One A.M.

What's everyone's favorite moment from this short? I think it's Charlie's most amazing short and to think it's almost entirely a one man show. Essential it is actually, actually, since the cabbie only appears briefly.

My favorite part is when he has to deal with the pendolum.

I must admit that _1 A.M._ is not at the top of my list of Mutuals, but it's extremely clever. The pendulum is a good gag, involving impressive stunt ability, but the epic battle with the Murphy bed is the part that fascinates me most.

It seems to have roots, by the way, in a vaudeville sketch. A variation of this was done my Melies in 'The Room Where No Man Rests.'

Connie K.

I once had an amazing experience with (the standard version of) ONE A.M.

When I taught a course on Chaplin at the USC Cinema School on the occasion of his centennial, Billy Scudder, the mime who was then 'doing' Charlie on IBM commercials, was visiting instructor for a day.

We built a four-hour meeting around this film. After showing it through once, we then went through it again in small bits with interpolations for Billy to discuss and demonstrate the skills employed to achieve CC's various pantomime effects.

Of course Scudder's outstanding pantomime didn't begin to account for Chaplin's creative conception and structure, but even if only an illustration of performance skills done so well by Charlie that one never sees the wheels turning, Billy's session was really quite humbling.

David Shepard

I always found One AM a fascinating piece of work. It isn't as funny as Easy Street, or as clever as The Pawnshop, but it is a surreal look at Charlie's drunken battle with inanimate objects, and how an expert comedian can create a two-reel film by just using an interior set.

JN

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I used to love the way Atlas would retitle the shorts. I had a one-reeler called Diaper Days and it was the second reel of Easy Street. Where the hell did they get Diaper Days??

JN

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David stated:

Of course Scudder's outstanding pantomime didn't begin to account for Chaplin's creative conception and structure, but even if only an illustration of performance skills done so well by Charlie that one never sees the wheels turning, Billy's session was really quite humbling.

The moment I always look forward to is when the bed falls and the foot of the bed misses impaling Charlie's head by about 2 inches. Also, strangely enough, I love Albert Austin's lobotomized cab driver, and find endless enjoyment in the bizarre 'Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend'-type props that Charlie has filled the house with.

I wish the 'estate' would get their act together and restore the films to their original form. After all, it's certainly the way Charlie WANTED them, or he would have issued the 'b-takes' in the first place!

One A.M. is one of my favorite Chaplin Mutuals for the simple fact that it is so different from all his other work. I think that my favorite part is after he climbs through the window and retrieves the key...he climbs back out again to unlock the door properly. A small gag, but one that gets me everytime! :-D