Alternate versions of "Pay Day" and "The Kid"

Has anyone seen the "Charlie Chaplin Rarities" DVD? I ordered it from Reel Classic DVD because the description of the disk said that it included an unusual shorter edit of "Pay Day". I ended up doing an A/B comparison of the version on Reel Classic with the reissue/reconstructed version on the Image and MK2 disks. I found that the Reel Classics version uses different takes than the Image/MK2 versions for many sequences in the film. The parts of the film that are from the same take as Image/MK2 are from a different camera and different angle. I found the same with the version of "The Kid" on the Reel Classics DVD. There were also different takes used for certain sequences and the rest is definitely shot from a different camera than the version on the Image/MK2 DVDs. It was really cool to find the differences between the versions that I am so used to watching and these "new" versions.

Does anyone have any knowledge about these versions and the prints that they are sourced from? I also posted this questions to the alt.movies.chaplin group since there was a long discussion of the various prints of "Shoulder Arms" a few years ago.

Hi JCM, welcome to the forum I have heard about the different versions but unfortunately never seen them yet. It is interesting to read your posting about this. Could you describe the different angles a bit or would that be too much 'work'?

Sure, I can describe the differences. In both "The Kid" and "Pay Day", when you compare shots that are from the same take, in the Real Classic DVD version, you can tell either by the background or the position of the actors that the camera was placed differently than the camera that was used for the version on Image/MK2 DVDs. It's subtle in some shots, but in others you can clearly see that there had to be a different placement of the camera because you can see more in the right side or left side of the frame than you see in the other version.

What's really interesting in these is the totally different takes that were used for the versions of both films on the Reel Classic DVD. In "Pay Day", the opening scenes at the worksite are from totally different takes, the scenes with Charlies digging are often different takes, the sequence from the point where Charlie gets paid to the point where he runs into his wife is from different takes, the sequence with the drunks and Charlie catching his cane on the grate is from different takes, and many of the quick closeups throughout are different. In my opinion, the different takes used in the Real Classic DVD are superior to what's in the Image/MK2 versions. "The Kid" also has some different takes: the sequence with the doctor visiting, part of the rooftop chase, the scene where Charlie flirts with the policeman's wife, and several close-up shots throughout the film.