The Masquerader (1914 film) - Alchetron, the free social encyclopedia

The Masquerader is a 1914 film written and directed by Charles Chaplin during his time at The Keystone Company. This film stars Chaplin and Roscoe Arbuckle and has a running time of 13 minutes. It is the tenth film directed and the second written by Chaplin. This is a rare film where we get the chance to see Charlie the actor, Charlie the Tramp, and Charlie as a female impersonator all in one.

23 the masquerader aug 27 1914

Synopsis

The Masquerader is a comedy short film, that is about making films at Keystone. Charlie plays an actor who bungles several scenes and is kicked out. The next day a strange beautiful woman appears to audition for the film, it's Charlie in drag. After doing a perfect impersonation of a female, Charlie has drawn the attention of the director and is hired to act in his films. The director gives the beautiful woman the men's dressing room to change in and to Charlie's mistake he returns to his tramp costume. When the director returns, looking for the woman, he finds Charlie and that he has been tricked. Angry, the director chases Charlie through the studio until Charlie decides to jump into what he thinks is a prop well. The film ends with the director and other actors laughing at Charlie as he is trapped in the bottom of the well. The plot involving a man dressing up as a woman is quite popular in old silent movies.