This confirms it for me that Chaplin’s shorts just don’t hit as well as his features. In Laughing Gas, he clearly hadn’t found his stride yet with set pieces or the tone of the Tramp character. The tramp was always a very admirable character. In his features he always struck a perfect tone between the sympathetic and the mean. But in this he’s just a violent arsehole with no consequences and for me it just doesn’t work. If Chaplin of 1932 made Laughing Gas he would have made a way more enjoyable film.
This confirms it for me that Chaplin’s shorts just don’t hit as well as his features. In Laughing Gas, he clearly hadn’t found his stride yet with set pieces or the tone of the Tramp character. The tramp was always a very admirable character. In his features he always struck a perfect tone between the sympathetic and the mean. But in this he’s just a violent arsehole with no consequences and for me it just doesn’t work. If Chaplin of 1932 made Laughing Gas he would have made a way more enjoyable film.
