The Idle Class (1921)

d. Charles Chaplin / USA / 31 mins.


The Idle Class is a tale of two fools – one rich, one poor, both played by Charles Chaplin with exacting physical humor. The richer fool is a man with a drinking problem and a neglected wife (Edna Purviance) who has stopped tolerating it. The poorer fool is his standard Tramp, hitching a joyride on a train and ending up at a golf course where he gets into predictably funny trouble. The two fools eventually find themselves crossing paths at the rich wife's costume party.

It's a highly effective short film in terms of its humor, a great example of Chaplin unmistakably firing on all cylinders. Made toward the end of Chaplin's time with First National, per usual Chaplin performs the roles of star, director, writer, producer, editor, and composer. The gags are quite funny, particularly one which I would love to share but would be remiss to spoil. (All I'll say is that it involves some crying and the mixing of a martini.) Drinking is center stage for humor, as are numerous gags involving golf, which I've always found to be the sport most singularly susceptible to jokes and mockery.

The Idle Class circles back to familiar themes for Chaplin: look-a-likes and the disparity between the classes. Many of his films involve characters who pose as someone they are not (The Pilgrim and arguably City Lights) or look so much like another character they are involved in a bit of mistaken identity (Shoulder Arms and The Great Dictator). An equal emphasis is placed upon the utterly foolish ways the rich can behave and the utterly foolish antics that can occur when someone from the lower class is allowed to infiltrate the bourgeoisie (as at least one of his shorts at Mutual Studios shows, too). In either case, the boon goes to the audience, who is able to sit back and let the laughs flow from watching Chaplin perform with the smoothness of a dry martini.