His Musical Career (1914)

Charlie and his partner are to deliver a piano to 666 Prospect St. and repossess one from 999 Prospect St. They confuse the addresses. The difficulties of delivering the piano by mule cart,... See full summary »

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Fritz Schade

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Chaplin	...	Charlie aka Tom - Piano Mover
Mack Swain	...	Mike aka Ambrose - Tom's Partner
Fritz Schade	...	Mr. Rich
Cecile Arnold	...	Mrs. Rich
Charley Chase	...	Piano Store Manager
Frank Hayes	...	Mr. Poor

Storyline

Charlie and his partner are to deliver a piano to 666 Prospect St. and repossess one from 999 Prospect St. They confuse the addresses. The difficulties of delivering the piano by mule cart, and most of the specific gags, appeared later in Laurel and Hardy's "The Music Box".

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Plot Keywords:

public domain

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 1914 (USA)

Also Known As:

Charlie as a Piano Mover

Company Credits

Production Co:

Keystone Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

16 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

not bad,...

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.

In this film, Charlie gets a job working for a company selling pianos. While the plot never gets all that deep, there are some unexpectedly funny moments--particularly involving the poor donkey who is pulling the cart filled with people AND a piano as well as the sight of Charlie single-handedly toting what had to have been a prop piano. A cute film but not especially great either.