lugonian
THE FLOORWALKER (Mutual/Lone Star Company, 1916), Written and Directed by Charlie Chaplin, stars The Little Tramp in his first of twelve comedy shorts for Mutual (1916-1917). Coming a long way in a short time since his screen debut in 1914, Chaplin, now on his own, taking charge of his script and comedy material that has become genuine classics. Though some of his finest work in both short and feature-length formats were ahead of him, THE FLOORWALKER marked the new beginning in Chaplin's creativity and comical genius that developed with each passing film. Aside from Edna Purviance, Chaplin's frequent co-star since 1915, THE FLOORWALKER also marked the first of eleven comedies to pair the pint-sized Chaplin with the giant-sized Eric Campbell, a classic combination. A winning pair responsible for Chaplin's finest moments in screen comedy and new phase for the development of his tramp character that was to start here.Opening title: "The Big Store." The slight plot development introduces scenes involving a stern floorwalker (Lloyd Bacon) ordering his sales clerk (Albert Austin) about and a loyal secretary (Edna Purviance) working for her general manager (Eric Campbell). After Campbell reads some shocking news from a memo, he works on a diabolical plot of robbing the store safe along with his floorwalker. The floorwalker, however, turns against Campbell, knocking him unconscious only to take the full bag of money for himself. There's one setback, how to get out of the place without the store detectives watching. During a shoplifting spree from numerous bargain seekers, in comes a customer (Charlie Chaplin) causing trouble for the clerk and getting himself into mischief before going through a series of pratfalls up the down escalator. Evading store detectives, Charlie takes refuge in the manager's office where he comes face to face with his look-alike floorwalker thief. Wanting a job in the store, both men agree to switch clothes and identities, this leaving Charlie holding the bag and thief falling victim through a series of unforeseen circumstances.While not as crude as some of Chaplin's earlier comedies for both Mack Sennett and the Essanay Company, there's still some use of behind kicking and facial slaps to go around. Surprisingly, however, THE FLOORWALKER doesn't make use the traditional love match between Chaplin and Purviance. In fact, they share no scenes together whatsoever. Purviance's presence is devoted mainly towards her bearded, evil- eyed employer, Campbell. With a mannequin, water fountain and elevator playing part of prop comedy material, the one that gets the most attention is the escalator. Chaplin's ballet dancing technique where he avoids a fight is Chaplin style that's seldom imitated, never duplicated. However, the mirror bit between Chaplin and Bacon is one duplicated and imitated by other comedians over the years, the best re-enactment coming from the Marx Brothers twosome, Groucho and Harpo, doing it their way in the masterful production of DUCK SOUP (Paramount, 1933).Other than the gag material expected from Chaplin, THE FLOORWALKER makes good use with camera cutaways from one action to another. There's even a D.W. Griffith-type of extreme close-up reaction technique on the lady store detective (Charlotte Mineau) worth noting. Others seen in the cast include Bud Jamison, Leo White, James T. Kelly and Chaplin regular, Henry Bergman, doing a minor bit as an old man who blows his horn.An enjoyable twenty minutes that might have developed into a featurette, THE FLOORWALKER is as good as it gets. Along with the other Chaplin Mutuals, THE FLOORWALKER did have plenty of exposure on both commercial and public television broadcasts in the sixties and seventies with prints from 1930s reissue accompanied by jazzy music score and sound effects, the same prints acquired by Blackhawk and Republic Home Video for its video distributions in the 1980s and 90s. Interestingly, rather than placing these Chaplin Mutual comedies in order for which they appeared, Republic released these twelve Chaplin shorts in out sequence mix, placing THE FLOORWALKER as the second movie in the third of its four volume VHS sets. In recent years, THE FLOORWALKER has turned up on cable television, namely Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: December 13, 1999) with new orchestral scoring and silent acu-speed prints from Kino Home Video. Next in store of the Chaplin Mutual comedies: THE FIREMAN (1916) (***)
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I have actually seen outtakes from this film in the TV miniseries UNSEEN CHAPLIN, and separately as a boy. It is one of the Tramp's finest performances, bar none, and features my favourite situation, a case of mistaken identity. The Tramp enters a huge department store and is mistaken for the title character, who is his exact double except for the fact that he is taller than him - and I'd like to know how Chaplin managed that! Eventually, of course, everything is straightened out, and the thieving floorwalker is arrested. One of the few times where Chaplin portrayed a villain, this is among the best of the short comedies he directed over the years.
rdjeffers
Monday September 10, 7:00 pm, The Paramount Theater, Seattle The first of twelve films Charles Chaplin produced for the Mutual Film Corporation, The Floorwalker(1916) might have been titled The Escalator, which is the focal point and primary source of the film's humor. Chaplin developed the idea after visiting department stores in New York and worked out the details while filming. Much of this process can be understood by viewing Chaplin's outtakes featured in Unknown Chaplin, the remarkable documentary produced by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill in 1983. Charlie wanders into a store and amuses himself while a clerk (Albert Austin) observes. The floorwalker (who bears a striking resemblance to Charlie) and store manager (Eric Campbell) attempt to embezzle a suitcase filled with cash while their startled secretary (Edna Purviance) observes. Identities are confused and the floorwalker (dressed in Charlie's cloths) is arrested by the store detective, while the manager struggles with Charlie, and the escalator, to retrieve the suitcase.
TheOtherFool
Although Charlie Chaplin made some great short comedies in the late 1910's, others don't quite make it. Examples like His New Job and Shanghaied come to mind, and I would also The Floorwalker in this category.Charlie gets mistaken for a manager of a department store (and vice versa). This manager tries to steal money from the cash register and make a run for it, and Charlie is just an honest costumer but getting blamed for some missing objects, stolen by other costumers.There aren't many laughs in it, except for the last couple of minutes or so with some great scenes on the escalator. For the rest, quite disappointing.4/10.
