TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Verity Robins Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

hausrathman A floorwalker, Lloyd Bacon, and manager, Eric Campbell, rob the safe of a department store. Before they can leave with their ill-gotten gains, the floorwalker knocks the manager out and steals his share. To evade detectives, the floorwalker induces a look-alike tramp, Charlie Chaplin, to trade places with him. When the detectives arrest the real floorwalker, Chaplin is left with a suitcase of money and one small problem: Eric wants the money and revenge."The Floorwalker" was the first of Chaplin's twelve two-reel films for the Mutual Company. These are perhaps the best series of two-reel silent comedies. Chaplin made great strides as film maker during this period, and laid the groundwork for his feature-length triumphs to come.The difference between the Mutual films and his Essanay films of the previous year are obvious from the start. The technical quality of the film making in almost all categories increases, and, although there are some notable holdovers from Essanay, especially leading- lady Edna Purviance, the quality of his stock company at Mutual also improves. "The Floorwalker" gives us the debut of Eric Campbell, Chaplin's best heavy, and Albert Austin, another stalwart foil. Most importantly, the level of humor rises from the rough, knockabout slapstick of his earliest films."The Floorwalker" is more heavily-plotted than most of his earlier shorts. It uses Chaplin's common plot device of mistaken identity which he frequently employed from 1914's "Caught in a Cabaret" to 1940's "The Great Dictator." This device allowed his tramp "everyman" to get a taste of the lifestyle of the rich and stuffy. This time he doesn't reach as high - merely to the ranks of the employed. The gags are good, in particular Chaplin makes excellent use of an escalator, although the film isn't as funny as many that will soon follow. Still, "The Floorwalker" remains one of my favorite Mutuals, if only for the sentimental reason that it was the first full-length two- reeler I bought in Super 8mm when I was a kid.Well worth a look, but not the best introduction to Chaplin.

Steffi_P This is the first picture Charlie Chaplin made at Mutual studios. After a year-long maturing period at Essanay, he had at last set off in search of greater creative freedom and vastly inflated salaries. This is precisely what Mutual gave him.The most obvious difference between the Floorwalker and the shorts that went before it is the level of confidence and cinematic professionalism Chaplin now displays. There is a lengthy opening sequence before the little tramp even appears, establishing the antagonists and the scam in which Charlie will later become embroiled. Eric Campbell is introduced with a formidable close-up, giving him a more menacing and memorable entrance. There's also a bit of bold cross-cutting, some of which becomes a joke in itself. For example, we cut back-and-forth from Albert Austin tussling with the essentially harmless Charlie, while behind his back a gang of thieves rob the store blind. That particular gag also shows his willingness to sometimes move the camera away from himself, making his little tramp the cause of the comedy but not the focus of it. These were all techniques Chaplin had used before, but never quite to this extent or with this much bravura.With a new studio came new supporting actors, and here we see the introduction of two very important figures in the Chaplin career. Most noticeable of these was the stupendous Eric Campbell, who fulfilled in the Mutual films the role of the bully. Campbell's appeal works on the old adage of "the bigger they come the harder they fall", but he's also a wonderfully expressive comedy character, all his movements looking comically exaggerated because of his size. The floorwalker also marks the debut of Albert Austin, who does a similar job to that of Billy Armstrong in the Essanays, that is, a lanky twerp for Charlie to wind up. He makes a good impression here, tumbling helplessly and striving to maintain his dignity. Fortunately, Chaplin brought across some of his best collaborators from the Essanay days, but Leo White and even Edna Purviance get a bit lost among all the new faces here. Honourable mentions go to Charlotte Mineau and Lloyd Bacon, both of whom had bit parts in a few Essanay pictures, now appearing in meatier roles.In spite of its technical polish and auspicious debuts, it has to be said that the Floorwalker is one of the less entertaining Mutual pictures. It has its moments (surely the best of which is Charlie's "mirror-image" routine with Lloyd Bacon, repeated years later by the Marx brothers in Duck Soup), but there is bit too much going on and a few too many characters, with not enough high quality comedy in between. Chaplin would have to do a little better than this to justify his hefty new pay packet.Still, let us not forget that all-important statistic – Number of kicks up the arse: 6 (3 for, 3 against)

CitizenCaine In May of 1916, Chaplin released his first of twelve films for Mutual called The Floorwalker, which he edited, wrote, produced, and directed. It's notable as the first film he produced in his career. It's reminiscent of his earlier Keystone comedies in at least one respect: It's heavily reliant upon slapstick. However, now with complete control over his films, Chaplin could incorporate what he wanted to and how he wanted to do things in his films. In The Floorwalker, employs slapstick, visual gags, and mistaken identity in a plot about a ne'er-do-well set loose in a department store. The film builds to a comic crescendo utilizing an escalator, as Chaplin inadvertently puts the kibosh on store employees' plans to rob the place. The highlight, of course, is Chaplin's use of the escalator, a first in movies. Edna Purviance appears in a brief role as the store manager's secretary. The film marks the first appearance of burly comedic actor Eric Campbell, who plays the thieving store manager. Campbell became an excellent comic foil for Chaplin in his Mutual efforts due to the enormous size difference between the two men and the visual emphasis of silent films. Lloyd Bacon and Wesley Ruggles appear in supporting roles. **1/2 of 4 stars.

rdjeffers Monday September 10, 7:00 pm, The Paramount Theater, Seattle The first of twelve films Charles Chaplin produced for the Mutual Film Corporation, The Floorwalker(1916) might have been titled The Escalator, which is the focal point and primary source of the film's humor. Chaplin developed the idea after visiting department stores in New York and worked out the details while filming. Much of this process can be understood by viewing Chaplin's outtakes featured in Unknown Chaplin, the remarkable documentary produced by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill in 1983. Charlie wanders into a store and amuses himself while a clerk (Albert Austin) observes. The floorwalker (who bears a striking resemblance to Charlie) and store manager (Eric Campbell) attempt to embezzle a suitcase filled with cash while their startled secretary (Edna Purviance) observes. Identities are confused and the floorwalker (dressed in Charlie's cloths) is arrested by the store detective, while the manager struggles with Charlie, and the escalator, to retrieve the suitcase.