Between Showers (1914) is an early Charlie Chaplin silent comedy short where two would‑be gentlemen compete to help a woman across a muddy street, turning a simple act of “chivalry” into a full‑blown slapstick battle over an umbrella. Between Showers full movie is a free classic movie and public domain movie, often shown in Chaplin retrospectives as one of his first Keystone shorts.
Movie Background Table
Movie Cast Table
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Charlie Chaplin | Masher (Masher No. 1) |
| Ford Sterling | Rival Masher (Masher No. 2 / Mr. Snookie) |
| Emma Bell Clifton | Lady in Distress / The Woman |
| Chester Conklin | Policeman |
| Edward (Eddie) Nolan | Chivalrous Policeman |
| Sadie Lampe | Policeman’s Lady Friend (unconfirmed) |
| Peggy Pearce | 1st Lady in Distress (in some credits) |
Full Plot Summary
The action of the movie is set on a street of a city following a massive rain. At one street crossing, a huge puddle has been created and a typical step out of the curb has become a grubby little obstacle. Two young men, down-on-their-lucky and both would-be mashers or sidewalk flirts are there looking for a chance to impress.
The character of Ford Sterling commonly referred to as the Rival Masher or Mr. Snookie, notices a well-dressed woman standing at the brink of the puddle and she cannot cross over because she would get her shoes wet. There is a thoughtless policeman who has left his umbrella near by. Sterling takes the umbrella, and gallantly provides it to the woman, saying that he would bring something, a board or a log, to place on the puddle so he can assist her over it in a proper manner. He requests her to wait until he comes and walks away with overconfidence to get an requisite engineering.
Just after he walks off, the entrance of Charlie Chaplin Masher appears. Here in this early short he is very near his future Tramp figure bowler hat, cane, swagger, and with a certain sense of charm and mischief. He is also not blind to the dilemma of the woman and soon finds an opportunity to act like a hero. He does not know of a promise made by Sterling before, but he offers to carry her over the puddle himself–let she only wait as he goes to fetch something to bridge the water. It is now two men who, without knowing who each other is, think that the one woman is waiting to be galloped out by them.
The two mashers begin their search for logs and planks when Edward Nolan the second policeman who actually does his work arrives. The man carries the woman who became trapped in the puddle and he moves her across the puddle without any romantic interactions or theatrical moments because he offers her practical help. The woman thanks him and walks away which leads to problem resolution because only the puddle and stolen umbrella remain.
Sterling is the first one back, and he is breaking a huge log that he has pulled along the street. The curb is upon which he comes being empty, he is outraged that the lady had not waited upon his heroic attempt. Embarrassed, indignant, he insists on the umbrella of the useless cross point, and fusses at losing such a fine show.
Chaplin is only able to relax when his Masher returns with his plank, who is also hoping to encounter the woman still trapped at the puddle. He too discovers she is gone. The two men eventually come to a clash physically and metaphorically over who was entitled to assist her and most importantly, who has the umbrella that was stolen by the first policeman.
This is followed up by a typical Keystone slapstick escalation. Sterling and Chaplin push, knock over and wrestle over the umbrella and the planks. Property of the stolen policeman is simply a pretext, a MacGuffin in the later usage of that term by Hitchcock, of an extended conflict of egos. They splash water on one another in the puddle, and hit each other with the umbrella, and otherwise make a nuisance in public view, and bring the police in.
Chester Conklin’s mustachioed cop, having lost his umbrella earlier, joins the fray when he realizes it has been stolen and is now at the center of a street brawl. Another lady friend, and in some prints a second “lady in distress,” are pulled into the confusion as the men try to show off or defend themselves. Pushing, pulling, trips, and pratfalls come in rapid succession, pure Keystone chaos.
By the end, no one has particularly “won.” The woman has long since crossed the street without them, the umbrella is more trouble than it is worth, and the two mashers are left battered, embarrassed, and possibly in the custody—or at least under the glare—of the police. Between Showers ends not with a moral lesson, but with the visual gag that all their showy gallantry has achieved nothing at all.
Genre and Key Themes
Between Showers is a rare and early silent slapstick comedy short which is characteristic of the fast and improvised street comedies of Keystone.
Themes and ideas consist of:
Scoffing at chivalry and male egos.
The whole action is based on two men attempting to pass as noble about an inconsequential issue only to showcase their selfishness and vanity once the circumstance fails to go their way.
Public nuisance humor
Similar to most movies of the 1910s, the movie exploits the humor of people transforming an ordinary street into a performance place of insignificant conflicts, unaware of how infuriating they are to the rest of the world.
Initial formation of the style of Chaplin.
Despite continuing to share the screen with even more vociferous Keystone style of Ford Sterling, Chaplin nonetheless uses minute facial expression and body language to develop a more refined, character-driven comedy.
The umbrella as a MacGuffin
It does not matter whether it is the stolen umbrella, it is merely an item that can be fought between the characters to provide form to the gags.
Between Showers (1914) Full Movie Watch and Download
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🏛️ See Also
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Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946) – Mickey Rooney Postwar College Romance | Free Public Domain Full Movie
Movie Review
Being a historical film, Between Showers 1914 film is not as essential as it is interesting, yet it is fun. Opponents and Chaplin analysts note that this was his fourth film release ever, and did so within less than a month of his debut in the screen. It is very much a Ford Sterling sort of a Keystone romp-with-long gestures and wide pantomime-but the presence of Chaplin alters the atmosphere of it.
Sterling, Conklin and the entire Keystone regulars are hooked on false actions and Madcap motion, the studio style. Chaplin, on the other hand, is already testing out the limits of more subtle facial expressions, trivial instances of disappointment or frustration, and more steady character identity. In seeing him laugh at the antics of Sterling or prone to crow about his momentary victory in the umbrella, it is a hint of the more prosperous Tramp character that was soon to appear.
Between Showers is a very slight story, even by the standards of early-shorts. The situation, of a stolen umbrella and that of a woman attempting to cross a puddle, is just a pretense to ten or eight minutes of bodily jokes. The value of production is only low: one of the authentic Los Angeles park areas, a flooded street, few props. The rhythm can be considered monotonous to some current audiences and the humor redundant in comparison with the artistic works of Chaplin in the future.
Nevertheless, being a public domain film and one of the earliest Chaplin shorts, Between Showers full movie is a convenient record of his move out of ensemble Keystone player toward something more unique. It is also a small scale portrait of public nuisance comedy of the 1910s, in which all of these kinds of things are found in the city, and used against one another to create slapstick comedy.
Movie Tags
Between Showers full movie, Between Showers 1914 film, Charlie Chaplin early short, Chaplin Keystone Studios, Ford Sterling Rival Masher, Emma Bell Clifton lady in distress, Chester Conklin policeman comedy, silent slapstick short, public domain movie, free classic movie, 1910s silent comedy, Henry Lehrman director, Mack Sennett Keystone film, umbrella and puddle gag, early Tramp persona
