Behind the Screen

Behind the Screen is a 1916 short silent film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and also starring Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance.



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[hide]  *1 Synopsis  ==Synopsis[ edit] == The film takes place in a movie studio. A stagehand named David (Chaplin) has a supervisor, Goliath (Campbell). Much of the film is slapstick comedy involving Chaplin manhandling large props, but other plotlines include a strike by the stagehands, and Purviance, who is unable to become an actress, dressing as a man and becoming a stagehand. Chaplin kissing Purviance inBehind the Screen==Mention in The Celluloid Closet and Unknown Chaplin[ edit] == The film is significant to the history of homosexuality in the cinema, as it contains a joke about the subject, which was relatively unusual at the time. After Chaplin learns that Purviance is really a woman, he kisses her while on the set; at this point, a male stagehand enters and, thinking that Chaplin has kissed a man, starts acting in an overtly effeminate way until Chaplin kicks him.[1]
 * 2 Mention in The Celluloid Closet and Unknown Chaplin
 * 3 Cast
 * 4 Sound version
 * 5 See also
 * 6 Media
 * 7 References
 * 8 External links

The documentary series Unknown Chaplin revealed previously unseen footage from this movie, including an alternate take where Purviance's character is shown playing a harp, an outtake in which Edna, playing the guitar, starts laughing (the documentary supports the belief that Purviance and Chaplin were romantically involved at the time), and several takes of a scene in which Chaplin's character narrowly misses having his feet chopped off by an axe (accomplished by filming the scene backwards) -- this scene was never used in the final film. ==Cast[ edit] == ==Sound version<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:17.9200000762939px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14.3999996185303px;">In 1932, Amedee Van Beuren of Van Beuren Studios, purchased Chaplin's Mutual comedies for $10,000 each, added music by Gene Rodemich and Winston Sharplesand sound effects, and re-released them through RKO Radio Pictures. Chaplin had no legal recourse to stop the RKO release.
 * Charles Chaplin - David (Goliath's assistant)
 * Edna Purviance - The Girl
 * Eric Campbell - Goliath (a stagehand)