Dough and Dynamite was one of Chaplin's longest films at the time it was made, and also featured an unusually complex plot. Granted, "complex plot" meant something very different in 1914 than it means in 2008, but this was certainly a step up from his previous films, many of which were little more than exaggerated fist-fights. There is even some dramatic tension in this one!
The story involves some bakers going on strike demanding more money and less work, and so Charlie and one other man, played by Chester Conklin,have to take over for them. Neither of them is in anyway qualified to be baking bread.
There are some memorable moments, such as Charlie getting revenge against his co-worker for hitting him over the head (not knowing that his co-worker had been hit over the head himself), the floury dough-fights, and Charlie making dinner rolls by wrapping the dough around his arm.
The film seems to build up its story and have some semblance of a genuinely developed plot but ultimately ends like so many of these other early short films, with a fight and a seemingly meaningless ending. Still, it's clear that Chaplin was beginning to make genuine advances in his film techniques.
The story involves some bakers going on strike demanding more money and less work, and so Charlie and one other man, played by Chester Conklin,have to take over for them. Neither of them is in anyway qualified to be baking bread.
There are some memorable moments, such as Charlie getting revenge against his co-worker for hitting him over the head (not knowing that his co-worker had been hit over the head himself), the floury dough-fights, and Charlie making dinner rolls by wrapping the dough around his arm.
The film seems to build up its story and have some semblance of a genuinely developed plot but ultimately ends like so many of these other early short films, with a fight and a seemingly meaningless ending. Still, it's clear that Chaplin was beginning to make genuine advances in his film techniques.