Mabel at the Wheel (1914)

Charlie, competing with his rival's race car, offers Mabel a ride on his motorcycle but drops her in a puddle. He next joins some dubious characters in abduction of his rival just before ... See full summary »

Directors:

Mabel Normand, Mack Sennett

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Mabel Normand, Harry McCoy

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Chaplin	...	Villain
Mabel Normand	...	Mabel
Harry McCoy	...	Mabel's Boyfriend
Chester Conklin	...	Mabel's Father
Mack Sennett	...	Reporter / Newsreel Director
Dave Anderson	...	Henchman (as Andy Anderson)
Joe Bordeaux	...	Dubious Character
Mack Swain	...	Spectator at Races
William Hauber	...	Mabel's co-driver

Storyline

Charlie, competing with his rival's race car, offers Mabel a ride on his motorcycle but drops her in a puddle. He next joins some dubious characters in abduction of his rival just before the race for the Vanderbilt Cup. With her boyfriend locked up in a shed, Mabel takes his place. Charlie does what he can to sabotage the race, even causing Mabel's car to overturn.

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Plot Keywords:

title directed by female | character name in title | actor shares first name with character

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 1914 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Hot Finish

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Keystone Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

18 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Chaplin's quarrelling with Mabel Normand on this film almost ended Chaplin's film career. He disagreed with her ideas for comedy and she was quick to dismiss his own ideas for more refined comic business. An argument ensued (according to Chaplin in his autobiography, one or two extras had wanted to 'slug' him but Normand had stopped them) and filming for that day was called off. Mack Sennett heard about the argument and planned to fire Chaplin at the end of the week. However, the day after the argument, Sennett received a telegram from New York asking frantically for more Chaplin films. Sennett smoothed things over between Normand and Chaplin by taking them to dinner and the film was happily completed.

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Connections

Featured in Birth of Hollywood: Episode #1.1 (2011)

User Reviews

Mabel at the Wheel has Mabel Normand racing with Charlie Chaplin doing some funny villainy

Just watched this-a Keystone comedy short starring Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin-on YouTube. Ms. Normand is also the director and Chaplin does not play The Tramp but the comic villain. As such, he's the funniest thing here as he does overacting to a T which is such a standard technique in these silent movies whether melodrama or slapstick comedy. Mabel is quite an accomplished comic herself whether taking a fall, throwing bricks, or biting Charlie's hand. The race sequence doesn't really have any laughs but is quite exciting to watch as we see Ms. Normand do as the title says. Overall, Mabel at the Wheel is highly recommended. P.S. It would have been nice if any of the versions I checked out had a music accompaniment but I can't complain too much about the complete silent version I watched.