The Chaplin Revue

The original, unrestored, versions of the three films are spread out on disc one and two. The 'original' version of The Pilgrim, however, still features the Fifties Matt Monroe soundtrack. Also included are four more short films by Chaplin – Sunnyside, A Day's Pleasure, Pay Day and The Idle Class - an introduction by David Robinson and a stills gallery.

The central character in Sunnyside is a farm worker, but for all intents and purposes it's Chaplin's patented little tramp character. Chaplin wonders around with a herding stick similar to the tramp's cane, and the same doleful, yet innocent, expression is employed to ward off any aggressors. The short mines the same social commentary as later film The Gold Rush in its portrayal of poverty, albeit with a gentler sense of satire here. To help it stop meandering in places, Chaplin employs Edna Purviance, who always was one of his best collaborators and the two's scenes sparkle and light up the rest of the film. In a moment of rejection by Purviance, the farm worker gets one of the best title cards in any of the little tramp’s films.

A Day's Pleasure sees Chaplin struggling with a model T Ford, whilst attempting to take his family on a day out. It's one of the shorter films here, clocking in at under twenty minutes. Edna Purviance is back again, this time as Chaplin's wife, as comic set piece follows comic set piece. Again, this is relatively lightweight stuff but it moves at a pace and is consistently entertaining. The scenes aboard the ship are particularly well executed, even if the whole things adds up to little more than a sketch, or a training exercise, for something more expansive.

Chaplin shows his British class-conscious roots in The Idle Class. A short seemingly about mistaken identity, it sees Chaplin play his tramp and a rich, married man. Some highly orchestrated, but nevertheless enjoyable, consequences follow as the two characters get confused at a golf resort. Confusion of very opposing social status is a trope Chaplin used for perhaps greater effect in the climactic scenes to his 1941 film The Great Dictator. But the main joy in The Idle Class is the character of the aristocratic husband – a rather sad figure who does little but drink all day. We're not told why, and this is perhaps key for the film having its cake and eating it – we are allowed a licence to laugh and cry with the husband, and at him.

Last on the list is Pay Day. It's also the best of the bunch. Chaplin is part tramp, part labourer. However, it's all laughs as he has all kinds of adventures on and off building sites. The quality of the set pieces is up there with his feature films, and particularly funny are the opening moments in which the tramp narrowly escapes serious injury on some scaffolding. A perfect showcase for what Chaplin does best – touching, deadpan slapstick with a truly endearing central character.

Elsewhere, the introduction to the revue by film critic David Robinson in excellent. The five-minute piece does overlap a little with a few of his other introductions for the DVD re-releases of other Chaplin films (which Robinson also introduces), however, it's learned and incisive regardless.

There's also a gallery of stills, and they are very nice, too.