Hinter der Leinwand (Short 1916)

Hinter der Leinwand: Directed by Charles Chaplin. With Eric Campbell, Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Albert Austin. Charlie is an overworked labourer at a film studio who helps a young woman find work even while his coworkers strike against his tyrannical boss.

“Charlie has various misadventures while working in the property department of a movie studio. For some reason, this film turned out to be the last of Chaplinu0026#39;s twelve Mutual shorts that I saw. I really looked forward to seeing it, thinking that Charlie would make the most of the studio location.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSadly, if only because of my sense of anticipation, I was a bit disappointed. I didnu0026#39;t find it as funny as the bulk of the other Mutual shorts. Despite a location rich in potential, I found the funniest moments in this film to be some of the smallest – like Charlie trying to steal bites from Albert Austinu0026#39;s lunch. Still, the film retains interest as a behind the screen view of motion picture production circa 1916. (A superior and more concise view of the world of producing silent films can be found in u0026#39;Singing in the Rainu0026#39; as Gene Kelly walks through a silent studio with the head of the studio.) To me, the most interesting thing about this film is Chaplinu0026#39;s hostile attitude toward the striking union workers. If he had made this film later in his career, the radical unionists might have been the good guys!”