In 1914, Keystone Studios boss Mack Sennett, the "King of Comedy", put his newest hire to work. Charles Chaplin made 36 pictures there during his first year on the screen: 35 shorts and a feature, Tillie's Punctured Romance. He started out as merely an actor, tasked with replacing the departing Ford Sterling, and he certainly did that. However, he took on other roles too, from building gags to writing scripts and, halfway through the year, directing his own films. He learned as he went, picking up knowledge everywhere, but he taught as much as he learned, bringing his vaudeville training to the Hollywood screen and reinventing film comedy in the process. By the end of the year, Chaplin was a star. To celebrate and reaffirm his unparalleled contribution to cinema, film critic Hal C F Astell of Apocalypse Later reviewed each of these 36 films in 2014 on the centennials of their original release dates. In doing so, he experienced them as audiences of the time experienced them, watching this new talent grow and mature. From early appearances like Kid Auto Races at Venice, Cal to his first classic, Dough and Dynamite, this book takes a fresh look at these Keystone pictures which had languished for years in poor quality prints. Chaplin said that all he needed to make a comedy was "a park, a policeman and a pretty girl". Here's where he learned how to do it. Films reviewed include the following: Making a Living Kid Auto Races at Venice, Cal Mabel's Strange Predicament A Thief Catcher Between Showers A Film Johnnie Tango Tangles His Favorite Pastime Cruel, Cruel Love The Star Boarder Mabel at the Wheel Twenty Minutes of Love Caught in a Cabaret Caught in the Rain A Busy Day The Fatal Mallet Her Friend the Bandit The Knockout Mabel's Busy Day Mabel's Married Life Laughing Gas The Property Man The Face on the Barroom Floor Recreation The Masquerader His New Profession The Rounders The New Janitor Those Love Pangs Dough and Dynamite Gentlemen of Nerve His Musical Career His Trysting Place Getting Acquainted His Prehistoric Past Tillie's Punctured Romance
