A Film Johnnie

I love these early short comedies from Chaplin because, much more than most other directors early in their career, these early short films are such clear depictions of reality, there is always so much history to be seen in them. In Film Johnny, Charlie plays himself, basically, a newcomer to film, trying to get into the pictures and get noticed. But of course, in true Chaplin form, the only thing he manages to do is create havoc, botch an unnecessary rescue attempt and a make a mess of the studio.

My understanding is that "film Johnny" refers to the guys that would hang around film studios, hoping to get inside and get a job (it should be noted that Steven Spielberg used to do this). Chaplin starts out in this film as one of those guys, and then we see a clear escalation of the gags that they put together, culminating in a priceless scene where he gets his hands on a gun and gives in to the feeling of power and invincibility it gives him, and he goes around shooting up the place, famously lighting a cigarette by shooting it with the gun and then firing shots at random around the studio, eventually catching it on fire and inadvertently providing the perfect ending for the film that they had been trying to shoot while he was messing everything up.

It is also interesting, as I have noticed some other IMDb users have pointed out, that in this film you get a glimpse of the Keystone Studios lot only weeks after Chaplin began his film career. A must see for any fan.