The Rink, one of Chaplin's most charming early short comedies, starts out with the little tramp working as a waiter, and there is a hilarious short scene where a customer calls him over for his check, and Charlie comes over and writes up the bill based on the food that the guy has spilled all over himself. It seems to me that this was the film that inspired parts of Modern Times, especially the skating and the kitchen scenes. There are some wonderful uses of the IN and OUT doors leading to the kitchen, which do not seem repetitive even after I've seen Modern Times five or six times. One of the most charming scenes in the whole movie is a short piece where Charlie goes behind the bar to mix someone a drink (shaken, not stirred…). It's one of the famous scenes from Chaplin's early career. When Charlie gets off work, he changes back into his famous outfit and heads out to the bus stop. While he is sitting on the bench next to a woman, he pulls off some truly vintage Chaplin behavior that is so spontaneous and so well acted that it makes me think of Chaplin just goofing off in real life. This is what I imagine he was really like a lot of the time.With The Rink, it is easy to see that longer, and more genuine stories are slowly evolving in his early films. It is not a deep story by a long shot, and there is still plenty of high-action physical slapstick comedy, but there is much more here than at most of his previous films.But most of all, the feature skit of the film is the skating scenes in the second half, which are outstanding. It's amazing to me how good Chaplin was on skates, and some of the skits he pulls off here (such as the bouncing up and down on the fat woman) are truly brilliant pieces of slapstick. I have to say that I wish I knew where exactly the film's closing shot was filmed, since it's an outdoor shot and I am always curious to know what parts of Los Angeles are being shown. Excellent show!

Monday September 24, 7:00 pm, The Paramount Theater An inept waiter (Charles Chaplin) visits a roller skating rink on his lunch hour. Posing as Sir Cecil Seltzer C.O.D., he meets a lovely young girl (Edna Purviance) who invites him to her skate party that evening. Inspired by Skating, a Vaudeville routine co-written by his brother Sydney and Fred Karno, The Rink showcased Chaplin's graceful and at times frightening roller-skating abilities. Charlie serves one customer a live cat, is responsible for another receiving a scrub-brush and soap for lunch, and douses the cook (Albert Austin) with the contents of a cocktail shaker. Romantic entanglements begin when Mr. Stout (Eric Campbell) flirts with Edna at the rink, while Mrs. Stout (Henry Bergman) flirts with Edna's father (James T. Kelley) in the café. They end in a wild free-for-all when everyone embarrassingly shows up at the party, and Charlie escapes by hooking his cane to the bumper of a passing car.

I have and always will hold this short film in high regard. I don't recall when I first saw "The Rink", but I remember being taken aback by the graceful eloquence of Chaplin's skating. It has figured prominently in my memory since--especially in playing back the first moment when Chaplin rolls onto the rink. This must be what the French critics were referring to when they compared him to ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinksy. Chaplin skated again in "Modern Times" (1936), but for some reason, perhaps because there's so much more going on in that feature-length film, it hasn't had the same affect on me."The Rink" also reminds me of the earliest film I've seen of Chaplin's comedic forerunner and prominent influence Max Linder. In that very short film, of which no two sources seem to agree on the date or the exact title, Max skated on the ice, or, rather, attempted to skate; the humor supposedly being in the many pratfalls. There are plenty of pratfalls in Chaplin's film, but they're in addition to his elegant movements on the rink floor.In "The Rink", the agile skating makes for a nice contrast to the knockabout slapstick that the film is otherwise. Chaplin, by now, had managed to balance these two contrasting styles, and it makes for a very entertaining short. The direction almost seems intended to point out the differences in the styles; there are, as common then, many jump cuts when Chaplin's causing mayhem at the restaurant, but when he's skating, there are flowing, seamless camera movements. The restaurant gags, for the most part, aren't bad, either. Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell and other regulars aid in the fun, including Henry Bergman in the oft done but still funny drag role.

A well made comedy from Charlie Chaplin has some very good moments. Yet, I can't say I'm a big fan of the grotesque-type supporting players or Chaplin's jerky, knock-around body language. This film works best as a record of the period, but as a piece of entertainment, it's also not too bad.