Behind the Screen (1916)

Directed by

Charlie Chaplin

Genre

comedy film, silent film

Country

United States

Runtime

23 min

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 99 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A film about a clumsy stagehand who causes havoc on a movie set. Charlie Chaplin's character bumbles through a series of pratfalls, mishandles props, and starts a pie fight that disrupts a serious period drama being filmed nearby.

slapstickchaoticplayfulfast-pacedlightheartedzanyphysical comedy

What happens

Behind the Screen is a 1916 American silent short comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and also starring Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance. Much of the film is slapstick comedy involving Chaplin manhandling large props, mishandling the control to a trap door, and engaging in a raucous pie-throwing fight which spills over into another studio where a period drama is being shot. In one scene Chaplin deftly carries 11 chairs over his back in his left hand and lifts a piano in his right hand. The film is in the public domain. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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