The Paramount's Charlie Chaplin Fest Ends Tonight

Trader Joe's Silent Movie Mondays wrap up tonight at the Paramount -- the redoubtable Dennis James on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ -- with a trifecta of Charlie Chaplin shorts from 1917: The Cure, The Immigrant, and The Adventurer. Tickets are $12. The show starts at 7pm, but if you get there early, you can hear Freehold Theatre's George Lewis talk about Chaplin's contribution to the field of physical comedy.

In the first short, an alcoholic Charlie is sent off to rehab; in the second, he comes to America and immediately gets into hot water when he orders dinner in a restaurant, not knowing his money has vanished out a hole in his pocket; and in the third, he's an escapee from prison who forgets to keep a low profile.

Wikipedia points out that the scene in The Immigrant where Charlie kicks an immigration officer was later used as proof of his anti-American sentiment when he was being kicked out of the U.S. Here's a clip: