Charlie Chaplin’s A Day’s Pleasure, sometimes titled Charlie’s Picnic, is an unrelenting series of misfortunes and altercations aimed at making comedy of an unlucky outing in San Pedro harbor. This adventure is not a picnic in the usual sense, but to some, any outing is a picnic.
Nothing is immune from Chaplin’s feisty attitude that allows for his usual comic slapstick routines, such as trying to open a deck chair t. As the swells increase, so does Charlie’s seasickness. Searching for the head, he is accosted by a food vendor asking if he wants ham sandwiches, buttered popcorn, cigars, and cigarettes. Charlie knocks the vendor’s tray over. Ha!
Because the man sitting next to Charlie is crowding him, he plans a response. Borrowing a hatpin from Mother (his wife), Charlie sticks him. This leads to a fistfight that Charlie wins by repeatedly punching his foe in the groin. Ha! Ha!
Featured Image: Charlie, with a stickpin ready to pounce. Good fun, eh? Charlie Chaplin as Charlie, Edna Purvance as his Wife, and their two boys.
See Charles Chaplin. A Day’s Pleasure. The screenplay by Charles Chaplin. (1919)