Sadly Over-hyped

Not even bad in a good way

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors. From his post- Essanay period after leaving Keystone, 'The Floorwalker' is not one of his very best or even among the best of this particular period. It shows a noticeable step up in quality though from his Keystone period, where he was still evolving and in the infancy of his long career, from 1914, The Essanay period is something of Chaplin's adolescence period where his style had been found and starting to settle. Something that can be seen in the more than worthwhile 'The Floorwalker'. 'The Floorwalker' is not one of his all-time funniest or most memorable, other efforts also have more pathos and a balance of that and the comedy. The story is still a little flimsy, there are times where it struggles to sustain the short length, and could have had more variety and less more of the same repeition.On the other hand, 'The Floorwalker' looks pretty good, not incredible but it was obvious that Chaplin was taking more time with his work (even when deadlines were still tight) and not churning out as many countless shorts in the same year of very variable success like he did with Keystone. Appreciate the importance of his Keystone period and there is some good stuff he did there, but the more mature and careful quality seen here and later on is obvious.While not one of his funniest or original, 'The Floorwalker' is still very entertaining with some clever, entertaining and well-timed slapstick. It moves quickly and there is no dullness in sight. Chaplin directs more than competently, if not quite cinematic genius standard yet. He also, as usual, gives an amusing and expressive performance and at clear ease with the physicality of the role. The supporting cast acquit themselves well.Summing up, worth a look though Chaplin did better. 7/10 Bethany Cox

"The Floorwalker" is a 1916 black-and-white silent movie, so this is going to have its 100th anniversary next year. Chaplin himself was in his mid-20s when he wrote, directed and starred in this one. It runs for roughly 30 minutes and features Chaplin's most famous character: The Tramp. All the action takes place at a department store where the protagonist is the new floorwalker. However, the old one is obviously not too happy about having been let go, so he decides to go out on a criminal note. Unluckily for Chaplin, the old one looks very similar to him, so Chaplis is basically busy for the entire film trying to get away from the huge store manager. He is played by Eric Campbell again, a regular in Chaplin's films. Edna Purviance is on board again, even if the romance story in this little movie is not really significant this time. All in all, a solid watch. Recommended.

In this silent short we see Chaplin creating chaos in a department store.He becomes mixed in a scheme of the store manager and the store's floorwalker to embezzle money from the establishment.The Floorwalker (1916) is Charlie Chaplin's first Mutual Film Corporation film.Eric Campbell plays Store manager.Edna Purviance is Manager's secretary.Lloyd Bacon is Assistant manager.Charlotte Mineau plays Beautiful store detective.This is not the best Chaplin short, but it does have its moments.It's most enjoyable to watch Chaplin doing his ballet moves while Campbell chases him in the office.And then there's the mirror gag with Bacon, with whom Charlie bears some likeness.It's similar to what Groucho Marx did in Duck Soup in the 30's.We also get to see a chase down an upward escalator.For Chaplin fans, like myself, this short is one not to be missed.

There are some good moments in "The Floorwalker" that make up for the more routine parts. Chaplin gets good mileage out of an identity mix-up - a theme he always liked - and he also has some good slapstick moments with Eric Campbell, one of his best supporting actors. The plot is mostly goofy, serving mainly as an excuse to allow the characters to chase each other around the store. Overall, it's about average for a Chaplin short feature, which makes it pretty good by most other standards.