When Chaplin was in production for his April 1917's "The Cure," American politicians were concerned about the overindulgence of alcohol in the country and were seriously considering enacting a ban on its sales, as some individual states were increasingly doing on their own. Three years after "The Cure" was released, the United States enacted its Prohibition on all alcoholic beverages.
Chaplin, in a number of films, showed his Tramp character drunk. But the times now were calling for sensitivity for the lower and middle-classes on the issue, so he created his character here into an upperclass dandy who rooms at a health spa. Trouble is, he brings a luggage crate full of liquor bottles, which ends up being thrown into an accessible well. Originally, Chaplin had intended to use a fountain for the bottles to be tossed into by the spa's staff, but after 77 takes, Chaplin realized it was easier to fall into a well built on the surface than in an elevated fountain.
Chaplin continued to be a master of using props and situations for belly laughs. The revolving door at the spa's entrance serves as a merry-go-round of human inescapability. And the massage parlor sequence proves to be a cat-and-mouse chase sequence between a hulking powerhouse masseuse and the scrawny Chaplin.
Chaplin, in a number of films, showed his Tramp character drunk. But the times now were calling for sensitivity for the lower and middle-classes on the issue, so he created his character here into an upperclass dandy who rooms at a health spa. Trouble is, he brings a luggage crate full of liquor bottles, which ends up being thrown into an accessible well. Originally, Chaplin had intended to use a fountain for the bottles to be tossed into by the spa's staff, but after 77 takes, Chaplin realized it was easier to fall into a well built on the surface than in an elevated fountain.
Chaplin continued to be a master of using props and situations for belly laughs. The revolving door at the spa's entrance serves as a merry-go-round of human inescapability. And the massage parlor sequence proves to be a cat-and-mouse chase sequence between a hulking powerhouse masseuse and the scrawny Chaplin.