By the Sea (1915)

It is windy at a bathing resort. After fighting with one of the two husbands, Charlie approaches Edna while the two husbands themselves fight over ice cream. Driven away by her husband, Charlie turns to the other's wife.

Director:

Charles Chaplin (uncredited)

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Billy Armstrong, Ed Armstrong

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Chaplin	...	Stroller

Storyline

Charles Chaplin, with his big feet performing their usual mirth-provoking perambulations, wanders down to the sea shore. There is some wind blowing, so Chaplin anchors his hat to his head with a cable. He meets a pedestrian whose hat is similarly attached. The two bump, their hats fly off and they scramble for them. When the hats finally are recovered, each has the wrong one. This causes considerable embarrassment when the two cables go taut as the two men separate. Anger soon takes the place of embarrassment when the cables become hopelessly entangled, and they battle all over the beach. After they have fought themselves weary, they shake hands and decide to have a drink. They get ice cream cones and each insists the other have the honor of paying for them. This is unsatisfactory to the drug clerk and another row starts. They smear each other with ice cream and incidentally bespatter a six-foot dandy, which precipitates still more trouble. While the battle is still in progress ...

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1915 (USA)

Also Known As:

Charlie by the Sea

Filming Locations:

Venice, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

14 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (2003)

User Reviews

A couple of funny moments...

For me this is one of the few Chaplin Essanay movies that contain any real laugh-out-loud moments - although they do come fairly early in the film, and nothing else in it compares to these two sequences. The first is the scene in which Chaplin and another man (Billy Armstrong) get their hats, which are attached to them by pieces of string, entwined and then proceed to repeatedly knock each other over as they try to disentangle themselves. The second is the moment in which Chaplin appears to be staring intently at something in the sand in order to get his adversary to lower his head enough to grasp it in a headlock. Chaplin's regular retinue – Purviance, Jamison, McGuire, etc – are all present in this one and offer solid support.