The Face on the Bar Room Floor is a short film written and directed by Charles Chaplin in 1914. Chaplin stars in this film, loosely based on the poem of the same name by Hugh Antoine d'Arcy.
Synopsis
A devastated tramp (Charlie Chaplin) visits a crowd-filled bar and recounts the story of how he fell in love with a woman and then had her taken by a friend of his. Drunk, he keeps trying to draw the woman's picture on the floor with a piece of chalk, and gets into fights with other men in the process. He eventually passes out “dead drunk” (thus deviating from the poem, where the protagonist actually falls “dead”) at the end of the film.
According to Chaplin expert Gerald D. McDonald, "The subtitles of the film were lines from the poem, but the original verses were altered to match the Keystone credo that life is a funny game at best."
Reception
A reviewer for The Moving Picture World gave the film a favorable review, writing "Chas. Chaplain [sic] wins new laurels in the leading part. This is bound to please."
Cast
Charles Chaplin - Artist/Tramp
Cecile Arnold - Madeline
Fritz Schade - Drinker
Vivian Edwards - Model
Chester Conklin - Drinker
Harry McCoy - Drinker
Hank Mann - Drinker
Wallace MacDonald - Drinker
Edward Nolan - Bartender
See also
The Face on the Barroom Floor (poem) List of American films of 1914 Charlie Chaplin filmography