Caught in a CabaretCharlie Chaplin's 12th film for the Keystone company was also his directorial debut, receiving co-directing credit with co-star,
Mabel Normand.
Chaplin plays a waiter in a seedy cabaret who is always in trouble with his boss,
Edgar Kennedy, and at odds with another waiter,
Chester Conklin. While walking his dachshund in a park during his lunch break, he rescues rich-girl
Mabel from the clutches of a thief who has chased away her boyfriend,
Harry McCoy.
Charlie introduces himself as O.T. Axle, Ambassador from Greece, (the first of
Chaplin's "impersonation" roles) and is brought home to meet her parents and receive their thanks, much to the chagrin of
Mabel's boyfriend. He receives an invitation to return later for a garden party. The suspicious boyfriend follows
Charlie back to work and discovers the truth. Back at work
Charlie deals with a bullying customer,
Mack Swain, by serving him a drink and knocking him out with a large mallet when
Swain tilts his head back to drink. Later, at the garden party,
Charlie misbehaves, getting drunk, flirting with
Mabel and singing loudly along with the band. The boyfriend, watching from a distance is now determined to expose him. When
Charlie takes his leave to return to work,
Harry suggests that the party go slumming to the very cabaret at which
Charlie works. When the upper-class guests arrive, they are treated like royalty by the workers and other patrons. When
Charlie discovers them at his table he hides the apron he's wearing and sits down next to
Mabel, pretending that he's another guest. When the boss scolds him for sitting down on the job,
Charlie is exposed as a lowly waiter, much to the shock of
Mabel and her father. A melee then ensues between
Charlie and his pistol-wielding Boss, whom
Charlie knocks out while
Mabel hides under a table.
Charlie protests his love for
Mabel, but she responds with a final knockout blow. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
Mabel's Busy DayCharlie Chaplin's 18th film for Keystone was likely co-written and co-directed by co-star
Mabel Normand. It was shot entirely on location at an automobile racetrack during a racing event. Mabel plays a hot dog vendor who sneaks in to the track by bribing the cop who guards the gate. As soon as she sets up shop she's accosted by various male customers who give her a hard time by refusing to pay, or returning a hot dog when she has no change. Chaplin isn't dressed in his usual Tramp outfit, but as a race track tout in a frock coat with a flower in his lapel. He is clearly broke -- he sneaks into the stadium by beating up a cop and crashing past a ticket taker and, finding one of Mabel's hot dogs on the ground, first tries to light it from the stub of his cigar, and then eats it hungrily. Charlie rescues Mabel from a particularly aggressive customer but then steals her tray and tries to sell the hot dogs himself. The other racetrack fans give him a hard time as well, jostling him about and knocking off his hat. Meanwhile, Mabel has fetched a cop who the agile Chaplin bests in a fight. Defeated, Mabel bursts into tears and Charlie, touched by her emotions, decides he feels sorry for her and walks off with her arm in arm, presumably to protect her from further harassment. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
The MasqueraderCharlie Chaplin's 24th short for the Keystone company is a film about making films at Keystone. It is unusual in that we see Chaplin the actor, Charlie the Tramp, and Chaplin's second female impersonation in a film. The film opens outside the Keystone Studio where Chaplin, in street clothes, is talking to
Mabel Normand and a reporter, who is writing on a pad.
Charlie Murray emerges and grabs Chaplin by the ear and drags him inside -- it's time for work. Murray leaves Chaplin at the dressing room where
Fatty Arbuckle is also preparing for work. Chaplin begins by brushing off his Tramp pants. Seated at a dressing table across from Arbuckle he hears Fatty open a beer bottle and tries to sneak a swig, but Fatty substitutes his hair tonic instead. Meanwhile, on the stage, Murray is rehearsing a melodramatic scene with two actors. Chaplin is now in costume as the Tramp. On the set, Charlie misses his entrance because he is flirting with two lovely actresses, and he messes up the scene. He is replaced by fellow actor
Chester Conklin, but interferes with Chester's entrance and is chased out of the studios. The next day a "Beautiful Stranger" appears -- it's Charlie in drag, and his female impersonation is perfect. He immediately attracts the attentions of every male in the company, especially director Murray. Murray tries to make time with the stranger and hires her to act in films. He gives her the men's dressing room, amid the objections of all the actors. While Murray's back is turned, Charlie lets us in on the gag by winking at the camera and later takes a very unladylike drag on Murray's cigarette. Alone, Charlie removes his disguise, and resumes his Tramp outfit. When the director comes looking for his new actress, he finds Charlie and discovers his deception. He chases Charlie through the various film sets until Charlie jumps into what he thinks is a prop well. It turns out to be a real one, and the film closes as Murray and the actors mock Charlie as he struggles, sinking, at the bottom of the well. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
In the ParkCharlie Chaplin's fourth release for Essanay is very similar to his Keystone Twenty Minutes of Love. He had taken longer than planned to complete his previous film, The Champion, and he felt obliged to give Essanay a new film quickly, so he shot and edited this park farce in the course of a week. It opens with
Leo White in his French Count costume and
Margie Reiger spooning on a park bench, observed by an amused
Edna Purviance seated on a nearby bench, wearing a nursemaid's outfit and minding a baby carriage.
Chaplin, strolling through the park, encounters an inept pickpocket, from whose pocket
Chaplin picks a cigarette and a match.
Chaplin comes upon the couple, and mocking their emotions, he gets chased away.
Purviance is joined by her boyfriend
Bud Jamison who goes off to buy a hot dog from a vendor.
Finding
Purviance alone,
Chaplin makes eyes at her and gets a few smiles in return, but when he tries to mash her she spurns him. Meanwhile the pickpocket steals
Reiger's purse while the couple are necking. Returning to
Purviance,
Jamison chases
Chaplin away.
Chaplin encounters the same hot dog vendor and steals a string of hot dogs which he hangs from his breast pocket and eats by swinging them up to his mouth. The pickpocket steals
Chaplin's hot dogs, but
Chaplin steals the purse from his pocket. While
Chaplin sells the purse to
Jamison for $2, the pickpocket starts a brick fight during which everyone except
Chaplin is knocked out.
Chaplin gives the purse to
Purviance, who rewards him with a hug, but
Jamison awakens and returns to claim the purse and
Purviance. By this time
Reiger has discovered her purse is gone and sends
White over to
Jamison to retrieve it. He is beaten back by
Jamison and when
Reiger spurns him for his ineptitude he contemplates suicide.
Chaplin comes along and obliges him by booting him into the lake. Meanwhile
Reiger has summoned a cop who gets the purse back from
Jamison and confronts
Chaplin, but ends up in the lake along with
Jamison, as
Chaplin strolls away. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
By the SeaCharlie Chaplin's last one-reeler (with the exception of The Bond), is an impromptu film shot on the beach at Crystal Pier in Los Angeles, his first film shot there since leaving Keystone. It is superior to similarly made Keystone's in that the timing and gag ideas are much better realized. The film opens with couple
Billy Armstrong and
Margie Reiger at the beach on a windy day.
Margie goes off, telling
Billy to stay put.
Charlie comes walking down a seaside street eating a banana and, after tossing the peel away, he slips on it. He encounters
Billy when both men's hats, attached to them by elastic, get blown off and entangled. This causes a fight between them in which
Charlie gets
Billy in a headlock and knocks him unconscious, but fleas from
Billy's head jump onto
Charlie's arms, at which point
Charlie performs a precursor of the flea circus routine that is featured in Limelight and the never released The Professor.
Just then
Edna Purviance passes by and
Charlie flirts with her. She is amused by his antics despite herself. She goes off and sits down by her boyfriend,
Bud Jamison, who has been waiting for her on a nearby bench.
Charlie and
Billy make up, and
Billy offers to buy them refreshments at a nearby ice cream stand operated by
Snub Pollard. They again begin to fight as
Billy refuses to pay. During the fight
Bud gets hit by flying ice cream and joins the fray. The fight is broken up by a cop, who drags
Billy off. Escaping,
Charlie sits down next to Edna, bouncing her up and down by sitting down heavily. He's chased off by the returning
Bud and joins
Margie (who has been looking for
Billy) on another bench until all the others arrive, whereupon
Charlie tips over the bench and makes his getaway. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
The BankCharlie Chaplin's 10th Essanay film marks a further development for him in story construction, gag development and the use of pathos along with physical comedy.
Chaplin enters the bank importantly, strolls down a staircase and opens a large safe. He emerges carrying a mop and bucket and dons his janitor's uniform. He wanders into the lobby/reception area and accidentally puts his soaking mop into the top hat of a bond salesman, (
Lawrence A. Bowes) who's waiting for the arrival of the Bank President. Hitting the salesman and a bank worker (
Leo White) with the wet mop, he's chased away to the back office where he finds fellow janitor
Billy Armstrong with whom a series of minor battles occur.
Edna Purviance, a stenographer, arrives at work with a birthday present, a tie, for a cashier whose name is also Charles,
Carl Stockdale. She types a note: "To Charles with love from Edna."
Chaplin finds the note and tie and assumes they're for him, and it's clear he loves
Purviance. He brings her a bouquet of flowers and leaves a note "To Edna with love, Charlie." The bank president arrives and rejects the bond salesman's pitch and the angry salesman vows revenge. As the salesman stands dazed,
Chaplin, told to mail a letter, indicates that he doesn't look well, takes his pulse and tells him to stick out his tongue, on which
Chaplin moistens the postage stamp. The Cashier comes in to thank
Purviance for the tie and tells her that it wasn't he who left the flowers, but Charlie the Janitor. Angry,
Purviance calls
Chaplin a fool and, unaware that he's watching through the door, throws the flowers into a trash basket. Crushed,
Chaplin retrieves the flowers, goes back downstairs to the vault and sits down to rest.
Shortly afterward, the bond salesman along with four seedy crooks enter the bank. Two of them go upstairs and see the president,
Purviance and the Cashier counting money. When
Purviance and Charles head downstairs to the vault, they hold up the president. The other three intercept Charles and
Purviance downstairs. At the first opportunity, Charles pushes
Purviance over and runs away, but he's held at gunpoint by one of the crooks as the other tussles with the president. Meanwhile her screams have awakened
Chaplin and he rescues her, kicking three of the crooks into the safe and locking it as
Purviance collapses. Carrying her over one shoulder, he climbs the stairs and rescues the cashier by disarming the crook. He then takes care of the other thief, rescuing the president. When the police have the robbers in custody,
Chaplin is congratulated by the president. He wanders into the office and takes the flowers out of his coat.
Purviance enters and picks up the flowers, smiling, and the look of love and hope on
Chaplin's face is truly angelic. They embrace, but just then the camera crossfades -- it was all a dream, and
Chaplin awakens in the vault kissing a mop. As the picture fades, he wanders off screen holding the flowers. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
ShanghaiedShanghaied,
Charlie Chaplin's 11th film for Essanay was shot largely on board the SS Vaquero, which Chaplin had rented for the film. Chaplin's cameraman,
Harry Ensign, devised a pivot for the camera which simulated the violent rocking of the ship as well as rockers for the stage, anticipating the shipboard shots in The Immigrant. In the story, Charlie is in love with
Edna Purviance, whose father owns a ship which he plans to have blown up for the insurance money. Forbidden to see Charlie, Edna runs away, leaving a note: "Father -- I have stowed away on your boat. Goodbye. Your unhappy daughter, Edna." Coincidentally, Charlie is hired to hit prospective crew members over the head with a mallet, whereupon they are shanghaied. He is himself shanghaied by the first mate in the same fashion. Charlie is a willing but inept seaman, knocking the whole crew overboard by misdirecting a loading crane and washing dishes in the soup that the cook is preparing. As the ship's rolling increases, Charlie has difficulty serving dinner and becomes seasick. He discovers Edna hiding in the hold just before the Captain and First Mate light the fuse on a keg of TNT and escape in a launch. Meanwhile, Edna's father has found her note and is chasing after them in a speeding boat, trying to stop the explosion. Charlie throws the TNT keg overboard and into the skiff of the escaping Captain, saving the Vaquero. When Edna's father arrives, Edna and Charlie join him in his launch, but when he will still not approve of Charlie, even after saving his daughter and his boat, Charlie kicks the man overboard, much to Edna's delight. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
A Night in the ShowA Night at the Show is the most elaborate two-reeler directed by
Charlie Chaplin during his 1915-1916 stay at Essanay studios. Based on "A Night in an English Music Hall," the
Fred Karno-produced ensemble sketch which brought
Chaplin to the U.S. in 1910, the film is set in a crowded theater, where a series of mediocre variety acts try to entertain the audience.
Chaplin plays two roles: a slick-haired dandy in the orchestra seats, who flirts with the female performers at every possible opportunity, and "Mr. Rowdy," a walrus-mustached drunkard who heckles the actors from the balcony. The film comes to an abrupt end when Mr. Rowdy gets hold of a fire hose and douses everyone in sight. A Night at the Show is usually released on video in tandem with several other Essanay
Chaplin films, notably The Bank and Shanghaied. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The VagabondCharlie Chaplin's third film in his Mutual period is his first minor masterpiece. It combines comedy and drama in the style that
Chaplin had developed in his earlier Essanay film The Tramp and anticipates later dramatic comedies such as The Kid and City Lights.
Charlie plays an itinerant violinist whose famous feet we first see emerging from the swinging doors of a saloon. He takes up his position outside the back door and begins his concert, but at this moment a street band begins playing outside the front door. When
Charlie enters the saloon to pass the hat, the patrons, believing he's part of the band, contribute generously. When the real band leader enters to pass his hat, a fight and chase begin from which
Charlie eventually escapes. The audience is now introduced to "The Mother," an obviously upper-class woman who interrupts her embroidering and looks longingly at a photograph of her long-lost child.
Charlie, having forsaken the city, wanders down a country road where he comes upon a gypsy encampment where a beautiful drudge (
Edna Purviance), under the control of the brutal Gypsy Chief (
Eric Campbell) is washing clothes.
Charlie plays a concert for his audience of one, the fast tempo causing the girl to scrub her laundry at a lightning pace and his soulful playing evoking her strong emotions. The concert is interrupted by the Chief, who pushes
Charlie into a water basin and beats the girl severely for shirking her duties. Seeing this brutality,
Charlie puts aside his cane and violin in favor of a stout club and rescues the girl in an exciting scene in which they dramatically escape in one of the wagons.
Later, encamped by the side of a road,
Charlie prepares breakfast while the girl goes for water. She meets a handsome artist (
Lloyd Bacon), who, noticing a shamrock shaped birthmark on her arm, asks her to pose for him. After he finishes his sketch, she invites him to breakfast. During the meal, it's obvious from her face that she's infatuated with him, and
Charlie is aware that he's losing her. When the artist leaves, the girl gazes longingly after him as
Charlie watches her apprehensively. Some time later, the painting is exhibited in a posh gallery and the Mother, in attendance, almost collapses as she recognizes her daughter by her birthmark. Meanwhile
Charlie tries to cheer up the despondent girl by promising that he'll learn to draw too. Suddenly a limousine pulls up and mother and daughter are reunited.
Charlie gallantly refuses a cash reward and wishes the artist luck just before they drive off. Alone,
Charlie tries to cheer himself but succumbs to his emotions. In the limousine the girl realizes her true feelings and makes the driver return to
Charlie, whom she excitedly hauls off to the limousine and to a presumed life of luxury. This was not the ending originally planned for the film, in which
Chaplin was going to have the Tramp attempt a drowning suicide, only to be rescued by a homely farm girl, and seeing her, jumping back in again. Fortunately, he opted for the happier, more optimistic ending. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
The FiremanThe second of Charles Chaplin's Mutual two-reelers, The Fireman is virtually wall-to-wall slapstick. Chaplin is an earnest but inept member of a ramshackle small town fire department. His boss,
Eric Campbell, has entered into an unhanded deal with the wealthy father of heroine
Edna Purviance; the father plans to burn down his house for the insurance and split the settlement with Campbell, provided that the latter does not attempt to extinguish the blaze. Chaplin, of course, knows nothing about this set-up, and when the house catches fire, he rushes to the rescue. And a darn good thing too: Purviance, also unaware of her dad's machinations, is in the house at the time it is torched. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
