The Idle Class (1921)

by Charles Chaplin
Music composed by Charles Chaplin 1971, Music Associate Eric James, Orchestrated by Eric Rogers
Score arranged and adapted for live performance by Carl Davis

Synopsis

Chaplin was experimenting with new roles for his Tramp character. In The Idle Class (1921) he actually plays two roles - the Tramp and a rich young alcoholic husband. Between them they represent the Idle Rich and the Idle Poor. Everyone in the film is obsessed with America’s dominating passion of the time - the game of golf - and Chaplin has the opportunity for a gag-filled golfing sequence, the prototype for which he had made and abandoned five years before, during his Mutual years.

Technical Specifications

• Screening time: 24 minutes 55 seconds
• We recommend screening The Idle Class as a double bill with The Kid, which is 60 minutes long.
• 35 mm and digital formats available
• Projection speed for 35 mm: 21 frames per second. 1.1:33, Full aperture gate projector essential
• Mute, no sound effects

Instrumentation for THE IDLE CLASS

• 2 flutes (Flute II doubles baritone saxophone)
• 1 oboe (doubles e. horn)
• Clarinet I (doubles alto saxophone)
• Clarinet II (doubles tenor saxophone)

• 1 bassoon

• 2 horns
• 2 trumpets

• 2 trombones

• Percussion (2 players incl. Timpani)
• Guitar
• Harp

• Piano (doubles celeste)

• Strings: 8.6.4.4.2

• List of Percussion: Timpani, Drum Kit, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Cabasa (or Maracas), Triangle, Bongos

Trailer of The Idle Class

List of Films

• How To Make Movies
• A Dog's Life
• Shoulder Arms
• Sunnyside
• A Day's Pleasure
• The Kid
• The Idle Class
• Pay Day
• The Pilgrim
• A Woman Of Paris
• The Gold Rush
• The Circus
• City Lights
• Modern Times
• The Great Dictator
• With A Smile