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The Chaplin Craze: Charlie Chaplin and the Emergence of Mass-Amusement Culture

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The Chaplin Craze: Charlie Chaplin and the Emergence of Mass-Amusement Culture THE CHAPLIN CRAZE: CHARLIE CHAPLIN AND THE EMERGENCE OF MASS-AMUSEMENT CULTURE JACK RUNDELL PhD UNIVERSITY OF YORK ENGLISH AND RELATED LITERATURE AUGUST 2014 Abstract This thesis explores the relationship between Charlie Chaplin’s early career and films (1914-1916) and the emergent mass-amusement culture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in America. It combines empirical research into mass- amusement history with close readings of Chaplin’s early films in order to illuminate the close and previously minimally explored relationship between Chaplin’s film- making and popularity on the one hand, and the broader early twentieth-century history of mass-amusement culture on the other. The thesis approaches its subject through the specific phenomenon of amusement ‘crazes’. It takes three selectively illustrative examples – roller skating, popular dance forms and moving pictures – through which to explore the specific debates and controversies these amusements generated and the social and cultural aspirations and concerns that drove them. This cultural-historical research is used to re-read Chaplin films, enabling topical allusions and cultural subtexts to come newly into focus. It also provides the context for a fresh interpretation of Chaplin’s sensational rise to fame in the mid-1910s as a cultural phenomenon symptomatic of a wider landscape of contemporary frenetic and popular crazes. The thesis challenges two principal assumptions that underlie prevailing critical approaches to Chaplin’s early career, unquestioningly grounded, as they are, in the privileged status conventionally ascribed to his later, and better-known feature films. These assumptions are: (1) that Chaplin’s early films are chiefly of interest for the ways in which they teleologically anticipate later developments in his film- making; and (2) that Chaplin’s distinctive qualities and cultural value are always to be understood in qualitative contrast to the dominant imperatives of contemporary slapstick and the larger mass-amusement culture to which slapstick belonged. The thesis questions the accuracy and efficacy of critical approaches based on these assumptions, and argues, instead, for a more symbiotic, mutually dynamising relationship between early Chaplin and his cultural moment and milieu. 2 Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 List of Illustrations 6 Acknowledgements 10 Declaration 11 INTRODUCTION 12 Methodology and Keywords (Mass Culture, Emergence, Modernity) 21 Chaplin and the Transformational Culture of ‘Crazes’ 26 The Field 29 Timeliness 34 Thesis Structure 37 PART I. CHAPLIN AND AMUSEMENT CRAZES 39 CHAPTER 1. CHAPLIN AND THE ROLLER-SKATING CRAZE 40 Cycles of the Craze i) Origins 44 ii) Boom 46 iii) Controversy 50 iv) Decline and Symbolic Legacy 60 Chaplin as Roller Skater 62 i) The Rink and the Roller-Skating Craze 63 ii) Chaplin’s Performance in The Rink 71 iii) From The Rink to Modern Times 74 3 The Chaplin Craze Contents CHAPTER 2. CHAPLIN AND THE DANCE CRAZE 80 Cycles of the Craze i) Origins 85 ii) Boom 88 iii) Controversy 91 Chaplin as Dancer 97 i) Topical Allusions in Tango Tangles, His Prehistoric Romance and Shanghaied 99 ii) Ballroom Dancing in The Count 105 iii) From Caught in a Cabaret to City Lights 113 CHAPTER 3. CHAPLIN AND THE MOVING-PICTURE CRAZE 121 Cycles of the Craze i) Origins 125 ii) Boom 127 iii) Controversy 131 Chaplin as Moviegoer, Studio Hand and Movie Star 135 i) A Film Johnnie and the ‘Nickel Madness’ 137 ii) Movies and Vaudeville: A Film Johnnie and A Night in the Show 142 iii) Chaplin and the Movie Studio: A Film Johnnie, His New Job and Behind the Screen 147 iv) Chaplin Drops the Subject of Movies: From Shorts to Features 151 4 The Chaplin Craze Contents PART II. CHAPLIN AS AMUSEMENT CRAZE 155 CHAPTER 4. SLAPSTICK, CONTROVERSY AND THE CHAPLIN CRAZE 156 Cycles of the Craze i) Origins 156 ii) Boom 158 iii) Controversy 166 Rethinking the Chaplin Craze i) Chaplin and Keystone 187 ii) The Dynamics of Controversy 197 CHAPTER 5. ‘HERE TO-DAY’ (GONE TOMORROW): THE TEMPORALITY OF THE CHAPLIN CRAZE 203 i) Spontaneity in His New Job 207 ii) Serial Novelty in The Pawnshop 218 iii) ‘Awful Chance[s]’ and ‘Terrific Test[s]’: Serial Production at Essanay and Mutual 229 iv) Chaplin’s Temporality and Craze Culture 234 CONCLUSION 239 Bibliography Primary Sources 245 Secondary Sources 260 Filmography 272 5 List of Illustrations 0.1 – 0.2 Stills from The Face on the Barroom Floor (Keystone, 1914) 12 0.3 Google ‘Ngram viewer’ chart showing usage of the word ‘craze’ in Google-digitised books over time 22 1.1 – 1.2 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 35 1.3 – 1.4 Cover image of Charles Chaplin: My Life in Pictures (1972) and still from title sequence of Unknown Chaplin (BBC, 1983) documentary 36 1.5 – 1.6 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 59 1.7 Still from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 60 1.8 – 1.9 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 61 1.10 – 1.11 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 62 1.12 – 1.13 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 63 1.14 – 1.15 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 67 1.16 – 1.17 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 67 1.18 – 1.19 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 68 1.20 – 1.21 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 68 1.22 – 1.23 Stills From Modern Times (United Artists, 1936) 70 1.24 – 1.25 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) and Modern Times (United Artists, 1936) 71 1.26 – 1.27 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) and Modern Times (United Artists, 1936) 72 1.28 – 1.29 Stills from Modern Times (United Artists, 1936) and The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 73 2.1 – 2.2 Stills from In the Park (Essanay, 1915) 75 2.3 – 2.5 Illustration of dance step from Caroline Walker’s instructional guide The Modern Dances: How to Dance Them (1914); still from His Prehistoric Romance (Keystone, 1914); still from The Count (Mutual, 1916) 92 2.6 Comic strip on the subject of ‘the dance craze’ (Kansas City Star, 1914) 95 2.7 – 2.8 Stills from Tango Tangles (Keystone, 1914) 96 6 The Chaplin Craze List of Illustrations 2.9 – 2.10 Stills from Tango Tangles (Keystone, 1914) 96 2.11 – 2.12 Stills from Tango Tangles (Keystone, 1914) 97 2.13 – 2.14 Stills from His Prehistoric Romance (Keystone, 1914) 98 2.15 – 2.16 Stills from Shanghaied (Essanay, 1915) 98 2.17 – 2.18 Stills from Tango Tangles (Keystone, 1914) and The Count (Mutual, 1916) 101 2.19 – 2.20 Stills from Tango Tangles (Keystone, 1914) and The Count (Mutual, 1916) 102 2.21 – 2.23 Stills from The Count (Mutual, 1916) 104 2.24 – 2.25 Stills from The Count (Mutual, 1916) 105 2.26 – 2.31 Stills from The Count (Mutual, 1916) and In the Park (Essanay, 1915) 107 2.32 Still from Caught in a Cabaret (Keystone, 1914) 110 2.33 Still from Caught in a Cabaret (Keystone, 1914) 110 2.34 – 2.35 Stills from Caught in a Cabaret (Keystone, 1914) 111 2.36 – 2.37 Stills from The Rink (Mutual, 1916) 111 2.38 – 2.39 Stills from City Lights (United Artists, 1931) 112 2.40 – 2.42 Stills from Caught in a Cabaret (Keystone, 1914), The Rink (Mutual, 1916) and City Lights (United Artists, 1931) 112 3.1 Google ‘Ngram viewer’ chart showing usage of the phrase ‘moving picture craze’ in Google-digitised books over time 119 3.2 Still from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) 132 3.3 – 3.5 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) 133 3.6 – 3.7 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) 134 3.8 – 3.9 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) 134 3.10 – 3.11 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) 136 3.12 – 3.13 Stills from A Night in the Show (Essanay, 1915) 137 3.14 – 3.15 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) and A Night in the Show (Essanay, 1915) 138 3.16 – 3.17 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) and A Night in the Show (Essanay, 1915) 139 3.18 – 3.19 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) and A Night in the Show (Essanay, 1915) 139 7 The Chaplin Craze List of Illustrations 3.20 – 3.21 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) and A Night in the Show (Essanay, 1915) 139 3.22 – 3.23 Stills from A Night in the Show (Essanay, 1915) 141 3.24 – 3.25 Stills from A Night in the Show (Essanay, 1915) 141 3.26 – 3.27 Stills from A Night in the Show (Essanay, 1915) 142 3.28 Still from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914) 143 3.29 – 3.31 Stills from Behind the Screen (Mutual, 1916) 144 3.32 – 3.33 Stills from Behind the Screen (Mutual, 1916) 144 3.34 – 3.36 Stills from A Film Johnnie (Keystone, 1914), His New Job (Essanay, 1915) and Behind the Screen (Mutual, 1916) 145 4.1 – 4.2 Stills from Mabel’s Strange Predicament (Keystone, 1914) 156 4.3 – 4.4 Stills from His Favorite Pastime (Keystone, 1914) 156 4.5 – 4.7 Stills from Caught in the Rain (Keystone, 1914), Tango Tangles (Keystone, 1914) and The Face on the Barroom Floor (Keystone, 1914) 156 4.8 – 4.9 Stills from Between Showers (Keystone, 1914) 157 4.10 – 4.11 Stills from Between Showers (Keystone, 1914) 158 4.12 – 4.13 Stills from The Fatal Mallet (Keystone, 1914) 158 4.14 – 4.15 Stills from Mabel’s Married Life (Keystone, 1914) 159 4.16 – 4. 17 Trade advertisements for Essanay-Chaplin series (Moving Picture World, 1915) 164 4.18 – 4.
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