Trailer—Charlie Shanghaied

Charlie Shanghaied_720p(480P)

source: Charlie Shanghaied

I really enjoyed this Chaplin short. It's by no means his best work but I love it when Charlie is at sea (I'm a sailor), it just cracks me up because I can identify with things like sea sickness and things flying around on a boat. I mostly wanted to write a review to let you know there are several versions of this online, and most are really bad versions. So if you are trying to watch this online and hear ragtime music, that will tell you this is a bad version to watch. Look for the version that has a nautical music track to it and that is the restored version (it is available on an "official" youtube channel). By now we probably all know this but anytime you hear random ragtime music to all of these silent comedies I would look again to see if there is a restored version available with a proper score and restored video, FYI. I'm giving this one a 7 out of 10 because it made me laugh pretty good and some of those stunts looked pretty brutal too!

Plenty of action here as Charlie gets drawn into a nefarious insurance scam plot hatched by a boat's owner. The owner's also determined, however, to keep Charlie away from daughter Edna. Thank goodness all ends well but not after a LOT of high sea hi-jinks! Someone else commented on the dance routine Charlie does in the galley - yes, he could'a been a ballerina! But I too noticed the backwards shuffle that I'd seen before in Modern Times - I saw the later movie first, but here was its first appearance (first that I'm aware of). Lotsa fun; was hard to follow for me a few times but I chalk that up to a so-so video quality or I'd have rated it higher. Plus a couple of Charlie & Edna's kissing scenes got interrupted so I took a few points off for that, too! lol Anyway, I hope to get this on a good DVD copy, the best I can find, because this one IS a "keeper"!

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. From his Essanay period after leaving Keystone, 'Shanghaied' 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 'Shanghaied'. 'Shanghaied' 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 and less more of the same repetition. On the other hand, 'Shanghaied' looks pretty good, not incredible but it was obvious that Chaplin was taking more time with his work (even when deadlines were still tight) and not churning out as many 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, 'Shanghaied' is still very entertaining with some clever, entertaining and well-timed slapstick. It moves quickly and there is no dullness in sight, it's also very charming and sweet without being cloying. 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, notably Billy Armstrong. In conclusion, pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Chaplin edited, wrote, directed, and starred in Shanghaied, a comedy at sea. A shipowner, played by future director Wesley Ruggles, wants to destroy his own ship and its contents at sea in order to receive a huge settlement. Chaplin gets mixed up in recruiting sailors for the ship unaware of the plan. Chaplin gets caught aboard the ship as well, and soon he is forced to work on the ship to make do. Meanwhile, the shipowner's daughter, Edna Purviance, stows away aboard the ship. Chaplin falls for the daughter of course, but not before he endures several hardships at sea working as a dishwasher and cook's helper. The film is quickly paced, again with restrained slapstick in favor of a plot; however, the camera's see-saw effect is hopelessly phony. The camera movement changes speeds at times during these scenes, and the sea is obviously no where near as rough as the camera movement would have us believe. Chaplin has several neat bits of physical movement in this one, and get a load of the shipowner's sideburns! **1/2 of 4 stars.

While the Keystone pictures made Charlie Chaplin a star, the Essanays made him world famous. With such success comes great confidence. Shanghaied is a real confidence picture. If you look at the first series of real gags, when Charlie is hitting his soon-to-be crewmates over the head one after the other, the whole thing is done in a single shot. And it is essentially just the same gag repeated several times. The comedy actually lies in the fact that we know exactly what is going to happen, we just don't know exactly when it will happen and how each man will react. For the final mallet blow, the moment leading up to it is stretched out as long as possible for maximum funniness. To be able to pull off a sequence like this, you need to have faith in your own ability to make people laugh, and this is something Chaplin now had. Aiding and abetting Charlie are the usual rogues' gallery of supporting players. Among the notables here are Leo White, appearing without his usual "Frenchman" get-up, but still very funny, and John Rand as the ship's cook. This was Rand's second picture with Chaplin, and the way he brilliantly plays off the tramp without stealing the scene would earn him a long-term placement in the comic's stock company. In fact throughout this picture, it is the other performers who actually do the most, while Charlie appears as a fairly insignificant figure amongst it all. And yet he always remains centre of attention. For example in the scene where he directs the crane which has inadvertently hooked the rest of the crew, he is orchestrating the chaos. To be able to pull this off again requires not only skill but overriding confidence in that skill. And so, we come to the all important statistic – Number of kicks up the arse: 17(!) (3 for, 9 against and 5 other)

This is another early Chaplin film made for the Essanay Studio, and while it has its moments it certainly isn't one of Chaplin's best. It's difficult to sympathise with his plight when he finds himself shanghaied into service on a boat because he was responsible for most of his equally reluctant shipmates being there as well. More important than this though, is the fact that it just isn't that funny, with too many gags running for far too long and therefore outliving the laughs they originally generate. There's also a curious lapse in spatial awareness when Chaplin is seen to exit left from one room then enter left into the next room. Given Chaplin's reputation for perfection, this might be down to the print I saw being made up of two prints spliced together with one unintentionally reversed. Or maybe I just imagined the whole thing – it was a couple of weeks ago

Charlie Chaplin and his Tramp character gets shanghaied by crooks.This means some harsh work on a ship.This all happens after a shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money.Charlie also happens to be in love with the shipowner's daughter.And she stows away to get to Charlie and gets on board of the ship, that is about to be exploded.Shanghaied (1915), which was shot largely on board of SS Vaquero, was Chaplin's 11th film for Essanay.Alongside Charlie we see who else but the lovely Edna Purviance, who plays Daughter of the Shipowner.Wesley Ruggles plays Shipowner.Bud Jamison is Second Mate, The Other Man.Billy Armstrong is First Shanghaied Seaman, while Paddy McGuire plays the second and Leo White plays the third.John Rand is Ship's Cook.Fred Goodwins is Cabin Boy in Coveralls and Lee Hill is Sailor in Rain Hat.Chaplin does his usual antics and makes people laugh.We see Charlie with a mallet, hitting a bunch of men in the head and therefore they get shanghaied, just like Charlie does a minute later.Charlie tries to serve food during the gale and he becomes seasick.And then Chaplin with the bomb...It's a riot!