One A.M.


Charles Chaplin | 1916 | ★★★★½
A wealthy adventurer returns home at the eponymous time – drunk as a skunk – and attempts (with colossal effort but little success) to get out of his taxi, get through his front door, pour a drink, light a cigarette, ascend his staircase, and finally (with sozzled fortitude) find his automatic foldout bed, and get into it. Chaplin’s hilarious short film is perhaps one of his finest, in as much as – unencumbered with plot and co-stars – it allows him best to show off his immense clowning talents. Delightful.