As previous IMDb reviewer Bob Lipton correctly notes, Charlie Chaplin's 'tramp' films were so popular that he spawned many imitators. (The Gloria Swanson performance which Mr Lipton cites was in 1973, on -- wait for it -- the Carol Burnett show. Carol Burnett played Buster Keaton, no less.) Chaplin impersonation contests were hugely popular in America from 1914 onward ... but there is NO truth to that urban legend about Chaplin entering one and losing.
Quite a few of the faux Chaplins impersonated him outright, copying his tramp costume and his plot lines: the most successful of these imitators was Billy West. One actor even cried himself Charlie Aplin, until Chaplin sued him off the screen. The more imaginative of the Chaplin impersonators merely emulated the Little Tramp's pathos without copying his physical appearance: the most successful of these was Harold Lloyd as a character yclept Lucky Luke, before Lloyd developed his own original horn-rimmed characterisation. Quite a lot of forethought went into Lloyd's development of Lucky Luke: Chaplin's moustache was one dot, so Luke's moustache was two dots. The tramp's trousers were too loose, so Luke's trousers were too tight. And so forth.
Some of the Chaplin copycats even 'borrowed' the stories and gags from specific Chaplin films. For instance, the first half of Snub Pollard's short comedy 'At the Ringside' blatantly copies the first half of Chaplin's 'Easy Street'. Only in the second half does Pollard's film diverge into a plot of its own (a boxing match).
Minerva Courtney impersonated Chaplin -- even copying his 'Tramp' costume -- in at least three low-budget shorts. The only notable aspect of Miss Courtney's impersonation is that she is a woman portraying a man, and she actually manages to be somewhat convincing: not only as a biological male, but specifically as an impersonator of one of the most famous men ever to appear on the screen. I noticed that this particular 'Charlie' was broader in the hips than at the shoulders, but the Tramp's baggy trousers do a great deal to disguise Miss Courtney's pelvic dimensions.
The best part of 'Miss Minerva Courtney in Her Impersonation of Charlie Chaplin' is the beginning. We see Miss Courtney as herself, in normal female garb and with medium-length fair hair. She steps into a changing room and strips down to her undergarments (nothing very racy here). She puts on a bust suppressor: an interesting touch, as she's not especially well-endowed in that area to be getting on with. This particular bust suppressor looks like one of those chest guards worn by baseball umpires. Next, she puts on a duplicate of Chaplin's 'Little Tramp' cozzy, not forgetting the moustache. This dressing scene, besides being interesting in itself, is almost certainly meant as insurance against accusations from the audience that "Miss Courtney" was actually a male actor impersonating a woman impersonating a man. Such things were not unknown in 1915: some of the 'female impersonators' in vaudeville were actually genuine females who lived as men full-time (shades of "Victor/Victoria"!) except when wearing frocks onstage. Minerva Courtney manages to be convincing enough as a male that this prologue is indeed necessary to convince us of her true sex.
After transforming herself into the Little Tramp, alas, our lass Minerva runs out of inspiration. At least she actually goes outdoors in her Chaplin rig, whereas many of the real Chaplin's "Tramp" comedies were filmed entirely indoors. (Sometimes featuring 'exterior' sets built on indoor stages.) But rather than putting the fake Tramp into an entirely new situation, Miss Courtney decides to copy one of the real Chaplin's films, ripping it off as closely as possible. Worse luck, the Chaplin film which she copies is 'The Champion', which features the Tramp in a boxing match against a much larger man. Why ever did a woman choose this particular plot line as a vehicle for her ability to pass for a male?
I was hoping that Miss Courtney would actually re-enact the climactic boxing match from 'The Champion', so that we could witness her prowess in the manly art of fisticuffs. Very annoyingly, this rip-off of 'The Champion' simply terminates, at an arbitrary point, without Miss Courtney ever actually climbing into the square circle. I suppose that audiences in 1915 would have been shocked at seeing a woman in a boxing match, especially against a male opponent. This impersonation of Chaplin, filmed on a minuscule budget, is interesting solely as a curiosity ... and as testament to how extremely lucrative the Tramp comedies were in their day, making other film-makers so eager to counterfeit them. I'll rate this sex-change 2 out of 10.
Quite a few of the faux Chaplins impersonated him outright, copying his tramp costume and his plot lines: the most successful of these imitators was Billy West. One actor even cried himself Charlie Aplin, until Chaplin sued him off the screen. The more imaginative of the Chaplin impersonators merely emulated the Little Tramp's pathos without copying his physical appearance: the most successful of these was Harold Lloyd as a character yclept Lucky Luke, before Lloyd developed his own original horn-rimmed characterisation. Quite a lot of forethought went into Lloyd's development of Lucky Luke: Chaplin's moustache was one dot, so Luke's moustache was two dots. The tramp's trousers were too loose, so Luke's trousers were too tight. And so forth.
Some of the Chaplin copycats even 'borrowed' the stories and gags from specific Chaplin films. For instance, the first half of Snub Pollard's short comedy 'At the Ringside' blatantly copies the first half of Chaplin's 'Easy Street'. Only in the second half does Pollard's film diverge into a plot of its own (a boxing match).
Minerva Courtney impersonated Chaplin -- even copying his 'Tramp' costume -- in at least three low-budget shorts. The only notable aspect of Miss Courtney's impersonation is that she is a woman portraying a man, and she actually manages to be somewhat convincing: not only as a biological male, but specifically as an impersonator of one of the most famous men ever to appear on the screen. I noticed that this particular 'Charlie' was broader in the hips than at the shoulders, but the Tramp's baggy trousers do a great deal to disguise Miss Courtney's pelvic dimensions.
The best part of 'Miss Minerva Courtney in Her Impersonation of Charlie Chaplin' is the beginning. We see Miss Courtney as herself, in normal female garb and with medium-length fair hair. She steps into a changing room and strips down to her undergarments (nothing very racy here). She puts on a bust suppressor: an interesting touch, as she's not especially well-endowed in that area to be getting on with. This particular bust suppressor looks like one of those chest guards worn by baseball umpires. Next, she puts on a duplicate of Chaplin's 'Little Tramp' cozzy, not forgetting the moustache. This dressing scene, besides being interesting in itself, is almost certainly meant as insurance against accusations from the audience that "Miss Courtney" was actually a male actor impersonating a woman impersonating a man. Such things were not unknown in 1915: some of the 'female impersonators' in vaudeville were actually genuine females who lived as men full-time (shades of "Victor/Victoria"!) except when wearing frocks onstage. Minerva Courtney manages to be convincing enough as a male that this prologue is indeed necessary to convince us of her true sex.
After transforming herself into the Little Tramp, alas, our lass Minerva runs out of inspiration. At least she actually goes outdoors in her Chaplin rig, whereas many of the real Chaplin's "Tramp" comedies were filmed entirely indoors. (Sometimes featuring 'exterior' sets built on indoor stages.) But rather than putting the fake Tramp into an entirely new situation, Miss Courtney decides to copy one of the real Chaplin's films, ripping it off as closely as possible. Worse luck, the Chaplin film which she copies is 'The Champion', which features the Tramp in a boxing match against a much larger man. Why ever did a woman choose this particular plot line as a vehicle for her ability to pass for a male?
I was hoping that Miss Courtney would actually re-enact the climactic boxing match from 'The Champion', so that we could witness her prowess in the manly art of fisticuffs. Very annoyingly, this rip-off of 'The Champion' simply terminates, at an arbitrary point, without Miss Courtney ever actually climbing into the square circle. I suppose that audiences in 1915 would have been shocked at seeing a woman in a boxing match, especially against a male opponent. This impersonation of Chaplin, filmed on a minuscule budget, is interesting solely as a curiosity ... and as testament to how extremely lucrative the Tramp comedies were in their day, making other film-makers so eager to counterfeit them. I'll rate this sex-change 2 out of 10.
