infancy of his long career, from 1914, The Essanay period is something of Chaplin's adolescence period where his style had been found and starting to settle. Something that can be seen in the more than worthwhile 'His New Job'.

'His New Job' is not one of his all-time funniest or most memorable, other efforts also have more pathos and a balance of that and the comedy. The story is still a little flimsy, there are times where it struggles to sustain the short length, and could have had more variety.

On the other hand, 'His New Job' looks pretty good, not incredible but it was obvious that Chaplin was taking more time with his work and not churning out countless shorts in the same year of very variable success like he did with Keystone. Appreciate the importance of his Keystone period and there is some good stuff he did there, but the more mature and careful quality seen here and later on is obvious.

While not one of his funniest or original, 'His New Job' is still very entertaining with some clever, entertaining and well-timed slapstick and a sly satirical element. It moves quickly and there is no dullness in sight.

Chaplin directs more than competently, if not quite cinematic genius standard yet. He also, as usual, gives an amusing and expressive performance and at clear ease with the physicality of the role. The supporting cast acquit themselves well, including a cameo from Gloria Swanson.

In summary, well worth your time if not a Chaplin classic. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I love Chaplin´s short film they are really timeless(most of them). This short film is hilarious funny.It´s about the studio system. Chaplin is fantastic funny.4/5

Film " His New Job " was Chaplin's created on a film studio "Essanay" the first film where it has received almost full creative freedom after success Keystone's of comedies where it strongly depend from Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand. Chaplin's art becomes independent, rather distinct from other Hollywood production of those years.

"His New Job " - the first film in which Small the Tramp finds a human face and own destiny is a wanderer, the jobless, unfortunate person, all shifts trying to find work. And it receives it on a film studio where it should suffer mockeries of the director, the partner, to be at war with the personnel and other actors. Certainly, all this is still very far from the present satire and from the best Chaplin's tragicomedies.It still the comedy of tricks full of hilarious fights, jumps, gestures. A comedy using only miracles of a pantomime in which Chaplin already then has reached improbable heights. Chaplin's laughter meanwhile cheerful and carefree - final stages, stages of fight where Chaplin wins all and everything, brightly speak about it, but the first steps by " New times " have been already made.

Faultlessly made comedy of tricks and now can deliver a lot of pleasure and laughter as till now was not in world cinema of the image, able will be compared to image of the Tramp on capacity, dimensions, vitality...