PAY DAY (First National, 1922), produced, written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, is one of the all time great silent comedy shorts, and one of Chaplin's most infamous. Though Chaplin sports his signature oversize trousers, derby and twirling cane, he doesn't play the traditional vagabond tramp but a working man with a domineering spouse (Phyllis Allen) after his weekly pay check. There's not much of a story to it, but in true Chaplin essence, enough gags to guarantee 22 minutes of non-stop laughter.The story introduces Charlie as a day laborer arriving late for work, close enough to lunch time. Moments after being caught sneaking in, Charlie appeases his foreman (Mack Swain) with a white lily, which doesn't impress him very much. As Charlie slowly digs a ditch, he quickly lays the bricks at a very high speed. During a lunch break, the foreman's daughter (Edna Purviance) arrives with a boxed lunch she prepared to eat with her father. Charlie's attempt to flirt with the young lady proves as unsuccessful as trying to convince the foreman on pay day that he's underpaid for his overtime. After short changing his "First National Bank" wife (Phyllis Allen) who's come to collect her husband's money, Charlie sneaks off with some take home money for an evening on the town, followed by a series of all night misadventures for the working man. Other members of the Chaplin stock players include Henry Bergman, Sydney Chaplin, Allan Garcia, John Rand and Loyal Underwood.For Chaplin's rare venture in both the work force and domestic situations, it's hard to forget his brick laying sequence; his acquiring of food during the lunch break; disturbing the peace while singing "Sweet Adeline" with a group of drunks; and his many attempts trying to get onto various overcrowded streetcars. Even minor scenes involving cats on the kitchen table and a glimpse of the awaiting Mrs. Chaplin sound asleep while holding onto a rolling pin for her husband shows there's not a single frame wasted in PAY DAY. Everything about PAY DAY works. Everything in it is timed to perfection. As the "THE END" title hits the screen, it makes one wish for more or to know that there's even a possible sequel involving the further misadventures of husband Charlie, the working man. Though Chaplin never produced a sequel of any kind since sequels rarely compare to the originals, as original and creative as Chaplin is, more great comedies for which he starred and directed (CITY LIGHTS, MODERN TIMES) were ahead of him. PAY DAY and others like it are just perfect examples of Chaplin's proper care and perfection to what he can do to get laughs.Unlike most of Chaplin's earlier comedy shorts made during 1914-1917, PAY DAY, along with others produced during his First National Pictures period (1919-23), were those with limited or no reissues. In fact, hardly any Chaplin's comedies from 1918-1923 were ever televised until many years after Chaplin's 1977 death. Before being readily available to home video on the centennial of Chaplin's birth (1989), those long unseen Chaplin shorts and feature length films were restored and accompanied by newly composed scores conducted by Chaplin himself. For the 1989 VHS copy of Chaplin's PAY DAY, it was preceded by his 1925 masterpiece, THE GOLD RUSH. The disadvantage of that issue is that THE GOLD RUSH was not an original print but one taken from the edited 1942 reissue with Chaplin's voice over narration in place of title cards. Fortunately the complete version of THE GOLD RUSH still exists as does PAY DAY, which turns up occasionally on Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: March 17, 2004). For such a job well done, Chaplin's next pay day is a well deserved raise in salary. (****)

Altogether amazing little short with the comic at his best as a brick layer who is late on the job and presents a flower to his monstrous boss (MACK SWAIN). Swain looks so much like Billy Gilbert that I thought that's who it was at first. Swain orders him immediately to work and the fun starts.A particularly amusing lunch hour sequence is full of sight gags requiring perfect timing. Charlie gets paid, then has to deal with an overbearing wife who sleeps with a rolling pin in her arms, ready to pounce on him when he doesn't come home from work on time. Instead, he's at the local pub having a night out with the other workers.The pub sequence leads to other amusing sight gags as he and a fellow worker struggle to get out of the rain and onto a streetcar.No wonder Chaplin considers this one his favorite silent short. Again, Edna Purviance has little to do but it hardly matters. It's Chaplin's limelight and that's all audiences wanted.All of the stunts are exhibited in perfect timing and are the mark of genius.

Given that this was Chaplin's last ever movie short, he couldn't have ended this stage of his career on better from, as this movie is a triumph in every way and is widely regarded as one of Chaplin's best, (a view shared by Chaplin himself who, in his twilight years, named Pay Day as the favourite of all his short films made between 1914 and 1922.I find that when reviewing shorts such as this,it's most important that you don't rattle on longer than the movie itself, so I'll make this as brief as I can.Chaplin plays a labourer on a building sight who after an hilarious day on the job, gets paid , gives his rolling pin wielding wife the slip and goes for a night on the town.Sweet Edna Purviance plays the foreman's daughter and gives another one of her adorable performances, but it's such a shame that she's not given more to do.I cannot end the review without mention to the brilliant, yet simple, brick throwing scene, where it appears that the workers on the ground are chucking bricks up to Charlie on the scaffold, where he is gracefully catching them and stocking them for use. We all know that the film is being run backwards, but in 1922, this scene must have had the convulsed audience throwing their pop corn all over the theatre such was it's originality, as that was my very reaction when I first saw the sequence.My other favourite moment is just after Charlie and his drinking buddies leave the saloon, (or speakeasy as it must have been, as the movie was actually made during prohibition). When putting on his overcoat, Charlie puts his right arm in his own coat, put manages to find his left arm in the right arm sleeve of the coat belonging to the gentleman standing behind him and proceeds to get dragged down the street while the other man remains completely ignorant of his new Charlie papoose.I have seen about 40 of all the 50 Chaplin shorts made, and can say with confidence that with the exception of perhaps 'One AM'(1916) and 'Shoulder Arms' (1918), none of them even come close to Pay Day.Enjoy!

This is an excellent testament to Chaplin's comedic genius. By 1921, he was coming into his own as the best filmmaker of the time, but full-length features were still a thing of the future. Because he only felt the need to make a 28 minute film, which left out a solid plot, and love interest. In this case, that's a good thing, because it leaves just a bunch of solid, extremely funny, comic situation. The music in Pay Day is excellent. Some scenes to note are Chaplin catching, and piling up the bricks, trying to catch the trolley, and trying to dig his hole...