The Star Boarder (1914/II)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

George Nichols

Writer:

Craig Hutchinson (writer)

Release Date:

4 April 1914 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

A brat's magic lantern show exposes an indiscreet moment between a landlady and her star boarder.

Plot Keywords:

Landlady | Magic Lantern | Brat | Slide Show | Ladder

Cast

Charles Chaplin	...	The Star Boarder
Minta Durfee	...	Landlady
Edgar Kennedy	...	Landlady's Husband
Gordon Griffith	...	Their Son
Alice Davenport	...	Landlady's Friend

Also Known As:

In Love with His Landlady
The Fatal Lantern (USA)
The Hash-House Hero
The Landlady's Pet (USA)

Runtime:

16 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Company:

Keystone Film Company

Early Chaplin, starting to find his style

This is one of 35 comedies Charlie Chaplin made for Keystone during his first year in the movies. THE STAR BOARDER marks Chaplin's ninth appearance, to be precise, and was made just before he took control of the writing and directing of his output, but it nonetheless stands as one of his better Keystones. The story is straightforward and easy to follow, slapstick violence is kept to a minimum, and, best of all, Charlie himself comes off as a basically likable fellow, without resorting to the random sadism which mars some his other early movies.

As the title implies, Charlie is the favored lodger in his boarding house, carrying on with the landlady, Minta Durfee (who was then Roscoe Arbuckle's wife, off-camera). The landlady's husband, Edgar Kennedy, is unhappy about the situation, but he has something going on the side, too. A magic lantern show conducted by the couple's obnoxious son embarrasses all parties, and leads to mayhem-- rather restrained mayhem, actually, by Keystone standards, but one is pleased to note that the kid gets a good beating, too.

As noted above, Charlie isn't such a bad sort here, especially compared to his brick-hurling tendencies in some of the other Keystones. His worst transgression in THE STAR BOARDER is a secret raid on the ice box at the boarding house, and how bad is that? As for infidelity, the impression given is that the landlady is just flirty and fond of him-- and perhaps an opportunistic Charlie is turning the situation to his best advantage-- but again, that's not really so bad, and the viewer tends to sympathize. In some of the later Keystones under Chaplin's control he seemed uninterested in gaining audience sympathy (watch him torment an old man in THE PROPERTY MAN), but ultimately, of course, he came around to a warmer characterization.

In conclusion, the funniest element of THE STAR BOARDER may well be Edgar Kennedy's mustache, which looks like feathers jammed into his nose. No wonder he's so irritable.