The Bank
About The Bank
Charlie is the janitor, not a clerk. He spins the vault like a teller, then shoves rubbish from room to room with another janitor. A package addressed “To Charles with love from Edna” holds a tie. He thinks it is his. He leaves flowers on secretary Edna’s desk, “love from Charlie.” She is told they are not from the cashier and throws them out. He dreams he stops a robbery, saves her, and is loved. He wakes kissing the mop. Edna is kissing the cashier.
Cast & crew
More about The Bank
Chaplin’s tenth Essanay short. He wrote, directed, and edited it, and plays the janitor rather than the Tramp. Jess Robbins produced. Harry Ensign photographed. It was shot at the Majestic Studio in Los Angeles and released on 9 August 1915. It runs 33 minutes. Edna Purviance is the secretary. Carl Stockdale is Charles, the cashier. Charles Inslee is the bank president. Billy Armstrong is the other janitor. Leo White is a clerk.
Themes
Making
Chaplin keeps the bank job as a broom and a mop. The heroics, the rescue, and Edna’s kiss exist only while he is asleep.
Look
Harry Ensign shot the vault, the mop, and the dream robbery at the Majestic Studio.
Music
Silent in 1915. Robert Israel later scored a Kino video edition.
Preservation
A 33-minute print survives.
Notes
- The tie is for the cashier named Charles. The flowers are not.
- Lloyd Bacon, John Rand, Fred Goodwins, and Frank Coleman play the robbers in the dream.
- Wesley Ruggles and Paddy McGuire are also billed.
- Robert Israel’s music is a later score for a Kino video release, not a 1915 track.
- The filmography now ranks it among his stronger Essanay reels. Nothing shows that 1915 audiences singled it out.
Scenes
- He works the vault combination, then goes back to the broom.
- The tie is addressed to Charles. He leaves flowers signed Charlie.
- Edna bins the flowers.
- He wakes kissing the mop while she kisses the cashier.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Bank (Charlie Chaplin, 1915).webm)
