A BURLESQUE ON CARMEN (1916) (reconstruction) - Charlie Chaplin

Let me begin by saying, this is NOT the director’s cut! Only Mr Chaplin could do that. This version is an attempt to use every scrap of footage I could find (and believe me, there’s some VERY scrappy footage to behold!) Four different prints were used and the quality varies tremendously. If you find that to be annoying, I’m sorry. It was made with love. Enjoy! Extra info / ramblings / technical notes for you if you like to read this stuff: My understanding of the Chaplin Carmen saga is, the prints that exist are primarily the version that Essanay released in April 1916 and consist of 4 reels (ish), some of which is newly shot footage made after Chaplin’s departure. Goodness knows what Essanay did with their scissors to the original Chaplin version! In fact, if you watch the current “2 reel” version there are some horrendous huge continuity jumps, which I can’t believe Chaplin would have wanted, or indeed filmed or planned for. I can only think that the prints have been re-cut and / or got damaged over the years. I’ve utilised four different prints. Apologies for the unavoidable changes of quality from time to time, but there were some significant chunks of footage missing from the “master” version. There are also a few very short (a few frames worth) reinsertions. I know these can be annoying but I only did this where some significant footage was missing e.g. Edna mouthing “Don Jose” / a Chaplin grimace or glance at the camera, etc. With regard to the inter-titles, the “official 2 reel” version currently available has troubled me. For example, the inter-titles have simply been copied, word for word, from the original 1915 Cecil B DeMIlle version! Hmmmm. I don’t think Mr Chaplin would have done that! Incidentally, I strongly recommend you watch that Cecil B DeMille version, to fully appreciate the Chaplin burlesque. It makes it much funnier. Anyway, for this edition, the inter-titles from each of the four versions were compared (they were ALL different) and were then selected and only inserted if they seemed to help with telling the story and/or be appropriate. The music track for this version was taken from one of the four editions - a splicey 50s re-release version I found on You Tube, which I removed the Spanish narration from and then shuffled the music cues around a bit to help it along. And finally thanks go to Glenn Mitchell for his encouragement. There were times when I wished I hadn’t started it! The End. Phew.