Caught in the Rain (1914)

When a married couple become separated in the park, Charlie takes up with the lady and is beat up when her husband rejoins her. He takes a room in their hotel, and she sleepwalks into his ... See full summary »

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Alice Davenport

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Chaplin	...	Tipsy Hotel Guest
Mack Swain	...	Husband
Alice Davenport	...	Sleepwalking Wife
Alice Howell	...	Hotel Guest

Storyline

When a married couple become separated in the park, Charlie takes up with the lady and is beat up when her husband rejoins her. He takes a room in their hotel, and she sleepwalks into his room so that when her husband returns from his walk he must go out again to look for her. Charlie returns the lady to her room but must climb out onto the window ledge in a downpour.

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Plot Keywords:

park | policeman | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 May 1914 (USA)

Also Known As:

In the Park

Company Credits

Production Co:

Keystone Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

16 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is the first film that Chaplin wrote and directed entirely on his own.

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Connections

Featured in Charlie Chaplin: The Little Tramp (1980)

User Reviews

Love showers

Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors.

He did do much better than the first film he directed and wrote on his own 'Caught in the Rain', still made very early on in his career where he was still finding his feet and not fully formed what he became famous for. Can understand why the Keystone period suffered from not being as best remembered or highly remembered than his later efforts, but they are mainly decent and important in their own right. 'Caught in the Rain' is a long way from a career high, but has a good deal of decent things about it.

'Caught in the Rain' is not as hilarious, charming or touching as his later work and some other shorts in the same period. The story is flimsy and the production values not as audacious. Things feel a little scrappy and confused at times and Chaplin's directing does betray inexperience.

For someone who was still relatively new to the film industry and had literally just moved on from their stage background, 'Caught in the Rain' is not bad at all.

While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable for so early on and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick.

Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later (some very familiar elements here for Chaplin), 'Caught in the Rain' is mildly amusing, sweet and easy to like, though the emotion is not quite there. It moves reasonably quickly, though not without its dull spots, and doesn't feel too long or short.

Overall, far from one of Chaplin's best and patchy but not bad. 6/10 Bethany Cox