[e-mail] Review of The Floorwalker

The Floorwalker (1916)

I have actually seen outtakes from this film in UNSEEN CHAPLIN.

[10/10 · 2 January 2011]

I have actually seen outtakes from this film in the TV miniseries UNSEEN CHAPLIN, and separately as a boy. It is one of the Tramp's finest performances, bar none, and features my favourite situation, a case of mistaken identity. The Tramp enters a huge department store and is mistaken for the title character, who is his exact double except for the fact that he is taller than him - and I'd like to know how Chaplin managed that! Eventually, of course, everything is straightened out, and the thieving floorwalker is arrested. One of the few times where Chaplin portrayed a villain, this is among the best of the short comedies he directed over the years.