''The Face on the Bar Room Floor'' is a
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
written and directed by
Charles Chaplin in 1914. Chaplin stars in this film, loosely based on
the poem of the same name by
Hugh Antoine d'Arcy
Hugh Antoine d'Arcy (March 5, 1843 – November 11, 1925) was a French-born poet and writer and a pioneer executive in the American motion picture industry. He is known for his 1887 poem, " The Face upon the Barroom Floor", a sorrowful tale of a p ...
.
Synopsis
A devastated tramp (
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
) visits a crowd-filled bar and recounts the story of how he fell in love with a woman and then had her taken by a friend of his. Drunk, he keeps trying to draw the woman's picture on the floor with a piece of chalk, and gets into fights with other men in the process. He eventually passes out “dead drunk” (thus deviating from the poem, where the protagonist actually falls “dead”) at the end of the film.
According to Chaplin expert Gerald D. McDonald, "The subtitles of the film were lines from the poem, but the original verses were altered to match the Keystone credo that life is a funny game at best."
Reception
A reviewer for ''
The Moving Picture World'' gave the film a favorable review, writing "Chas. Chaplain
icwins new laurels in the leading part. This is bound to please."
"Comments on the Films"
The Moving Picture World, August 29, 1914, p. 1241-1242
Cast
* Charles Chaplin - Artist/Tramp
* Cecile Arnold
Cecile Arnold (born Cecile Laval Arnoux; July 9, 1893 – June 18, 1931) was an American silent film actress and Ziegfeld Follies girl.
Early life
Cecile Laval Arnoux was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 9, 1893, although some sources i ...
- Madeline
* Fritz Schade
Fritz Schade (January 19, 1880 – June 17, 1926) was a German-born American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 41 films between 1913 and 1918, including six films with Charlie Chaplin. His wife was the silent film actress Betty Sc ...
- Drinker
* Vivian Edwards - Model
* Chester Conklin - Drinker
* Harry McCoy
Harry McCoy (December 10, 1893 – September 1, 1937) was an American film actor and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1912 and 1935.
Early years
McCoy was born on December 10, 1893, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ...
- Drinker
* Hank Mann
Hank Mann (born David William Lieberman, May 28, 1887 – November 25, 1971) was a Russian Empire-born and American comedian and silent screen star who was a member of the Keystone Cops. According to fellow actor and original member of th ...
- Drinker
* Wallace MacDonald
Wallace Archibald MacDonald (5 May 1891 – 30 October 1978) was a Canadian silent film actor and film producer.
Biography
MacDonald was born in Mulgrave, Nova Scotia, Canada, and attended school in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
He started as a mess ...
- Drinker
* Edward Nolan - Bartender
See also
* The Face on the Barroom Floor (poem)
* List of American films of 1914
*Charlie Chaplin filmography
Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) was an English actor, comedian, and filmmaker whose work in motion pictures spanned from 1914 until 1967. During his early years in film, he became established as a worldwide cinematic idol renowned for his tramp p ...
References
External links
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1914 films
Silent American comedy films
American silent short films
American black-and-white films
Short films directed by Charlie Chaplin
1914 comedy films
1914 short films
Keystone Studios films
Films produced by Mack Sennett
Articles containing video clips
American comedy short films
Films based on poems
Mutual Film films
1910s American films
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