Charlot à l'hôtel

While it's true that not all of Chaplin's short films are as stunningly brilliant as so many of the films for which he later became famous, it is also true that there is a distinct difference in quality between the early films in which he acted as well as directed, and those in which he was directed as an actor by someone else. Mabel's Strange Predicament is one of the ones in which he only acted; he was directed by Mabel Normand, with whom he did not have the most friendly relationship when the film was made.

The first unusual thing about this film is that it is in French – at least, the film is intertitled in French. Charlie plays the part of a drunken man at a hotel who comes across Mabel in an upstairs hallway, after having locked herself out of her room in her pajamas while chasing after a ball with which she was playing with her dog. When Charlie arrives and the two of them are embarrassed and amused, it seems that this is the strange predicament to which the title refers, but then Charlie chases her down the hall, and she ultimately winds up hiding from his drunken, amorous advances under the bed in a neighbor's room across the hall.

There is a lot of confusing action in Mabel's Strange Predicament, such as the well dressed man who bears a striking resemblance to Marlon Brando (Marlon Brando 1972, not Marlon Brando 2001) who comes into the room and seems exceedingly upset about Mabel and her dog under the bed (wasn't the dog locked in the room across the hall?), as well as the film's conclusion, which consisted of a huge amount of confusion and anger and fighting in the hallway.

Clearly, there is room for plenty of Chaplin's characteristic slapstick comedy with this type of film. The film starts off with him downstairs falling over various chairs and getting into brief brawls with the waiters, and there are also things like the scene where he is chasing Mabel down the hallway and accidentally winds up kissing a man after she evades him. Charlie Chaplin's and Mabel Normand's volatile relationship seems to have played a role in Charlie's character in this film, because he is little more than a drunk who gets out of hand and causes a lot of trouble. He is a mere nuisance on the restaurant level of the hotel, and at the end, his character has the grand exit of staggering off down the hallway, seemingly too drunk to even realize what is going on. In this way, this is a disappointment for Chaplin fans, but it is a curiosity piece to see what results when he works under a different, and far less talented, director.

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 (1914)

** (out of 4)

A woman (Mabel Normand) is walking her dog through a hotel lobby when a Tramp (Charles Chaplin) takes notice and begins to follow her around. The woman escapes to her room to get into her pajamas but soon she finds herself locked out with the Tramp following her some more. This is an interesting short as we see Mabel at the height of her popularity just as an unknown Chaplin is starting to weave what would become the best known character in film history. Sadly the film isn't that good but there are a few nice scenes to be had. I found the opening sequence in the hotel lobby to be pretty funny in large part to Mabel's reactions to the Tramp. The middle sequence with Mabel running around in her pajamas aren't as funny as they should have been and this is where the movie wonders off. Chaplin doesn't quite have his Tramp character working here but it is a starting point.

... and that's illustrated here in this first short that was filmed with Chaplin versus the first short released which was "Kid Auto Races at Venice".

Here, Chaplin's Tramp is not some basically good-hearted character with an endearing amount of mischief, which is who the Tramp evolved into. Instead he is publicly drunk and harassing women he finds attractive as he loiters in the lobby of what appears to be an upscale hotel.

Separately, Mabel Normand is a guest at the hotel, awaiting the arrival of her sweetheart. Once in her room, she changes into her pajamas and begins to play with her dog. When the ball she is using to play with her dog bounces into the hall, she goes to retrieve it, but her hotel room door shuts behind her. The Tramp, who has wandered into this part of the hotel, sees Mabel in this state of undress and decides to take chase. Complications ensue.

You can see why audiences responded immediately to Chaplin. In these first film appearances he is, as Walter Kerr perfectly stated, "elbowing his way into immortality." With inebriation he can dictate a deliberate, slower tempo while retaining his dignity and show off his brilliant mime, while still getting laughs. His performance easily steals the show from Mabel Normand, Chester Conklin, and the rest.

A drunken Tramp (Charles Chaplin) causes havoc in a high class hotel lobby. Mabel and her dog cause too much noise for her neighbor who complain to the desk. Mabel gets accidentally locked out of her room in her sleepwear. To her embarrassment, the drunken Tramp tries to help.

This is the first time Chaplin constructed and played the Tramp. It's a work in progress and it's definitely not the Tramp that we're all familiar with. He's drunk and looks a bit ugly. The story doesn't make sense. A guy like that would either be kicked out or forced to sleep it off in his own room. It's interesting to see his first attempt. He shows off his physical humor. It's cinematic history. It's also not that good but one can see the goodness within it.