Brigitte Bardot is a Little Tramp

In 1965, Orlando Suero, a photographer who worked as a still photographer for film production companies and in taking portraits of actors and other celebrities, did a shoot with Brigette Bardot dressed up like Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character. Why? Because he could!

Here are some photos from that shoot. Why? Because Halloween is approaching, and if Bardot can dress as Charlie Chaplin's signature character, then maybe you can, too!

'Mabel's Strange Predicament' is worth witnessing

Mabel's Strange Predicament (1914)

Starring: Mabel Normand, Charlie Chaplin, Chester Conklin, Harry McCoy, and Alice Davenport

Director: Mabel Normand

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A drunk (Chaplin) causes chaos in an hotel and generates romantic strife between couples staying there by making it appear as though a young woman (Normand) is having an affair with a married man (Conklin).

In addition to just being lots of fun, and therefore worth seeing for everybody, "Mabel's Strange Predicament" is a historical artifact that film history buffs need to see for a number of different reasons.

First, this is one of the early incarnations of what we now recognize at the sit-com. We've got characters of markedly different types and circumstances interacting  in a single space, and we have a situation that escalates due to misunderstandings and lack of communication between the characters. (This story structure and configuration has older roots--in French farces, for example--but every element of a sit-com is so clearly present here that it's worth checking out. (Personally, I also found the changes in social standards that have happened in the past 100 years fascinating. Much of the comedy here hinges on Mabel being locked out of her hotel room in pajamas--any time after 1950, I imagine a young lady dressed like that would be embarrassed about having to go to the lobby and ask for help, but she would have to be wearing a sexy negligee or less for the level of mortification that Mabel displays here.)

Second, this was the first film that featured Charlie Chaplin in his "Little Tramp" get-up. According to some sources, the character was conceived in collaboration between Chaplin and director/co-star Mabel Normand in order to give the drunk that Chaplin plays in in this film a unique flair while also emphasizing Chaplin's strengths as a performer. It was a move that saved Chaplin's film career, as Mack Sennett was getting ready to fire Chaplin because he was not adapting well to the differences between performing on stage and performing for cameras. Normand, who had spent most of her working life in front of or behind film cameras, convinced Sennett to give Chaplin some leeway, and over the several films they made together, she taught Chaplin everything she knew... and, eventually, the student became the master! In a quirk of fate that probably went a long way to helping Chaplin perfect the first, more obnoxious incarnation of the Little Tramp character, he ended up starring as the character in a mostly ad-libbed, last minute production. When work on "Mabel's Strange Predicament" was halted due to bad weather, Chaplin and a couple camera crews were dispatched by producer Sennett  to create a film in front of  a crowd attending a soapbox race who had no idea what was going on with Chaplin engaging in antics. (Click here to check out that very funny short film.) 

Of course, "Mabel's Strange Predicament" is also worth seeing for anyone who just wants a few minutes of fun. And you can do so, right here from this post by clicking on the embedded video below!

When Bernie Met Charlie

It's the crossover no one demanded and the love story no one expected, but it's perfect for Shades of Gray!

via GIPHY

(In January 2021, the Meme of the Moment was a mitten-wearing, tired-looking Bernie Sanders being tricked into all sorts of photos. This one seemed perfect for immortalization on this blog. Sanders, for those who are unaware, was a U.S. politician who declares himself a Democrat when convenient, such as during his failed attempts to be nominated as a presidential candidate.)

'Caught in a Cabaret' is a fun little film

Caught in a Cabaret (1914)
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Mabel Normand, Edgar Kennedy, Harry McCoy, and Minta Durfee
Director: Mabel Normand
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A waiter at a low-class joint (Chaplin) comes to the aid and defense of a wealthy young woman (Normand) when her cowardly boyfriend (McCoy) doesn't. Romance subsequently blossoms, but will the jealous ex-boyfriend find a way to tear them apart?

"Caught in a Cabaret" is a fun little film that's marred by predictability. The moment Charlie Chaplin's character lies about who he is and what is social standing is--he claims to be a foreign ambassador--you know that eventually the truth will out and our hero will be in trouble. Nonetheless, the rest of the film is so artfully executed that the preordained ending. The scenes in the cabaret--whether it's the crowded hall full of customers and performers, or the back-room with the bickering employees and their slapstick battles--are excellently staged and beautifully framed. The cabaret's common room more than once takes on the feeling of an animated 19th century painting.

The only thing that keeps this film from getting a Seven on my 0-10 scale is that an important plot element of the first half of the film seems to be just dropped for no reason and with no explanation. (It's entirely possible that a piece of the film is missing, but it seemed really odd to me that Chaplin's dog just vanishes at one point...)

Aside from that one (major) flaw, "Caught in a Cabaret" is an excellent early Chaplin film, and a fine example of Mabel Normand's deft directorial touch. I invite you to take a few moments and watch this great little film right now!

Dawn of the Photobomber

Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)
Starring: Charlie Chaplin and Henry Lehrman
Director: Henry Lehrman
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

An attention-loving jerk (Chaplin) ruins the day of a film crew trying to document a boxcar race in Venice Beach.

"Kid Auto Races at Venice" is one of those films that show the more things change, the more they stay the same. Anyone who's been part of a crew trying to film or take photos when members of the public are around, has had to deal with "photobombers"--and even if you haven't had to deal with them directly, you've probably seen their handiwork in photographs and evening news stand-up sequences. Even as early as 1914, attention-whoring photobombers were common enough that Charlie Chaplin lampooned them in a delightful, mostly improved, short film.

This was Charlie Chaplin's second screen appearance, as well as the beginnings of his "Little Tramp" signature character, so those Chaplin fans who have yet to see this little film will find that checking it out below will be six, well-spent, enjoyable minutes. Everyone with an interest in filmmaking, or who has worked as a photographer, should also get a kick out of it. (The proceedings become even funnier when you realize that there are real photobombers photobombing in the background while Chaplin and Lehrman are making a film the film that's lampooning them.)

'Getting Acquainted' is a film worth seeing

Getting Aquainted (aka "A Fair Exchange") (1914)
Starring: Mabel Normand, Charlie Chaplin, Phyllis Allen, Mack Swain, Edgar Kennedy, and Glen Cavender
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A day in the park turns chaotic when husbands (Chaplin and Swain) hit on each other's wives (Normand and Allen) and then up being chased by an increasingly irate police officer (Kennedy).

"Getting Acquainted" is a comedy of manners--mostly bad manners--with a healthy helping of slapstick thrown in. The comedy grows in equal amounts from the bad behavior of the husbands, the reactions of their wives, the threat to the husbands when the wives meet each other, and the various beatings doled out by the cop, a random guy (whose girlfriend the husbands also hit on), and even the wives. There's also some slight humor in the fact that physically you'd think Chaplin's character would be Normand's husband, while Allen and Swain's characters seem like they'd a better match, too.

This film may also be of historical interest to Chaplin fans, as it features one of the earliest appearances of his "Little Tramp" character--at least as far as the costume goes, since I don't think I've ever seen Chaplin's signature character being quite this much of a caddish horndog in any other films. Meanwhile, it's also easy to see why Normand was such a big star in her day; she all but leaps off the screen she has so much presence. It's also helpful that she keeps the Cuteness Meter pegged at Maximum in every scene.

You can get acquainted with "Getting Acquainted right here in this post, because the film is embedded below, via YouTube. Take a few minutes and watch it right now!

Charlie Chaplin mocks fascism, bucks Hollywood mainstream

The Great Dictator (1940)
Starring: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, and Jack Oakie
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

A Jewish barber (Chaplin) is mistaken for the Great Dictator of Tomania, Adenoid Hynkel (also Chaplin) and the opportunity to free a nation from tyranny is created.


"The Great Dictator" was Charlie Chaplin's first film that featured a full soundtrack, and it is perhaps his greatest masterpiece. It is a spot-on skewering of Hitler and Mussolini and a sharp criticism of fascism made at a time when much of America's intellectual elite could still be heard saying nice things about it. It was also made at a time when Hollywood's powerbrokers were concerned about making movies that might offend the fascist regimes of Europe for fear of their bottom lines.

This movie is one of the few true classic films that have ever been made. Although its exact political context is gone, the message is carries--a defense of freedom, peace, and equality--remains as relevant today as it was then.

The warning it carries is also relevant, because just like in 1940, the "intellectual elite" and the powerful media moguls are once again refusing to use their platform responsibly and speak out against an obvious threat to peace and freedom that grows steadily worse with each passing week... and whose actions claim hundreds of innocent lives all around the world every week. No, I'm not speaking of Barack Obama or his predecessor George Bush... I'm speaking of Islamo-fascism and its terrorist foot soldiers.

If only there were filmmakers who would point fingers at the real evils that are threatening peace in the modern world instead of attempting to ingratiate themselves with it and appease it. Oliver Stone should not be white-washing Hitler in accordance with the agenda held by his buddies in Iran HIS version of "The Great Dictator". Amercian newspapers shouldn't be censoring or ignoring cartoons that mock Islamic fascists--they should be printing more of them.

Filmmakers across the free world should watch "The Great Dictator". They should attempt to do what Chaplin did, or they should hang their cowardly heads in shame. Scumbags like Danny Glover, Sean Penn and Oliver Stone should be FORCED to watch it until they break down like some character in Clockwork Orange.

(Regardless of your opinions of geo-politics, past or present, you need to see this movie, which unfolds like a nifty little fable. Chaplin is fabulous in a dual role of a Jewish barber who just happens to be an exact twin for the and the fascist dictator of Tomania, Hyenkle. Chaplin's Hitler impersonation is hilarious, and the legendary scene where he dances with a globe of the world in full Fuehrer get-up in one of cinema's Top Ten Greatest scenes. That said, this classic film is currently out of print. I wonder if it hits too close to home for whoever presently controls the rights to it, that whoever it is can see that the Hollywood mainstream and powerful are just as cowardly and misguided now as they were in the 1930s and 1940s.)