Charlie Chaplin has an extended confrontation with a cruise ship band's trombone player in...
A Days Pleasure (1919)
The relevant scene starts at about 5:00.
They're old jokes now but maybe they were new back then.
IMDb doesn't ID the trombone player specifically but lists four names as "Jazz Musician." Maybe they really were?
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Chaplin v. trombonist
- robcat2075
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- harrisonreed
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Re: Chaplin v. trombonist
Wow thank you for exposing me to a film I never would have seen otherwise. Watching Chaplin struggle with that chair actually had me laughing.
I think his speech in "The Dictator" is still one of the best things ever filmed.
I think his speech in "The Dictator" is still one of the best things ever filmed.
- Harrison Reed
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- robcat2075
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Re: Chaplin v. trombonist
When i first watched this I thought, "ouch, someone has way overdone the silent movie music."
Then i watched it again and caught the credit, "Music by Charlie Chaplin"

Then i watched it again and caught the credit, "Music by Charlie Chaplin"
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peteedwards
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Re: Chaplin v. trombonist
The funniest thing is the water is perfectly calm!
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AndrewMeronek
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Re: Chaplin v. trombonist
I'm curious how they re-recorded the music. Was that based on an original score or re-composed for that particular video?
“All musicians are subconsciously mathematicians.”
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- robcat2075
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Re: Chaplin v. trombonist
AndrewMeronek wrote: Sat Jun 27, 2026 10:11 am I'm curious how they re-recorded the music. Was that based on an original score or re-composed for that particular video?
My limited understanding of his process was that he composed at the piano, an assistant would transcribe that into music notation and another would orchestrate that... to Chaplin's wishes and satisfaction.
However, it's unlikely he created music for this in 1919.
He seems to have created music for many of his silents when he re-released them in the sound era.
This film has a music copyright of 1973. It sounds like a modern recording. Perhaps 1973 is when he finally returned to this film to add some music. It's not one of his notable ones so it may not have been a priority before that.