The Rink (Short 1916)

The Rink (Short 1916). 30m | TV-G

“Chaplin was almost always amusing but it occurred to me while watching this story of a waiter who woos a girl at a skating rink that in his earlier films he was more often the perp than the vic.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis was released in 1916 and Chaplin is a rude waiter who humiliates guests and steals money. If a stranger happens to be bending over and fastening a ladyu0026#39;s roller skate, Chaplin canu0026#39;t help giving him a swift kick in the pants when he passes by. Thereu0026#39;s nothing here about u0026quot;the little people.u0026quot; If the tramp is little, itu0026#39;s because thatu0026#39;s his most comfortable social niche.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTen years later, in u0026quot;The Gold Rush,u0026quot; Chaplin had introduced humanity into his character, an innocent who is more sinned against than sinning.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTen years after u0026quot;The Gold Rushu0026quot;, he was sending social messages about worker alienation. (Thatu0026#39;s what happens when your work permits you to take no pride in having done it well. Anyone up for McDonaldu0026#39;s Chicken Nuggets?) But in movies like u0026quot;Modern Times,u0026quot; the milieu is only a peg from which to hang gags that are more hilarious than ever. And movies about poverty in 1936 were hardly uncommon anyway.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe gags here are sometimes spectacular, and always speedy. The tramp could certainly skate well.”