"A Film Johnnie" is an American black-and-white silent film from 1914 (over a century old) that runs for 11 minutes (maybe longer in some versions). The star here is of course lead actor Charlie Chaplin in one of his very early career efforts. But you will find other names like Arbuckle, Sterling or the wonderfully stunning Mabel Normand who managed to make a name for themselves back then in the early days of filmmaking. Ironically enough, Charlie is the one looking for his star here and as he tries to get into the building he causes a great deal of mayhem of course. having seen a great deal of Chaplin's short film works, I probably would not really call myself a fan, but I have seen some okay works and most of it was probably better than this one here he made in his early 20s. But I still believe he elevates the material at times and it probably would have been a weaker watch with pretty much every other lead actor playing his part. So even if the material here was not really that great, I can see why Chaplin quickly turned into such a big star. Oh yeah, this one here he was not yet writing and directing himself as he did a lot later on. Maybe with him coming up with the script it would have been a more rewarding film. I give it a thumbs-down.
Review of A Film Johnnie
