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The Masquerader (1914/I)

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A little disappointing, I guess, 16 July 2004

Author: rbverhoef (rbverhoef@hotmail.com) from The Hague, Netherlands

I am not really sure whether I liked this Charlie Chaplin short or not. Compared to his more famous shorts from 1915 to 1918 this is not that good but since it is Chaplin I found myself smiling almost constantly.

Here he plays an actor who messes up several takes. He is fired but returns dressed up as a woman. He kind of seduces the movie's director who likes the woman.

The problem with this short is that the only real joke here is Chaplin dressed up as a woman. Of course that is fun to see, but we don't see the real Chaplin and I guess that it makes this Chaplin short a little disappointing.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Uneven, But Interesting & Generally Amusing Short Comedy, 4 March 2004
Author: Snow Leopard from Ohio

This is an interesting little short comedy that, while rather uneven, is generally amusing. It's mostly remembered for Chaplin disguising himself as a woman, in an attempt to get into a movie studio. The idea of a man masquerading as a woman, or vice versa, was relatively common in the old silent comedies - this is one of the more believable efforts, as Charlie's disguise is credible enough to make that part of the movie work all right. But that's not necessarily the best or even the most interesting part of the film.

The setting in a movie studio is interesting in itself, offering a chance for some good-natured self-parody, and they got reasonable mileage out of the idea. Perhaps the best-crafted scene occurs very early on, when Chaplin and 'Fatty' Arbuckle have a battle of wits in the dressing room. It's no coincidence that it is the one scene in the picture in which Chaplin performs with another highly talented comedian, as the smooth timing and careful movement make it stand out from the more disjointed, frantic pace of most of the rest of the movie. But even as a whole, the movie works all right, despite its lack of refinement. It's hardly one of Chaplin's top efforts, but still entertaining and worth seeing.

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Well well..., 25 July 2001

Author: Michael DeZubiria (miked32@hotmail.com) from Luoyang, China

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

In The Masquerader, Chaplin sort of breaks the fourth wall, in that he appears in the film as himself, sort of, and then changes into the costume of the Tramp a few minutes into the movie. Similar to his work in Film Johnnie, Caplin creates mayhem on set during shooting and promptly gets himself fired. Just before he leaves, he throws his suitcase at his boss and some hilarious mayhem ensues.

The next day, Charlie returns dressed as a woman named Senorita Chapelino ("...a fairy floated into the studio..."). He is disturbingly convincing as a female, and of course all of the men at the studio come forward with aggressive amorous advances. Eventually, of course, Charlie is discovered, and this is followed by some of the best of those hilarious fight scenes of nearly all of Chaplin's early comedies.

As with all of these old comedies, this one is deteriorated pretty badly, but there is still some pretty good editing at the end of the film. One thing about films made during that time is that they move so fast, and this fast motion makes some of the shorter shots go by so fast that some of them are almost incomprehensible, and the editing of these films seems to have suffered from this. But at the end of The Masquerader, there is some editing that is better than usual in these early comedies, particularly in the scene where he falls into the well.

Fatty Arbuckle also appears early in the film as a fellow actor, which might be the most interesting scene in the film since Chaplin and Arbuckle play themselves, basically, as they get ready to go to work. I think The Masquerader is a bit of a milestone, as Chaplin is clearly developing the character of the Tramp as a down and out everyman just trying to turn his luck, rather than resorting to drunkenness or so much punching and kicking as in so many of his earlier films.

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Chaplin In Drag Again, 29 June 2008

Author: Moviecaine from Milwaukee, Wisconsin

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Chaplin wrote and directed his second film, and he appears as himself with Fatty Arbuckle at Keystone studios in the opening scene before changing into costume as the tramp. He then makes time with the ladies while filming is going on, much to the dismay of the director. The director kicks Charlie to the curb only to find him getting revenge by returning to the studio dressed as a woman and initially fooling the director. Chaplin's second film where he appears as a woman is interesting because he is fairly convincing as a woman. Whether it's due to the age of the film, his height, or the expected neck to ankle dress of the period is uncertain. It doesn't matter because it maintains one's interest, although the film is uneven like most of his early efforts. Several silent stars are on hand including Mabel Normand and Charley Chase in small parts. ** of 4 stars.

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
worth seeing just for the drag scenes!, 23 June 2006

Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

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.

This movie has a very thin plot. Charlie is either working at a movie set or he sneaks in--it's not sure which. And, he makes a mess of everything until he's thrown out,...only to return in drag! The director thinks Charlie's a hot tamale and begins making passes at him/her! Actually, I was shocked just how GOOD Chaplin looked as a girl! He probably could have passed as a woman in public.

FYI--this is the second film in which Chaplin appeared in drag. It also features Fatty Arbuckle in a cameo playing, I think, himself.

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0 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
The Effeminate Charles Chaplin, 12 March 2002
Author: The Black Englishman from London, England

Dressing up in drag was not unusual for Chaplin. He revisited this experience in 'A Woman', and some of his physical expressions were quite effeminate at times. It seems as though Keystone were making Chaplin act for his money rather than let him do his own thing in 'The Masquerader'.

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