Cinema
Tillie's Punctured Romance
Mack Sennett · 1914
Synopsis
Tillie Banks, the sturdy daughter of a well-off farmer, meets Charlie, a con man from the city, who persuades her to take her father's money and leave with him. In the city, he meets Mabel again, his former girlfriend and accomplice; together they get Tillie drunk, steal the money and abandon her. Arrested, then turned out by her rich uncle, she becomes a waitress. The uncle disappears in a mountain fall and is thought dead, and Charlie, learning that Tillie is inheriting, comes back to marry her.
Context
The film is adapted from a musical comedy first staged on Broadway in 1910, in which Marie Dressler already played the role of Tillie, and she was hired to take it up again on screen. It was the company's only feature film, shot in some forty-five days, from 14 April to 9 June 1914, partly at Sans Souci Castle, in Hollywood. Chaplin, whose contract had taken effect in December 1913, plays a supporting role, that of the swindler.
Who it is for
A silent comedy in six reels, from seventy-three to eighty-six minutes depending on the print, made up of quick gags and chases.
Prizes and reception
Often regarded as the first feature-length comedy, it was a great success and had sequels.
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