A Night in the Show

A Night in the Show (1915) is a silent Charlie Chaplin short you can watch online on iFILM — twenty-four minutes in which Chaplin directs and plays two men at once. Tipsy swell Mr. Pest down in the stalls, lout Mr. Rowdy up in the gallery: one performer, two engines of chaos.

There is barely a plot, just an evening at the theatre that both characters methodically wreck. Pest swaps seats, brawls with the conductor, tips a stout lady into a fountain and pesters the woman beside him, played by Edna Purviance. Up above, Rowdy pours beer onto the crowd and finishes the night by turning a fire hose on the whole stage — dancer, singers and fire-eater included. This is early Essanay-era Chaplin, before The Kid, built on pure physical mischief and split-second timing. Short, loud and reliably funny, it's an easy way into the silent era. Stream A Night in the Show (1915) online on iFILM.