The Star Boarder

This is one of 35 Keystone comedies Charlie Chaplin appeared in during his first year in the movies, made just before he was granted creative control of his output. Unlike some of his earlier shorts The Star Boarder has the feel of a Chaplin film, so much so we get the impression he was already taking charge behind the scenes. The story is straightforward and easy to follow, slapstick violence is kept to a minimum, and, best of all, Charlie himself comes off as a basically likable figure. In some his other early movies he's a scoundrel, but here he's the fellow we recognize from the films he would soon create on his own.

As the title implies, Charlie is the favored lodger in his boarding house. He flirts with the landlady (Minta Durfee) who dotes on him, but their relationship seems to be chaste. The landlady's husband (Edgar Kennedy, wearing a silly mustache) is unhappy about the situation, but he has a little something going on the side, too. Their son happily snaps photos of the grown-ups in compromising situations, then reveals his work at a magic lantern show and embarrasses all parties, leading to mayhem -- rather restrained mayhem, actually, by Keystone standards. We're pleased to observe that the kid gets a good spanking, too.

Charlie is introduced in a nicely composed shot, smoking in bed and peering over the tops of his famous shoes. He isn't a bad sort here, especially compared to the obnoxious sadist he plays in some of the other Keystones. His worst transgression in The Star Boarder is a raid on the boarding house ice box, where he helps himself to some cold beer. He makes a mess and gets a little drunk, but otherwise no harm done. As for infidelity, we are given the impression that the landlady is merely fond of him, and that Charlie is being opportunistic and turning the situation to his advantage. Even when he began directing his own work Chaplin wasn't always interested in gaining audience sympathy (as when he torments his elderly assistant in The Property Man), but ultimately, of course, he came around to a warmer and more humane characterization.

The Star Boarder is a little slow to get started, but the magic lantern show finale is worth waiting for. Over all this is an enjoyable short, not terribly funny or memorable, but a fairly pleasant viewing experience, especially if you're put off by the wildly rowdy entries from Chaplin's Keystone series.

Star Boarder, The (1914)

** (out of 4)

Lower Keystone short features Charles Chaplin playing the landlady's pet, which doesn't sit too well with the other tenants and it certainly doesn't go over well with the woman's jealous husband. While this film doesn't really work it at least features a couple funny sequences with Chaplin doing his magic. Even though we still don't see the Chaplin the world would end up loving, these early shorts at least show him growing as an artist. One of the better scenes in the film is when Chaplin is trying to learn how to play tennis. The facial expressions of anger are quite funny as is another scene where Chaplin notices the woman's husband is standing behind him yet he tries to play dumb as if he didn't see the husband. The rest of the film is pretty weak without too many laughs, although the ending is a pretty nice kicker.

This is a film from Chaplin's first year in films. During this VERY hectic year, he churned out film after film after film for Keystone Studios and the quality of the films are, in general, quite poor. That's because the character of "the Little Tramp" was far from perfected and the films really had no script--just the barest of story ideas. While some Chaplin lovers might think this is sacrilege, all these movies I have seen are pretty lousy. Yes, there are some cute slapstick moments but barely any plot--absolutely NOTHING like the Chaplin we all came to love in his full-length films of the 20s and 30s.

Compared to other Keystone Chaplin films I have watched, this one is slightly better because it has a little more plot. And, it is fun to see the jealous husband and Charlie fight in the end. But, that's really about all there is to the movie. Certainly this is NOT an artistic of interesting film.

Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors.

He did do better than 'The Star Boarder', still made very early on in his career where he was still finding his feet and not fully formed what he became famous for. Can understand why the Keystone period suffered from not being as best remembered or highly remembered than his later efforts, but they are mainly decent and important in their own right. 'The Star Boarder' is a long way from a career high, but has a lot of nice things about it and is to me one of the better efforts in the 1914 Keystone batch.

'The Star Boarder' is not as hilarious, charming or touching as his later work and some other shorts in the same period. The story is flimsy and the production values not as audacious. Occasionally, things feel a little scrappy and confused.

For someone who was still relatively new to the film industry and had literally just moved on from their stage background, 'The Star Boarder' is not bad at all.

While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable for so early on and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick. Not one of his most likeable characters though.

Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later, 'The Star Boarder' is humorous, sweet and easy to like, though the emotion is not quite there. It moves quickly and doesn't feel too long or short. The tennis ball and raiding the fridge scenes are the funniest parts.

Overall, far from one of Chaplin's best but pretty good and perhaps one of his better efforts from the early Keystone period. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Charlie Chaplin was still working out the kinks in his Little Tramp character with this rather tame comedy of errors. This one generated barely a chuckle from me, perhaps due to the lack of chemistry between Chaplin and his so-called leading lady in this film, playing a landlady whom everyone thinks Charlie is in love with.

Perhaps had Mabel Normand been given the role of the landlady, there might have been a bit more spark. Certainly Chaplin's later leading lady, Edna Purviance, would have been perfect in the role. But such as not to be.

There are a few funny moments, such as when Charlie bats a tennis ball out of sight (reflecting perhaps the real-life Chaplin's growing interest in the sport?), and a pointless though funny sequence in which Charlie raids a fridge and gets drunk.

The best and funniest sequence comes near the end when the landlady's son, who secretly photographed the comedies of errors between his mom, his dad, and Charlie, puts on a special "parents gone wild" slide show and the usual Keystone mayhem ensues. The boy, incidentally, is played by Gordon Griffith, who appeared in a number of Chaplin's Keystone comedies before making a name for himself as Tarzan's son.

The Star Boarder falls somewhere in the middle ground of Chaplin's Keystone comedies. There's enough humor to hold one's interest, but it can't be considered one of his better works.