Charlot #11: Mabel at the Wheel

The history of women directors in Hollywood is intricate and, I suspect, longer than most people realize. Yes, it has been dominated by men since the beginning. We’ve only recently reached the point where an all-male Best Directing lineup at the Oscars can only be explained by an obvious oversight and not just a relative lack of opportunities. When talking about studio-era successes, there’s only a handful to discuss: Ida Lupino, Dorothy Arzner, and Maya Deren most notably. But the field actually does open up when you go back to the silent era. Today we get to talk about Mabel Normand as director.

It’s not for great reasons.

A collaboration between Chaplin and Normand, both brands in their own right, was bound to create a power struggle eventually. Even Mickey and Bugs only ever appeared in one stringently negotiated scene together.

The story goes like this: While shooting the scene where Chaplin, as the villain, attempts to sabotage the race by turning the dirt course to mud, Charlie had an idea for an additional gag. A kink in the hose would stop the flow, and then when he looks down into the hose to inspect, he gets a jet of water to the face!

Students of film will recognize this as, very literally, the oldest joke in the history of film.

Mabel refused to shoot this, after which Chaplin openly questioned her competence as a director. The accusation was undoubtedly sexist in nature. I’ve been arguing that Chaplin’s work has aged better than many of his contemporaries, but this whole incident is a reminder that Chaplin the man was very much a product of his time.

Producer Mack Sennett eventually negotiated a deal to resume production that involved him taking over directing duties. At least I don’t have to write “but the damage was done.” Mabel directed more films and continued to co-star with Chaplin. Here we see Charlie itching to direct his own work, which for most of his future career he will.

What’s that? The movie? Oh, yeah, Mabel at the Wheel. It’s good, quite fun. Charlie throws cartoon bombs like a video game villain.

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This will hardly come as a surprise but I’m not expecting to continue this Charlie Chaplin series, mainly because these DVDs have been burning a hole on my shelf and I’m sick of these write-ups holding me off. I started this series to encourage me to write more and it’s clearly failed. I still do want to, but my interest has shifted. That’s okay. It happens a lot. Regardless, thank you so much for reading this far.

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