The Floorwalker (1916)

Directed by

Charlie Chaplin

Genre

comedy film, silent film

Country

United States

Runtime

24 min

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 115 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Charlie Chaplin's tramp visits a department store and causes trouble. He stumbles into a scheme by the store manager and floorwalker to steal money.

slapstickchaoticplayfulfranticlight-heartedphysical comedyfast-paced

What happens

The Floorwalker is a 1916 American silent comedy film, Charlie Chaplin's first Mutual Film Corporation film. The film stars Chaplin, in his traditional Tramp persona, as a customer who creates chaos in a department store and becomes inadvertently entangled in the nefarious scheme of the store manager, played by Eric Campbell, and the store's floorwalker, played by Lloyd Bacon, to embezzle money from the establishment. The film is viewable free of charge on YouTube. The film is noted for the first "running staircase" used in films which is used for a series of slapstick that climaxes with a frantic chase down an upward escalator and finding they are remaining in the same position on the steps no matter how fast they move. Edna Purviance plays a minor role as a secretary to the store manager. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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