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The Cure

Big mutual 0021
Year :
1917
Cast :
Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Henry Bergman, Albert Austin, John Rand, James T. Kelly, Frank J. Coleman, Leota Bryan, Tom Wood, Janet Miller Sully, Loyal Underwood, William Gillespie
Production :
Mutual
Description :
The Cure, the tenth film in the series, is perhaps the funniest of the Mutuals. It was partly inspired in its setting by the Fred Karno sketch, The Hydro, which was set in a hydrotherapy clinic. Further inspiration for the film was drawn from the Los Angeles Athletic Club, where Chaplin was living at the time and where the idea of a health spa first occurred to him. The wrestling bouts in the gymnasium of the Athletic Club caught his imagination and inspired the scene in the film in which Charlie wrestles the masseur. Completion of the film was again delayed because of Chaplin’s quest for perfection. Outtakes survive showing that the film began quite differently, with Charlie intending to play a bellman and later a spa attendant in a health resort before finalizing on the inebriate character. Production was further delayed when Chaplin caught a chill after filming some of the water scenes. Chaplin’s use of dance in The Cure is also notable. There is a delightful scene in the changing room where Charlie assumes several poses in his swimsuit as the curtains open and close before he dances along to the pool. The scene was inspired by the tableaux vivants, a popular feature of many British music-hall programs. Text by Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) © 2009 Roy Export SAS
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