Charlie Shanghaied (1915)
A crooked ship owner plots to sink his own vessel for the insurance money and has Charlie, a tramp sweet on his daughter, shanghaied aboard along with the crew. Charlie overhears the scheme and hurls the dynamite overboard just before it can go off.
Chaplin reportedly rented a real boat, the Vaquero, to give Shanghaied its nautical setting and gag material, staging much of its shipboard slapstick, tilting galley scenes included, against an actual rolling deck rather than a studio set.
Background
Charlie Shanghaied is a 1915 short written and directed by Charlie Chaplin during his years at the Essanay studio in Chicago. Chaplin plays the Tramp, who is shanghaied aboard a ship along with its crew by a crooked owner. The film came out in the year the Tramp persona was taking shape across a run of shorts Chaplin made for Essanay. The ship setting let Chaplin build gags around the cramped quarters, the rolling deck, and the crew’s rough treatment of him, all typical of the slapstick of his period.
What to watch for
The plot is driven by the owner’s plan to scuttle his own ship for the insurance money. Charlie overhears the scheme and throws the dynamite overboard just before it can go off. The comedy depends on the Tramp’s awkward courtship of the owner’s daughter and the crew’s rough handling of him below deck. Watch the galley and deck gags, which use the ship’s tight space for slapstick timing. The late threat of the dynamite gives the short a more suspenseful turn than a simple chase. Chaplin’s physical control of the Tramp, from his shuffling walk to his quick reactions, is the main draw.
