A Night in the Show 1915

Overview

A Night in the Show is a 1915 comedy film directed by and starring Charles Chaplin. It was Chaplin's twelfth film for Essanay and was made at Majestic Studio in Los Angeles. The production was created from Chaplin's stage work from a play called Mumming Birds, also known as A Night in an English Music Hall, which he had performed with the Karno Company from London. The cast also features Phyllis Allen, Lloyd Bacon, Lawrence A. Bowes, Edna Purviance, Charlotte Mineau, and Dee Lampton. In the film, two disruptive theater patrons, the wealthy drunk Mr. Pest and the rowdy working-class Mr. Rowdy, both played by Chaplin, attend a live vaudeville theater production. Their constant antics, seat-hopping, and physical altercations quickly overshadow the acts on stage. Mr. Pest tries several theater seats before winding up in front in a fight with the conductor, leading to him being thrown out. He pushes a fat lady into a fountain in the lobby before returning to sit down by Edna, plunging the entire theater into chaos.