Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Mabel's Married Life" is a 14-minute black-and-white movie from 1914, so this one is already considerably older than a whole century. Wow. It was directed by the legendary Mack Sennett and the script is by the two protagonists themselves: Chaplin and Normand. The fact that Normand is mentioned in the title and not Chaplin in this movie already tells you what a big star she was back then, still in her 20s just like Chaplin. The story is relatively simple, even for such a brief movie. A bully hits on Mabel and Charlie is of course too weak and tiny to stand up to him. So Mabel gets him a dummy which Charlie is supposed to use for his training. But the dummy will not be subdued this easily. This little movie is certainly among Normand's most known works, also because of her famous co-lead of course. One of Chaplin's movies biggest strength is that, even without intertitles, the action and plot are so physical that you can not only understand the action, but even enjoy it. And this is a massive deal-breaker when it comes to silent films. I give this one here a thumbs-up. Worth checking out and the only slightly boring/forgettable thing was probably the bar scene. Mabel and Chaplin have great chemistry and work together very well.

CitizenCaine Historically noted as Chaplin's first film he directed, wrote, edited, and starred in, Chaplin plays a ineffectual husband faced with the imposing oaf: Mack Swain. Swain is trying to make time with Charlie's wife, played by Mabel Normand (who co-wrote the film). The setting is in a park and soon it's apparent Swain is married also and the yolk is on him as they say. Chaplin goes through his drunk routine in a bar while Mabel receives a special delivery of what looks like a mannequin version of Mack Swain in the park. Chaplin arrives home and, being drunk of course, thinks the mannequin is real. It's here where the highlight of the film comes. Nineteen year old Mabel Normand must have been a sensation in those pajamas back in 1914. The film appears to follow a more logical progression than most Keystone Chaplin efforts. It's one of the earliest films of Chaplin with extensive footage of him engaging in physical comedy with prop(s). ** of 4 stars.

MartinHafer I've seen quite a few Chaplin shorts from early in his career and I've noticed that his early stuff (done for Keystone Studios) is pretty dreadful stuff. Unlike his wonderful full-length films from the 20s and 30s, the films from 1914-1915 are incredibly poorly made--having no script but only vague instructions from the director. In most cases, the films had almost no plot and degenerated to people punching and kicking each other.Well, this film isn't really any better than the rest. Charlie and Mabel Normand spend much of the film slapping or being slapped. Charlie is powerless to stop a tough jerk from making unwanted advances on his wife. So, Mabel buys a punching doll and a drunk Charlie thinks it's real. That's it. No real laughs and no real plot.FYI--this short was from THE ESSENTIAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN COLLECTION from Delta Entertainment. Like a few of these early shorts, the captions are all in French! Well, lucky for me I have a pretty good understanding of the language. Others might be frustrated at this, but there are only a few captions.

Snow Leopard This short feature is a nice chance to see Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand together, and it's a decent comedy as well. Charlie and Mabel play a married couple, with the wife receiving a lot of unwanted attention from an annoying brute played by Mack Swain. As you would expect, Mabel is charming, and Charlie is a rather ineffective but generally sympathetic husband. Some of the comedy is a bit routine, especially towards the beginning, but there is a very good sequence later on that gets good mileage out of some amusing props. Take a look if you like these old Keystone comedies.