The Masquerader
About The Masquerader
Charlie Chaplin, playing an actor, ruins takes and is thrown off the Keystone set. He comes back dressed as a woman and charms the director. He still does not get into the picture. Roscoe Arbuckle is in the company. Chaplin wrote and directed. Wikipedia calls it the tenth film he directed.
Cast & crew
More about The Masquerader
Mack Sennett produced. Frank D. Williams photographed it. Mutual distributed it. Wikipedia times it at 13 minutes. An Internet Archive identifier, CC_1914_08_27_TheMasquerader, matches a 27 August 1914 release. Chester Conklin, Charles Murray, and Minta Durfee are billed.
Themes
Making
Chaplin stages the joke inside a Keystone stage: bad takes, a firing, and a return in a dress.
Look
Frank D. Williams shot the studio floor and the disguise.
Preservation
The short survives. Copies are on the Internet Archive and Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- The woman’s clothes get him back on the lot. They do not get him the part.
- Arbuckle is a fellow actor on the set, not the director.
- Chaplin edited as well as directed.
- A Commons file uses the 1914 title.
Scenes
- Chaplin wrecks the takes and is put off the set.
- He returns as a woman and the director falls for the act.
- He still does not get into the film.
Also available
- Internet Archive (CC_1914_08_27_TheMasquerader)
- Wikimedia Commons (The Masquerader (1914).webm)
