Charlot à l'hôtel

Walt Disney stated that his prime inspiration for creating Mickey Mouse was Chaplin's Tramp character. However, the Mickey seen in 'Plane Crazy (1928)' and 'Steamboat Willie (1928)' bears little resemblance to the gallant hopeless-romantic whom Chaplin made famous in 'The Kid (1921)' and other classic features. Instead, the early "evil" Mickey Mouse probably took a few leaves from the book of Chaplin's early "evil" tramp, who is here portrayed as a drunken scumbag who tries to take advantage of a pajama-clad Mabel Normand. 'Mabel's Strange Predicament (1914)' was, in fact, the birth of Chaplin's Little Tramp character, though 'Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)' was released two days earlier. As the title suggests, the star of the film is actually Normand, who was a leading comedienne in her day, and this was the first film in a series of collaborations for the pair.

In a hotel lobby, an intoxicated tramp sloppily flirts with Mabel, somehow deciding that yanking on her dog's tail is a surefire way of attracting the girl's attention. Mabel huffily storms off to her room, but later runs into Chaplin in the hallway, after having locked herself out of her room wearing only pajamas. What follows is an amusing farce that resembles something the Marx Brothers would have cooked up, as Mabel evades the Tramp by taking cover under the bed of another man, whose wife arrives home and comes to the natural conclusion. This isn't high-class comedy, but Chaplin is clearly the shining light of the film: he staggers drunkenly from room to room, with an exasperated sneer beneath his moustache, and every time he falls down it is actually uproariously funny. Don't ask me how he did it, but nobody (except maybe Buster Keaton) could ever take a tumble like Chaplin could.

Mabel's Strange Predicament marked several firsts in Charlie Chaplin's career. It was the first major short to feature his Little Tramp character (after a debut in the brief Kid Races at Venice), and it was the first of several films he made co-starring with Mabel Normand, who was the Cameron Diaz/Julia Roberts of her day in terms of comedy films. Reportedly, this was also the first of several Chaplin films that would also feature Fatty Arbuckle, though I'm not sure where he appears in the film (he might be the actor playing Mabel's boyfriend in this film, but I can't be sure).

Chaplin was still developing his character at this early stage (this was only his third or fourth film). The idea of the Tramp being a kind-hearted, heroic character had not yet been established. In this film, he's a drunk, a jerk, and a womanizer (if this were not a Chaplin film, one might even add would-be rapist to this list of "qualities"). In fact, Chaplin's character here is little different than the bad guy he played in his debut, Making a Living.

All this makes for somewhat uncomfortable viewing for those used to the Tramp being a good guy. He certainly has some funny scenes, though most involve him doing little more than falling down and menacing Mabel. There's no pathos to be found here.

He's also very much a secondary character in this film, since at the time, Mabel Normand was the big star. She spends most of the film running around in pajamas and hiding under a bed. In 1914, the sight of Mabel in her full length underwear was probably as shocking as American Pie is today, and indeed the film was banned in Sweden for being too suggestive. But these days, it's laughable in and of itself.

Normand was a fair-to-middling talent who is more famous for what she represented than for her actual on-screen efforts. She was the first woman to become a major movie star in America, and one of the very first to actually direct a film. But if it weren't for her lucky association with Charlie Chaplin in the early months of his film career, odds are very little of her work would have been preserved nearly a century later. Unfortunately, Mabel's Strange Predicament can hardly be included among her's or Chaplin's best efforts.

Mabel's Strange Predicament is the second film in which Charlie Chaplin dresses in costume as The Little Tramp (the first being Kid Auto Races in Venice). In here, he's just a drunk who's infatuated with the title character played by Ms. Normand. She's a lady who has a dog that she takes with her to the hotel room where, after dressing in her pajamas, gets locked out of with dog still inside. After Charlie chases her upstairs, she goes to another room where an elderly man lives and hides under his bed. Also mixed up in this are her suitor and the elderly man's wife. Most of the highlights are from Mabel's under-bed hiding and the slapstick that ensues when she's found out as well as some of Chaplin's falls from either being hit or just simply staggering. Should be amusing enough for fans of early silent comedy and the two stars especially very curious Chaplin enthusiasts.

This is a short featuring the Divine Madcap Mabel (Normand) and her newest protégé, a young British vaudeville comedian by the name of Charles Chaplin. Chaplin does an early version of his little tramp character, but he's just a supporting actor. Mabel is the star here.

Mabel is playing with her dog in her hotel room, and gets locked out in the hallway in her pajamas. Chaplin's drunken buffoon sees her, and begins to chase her around. She runs into the room across the hall occupied by an old couple. She hides under the bed, avoiding the old man. Enter the old lady, Mabel's lover, and the drunken buffoon, add plenty of mix ups, and things get hairy. The ending is classic Mabel, with everyone frantically beating the snot out of each other while she comes out on top in the end, as she always does.

She's just adorable here, only 19 years old, fresh from modeling for Charles Dana Gibson (Yes, Madcap Mabel was a Gibson Girl. Who'da thunk?) with her saucer like eyes and expressive face. Unfortunately, this is not one of her best shorts. It's a bit amusing in parts, but not laugh out loud funny. If you want to catch Mabel in all her madcap glory, check out her shorts with Fatty Arbuckle; the two of them worked together wonderfully. Or her full length movies: Tillie's Punctured Romance, Mickey, and The Extra Girl.

The real truth about the time line of Chaplin's tramp costume is as this. The first scene he "filmed" in the TRAMP costume was the hotel lobby scene from the film "Mabel's Strange Predicament". After this film completed shooting, Chaplin filmed Kid Auto Races In Venice. This film was easy to edit in comparison to Mabel's Strange Predicament and because of this, Kid Auto Races was released first. This is why people think the first time Chaplin wore the tramp costume was Kid Auto Races. It may be the first time Chaplin was seen by the public this way, but the first time he donned the costume in front of a camera was definitely, without a doubt, "Mabel's STrange Predicament". Making this film very important indeed!