Charlie and his boss have difficulties just getting to the house they are going to wallpaper. The householder is angry because he can't get breakfast and his wife is screaming at the maid as they arrive. The kitchen gas stove explodes, and Charlie offers to fix it. The wife's secret lover arrives and is passed off as the workers' supervisor, but the husband doesn't buy this and fires shots. The stove explodes violently, destroying the house.
Practical Effects
Real explosions staged with 1915 safety standards (none)
Acting
Chaplin's assistant character before the Tramp fully formed
Direction
Chaplin directing himself in escalating three-way farce
Director
Charlie Chaplin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Chaplin made this at Essanay Studios during his explosive 1915 creative burst, releasing over a dozen shorts that year.
The 'cuckold with a gun' trope here mirrors countless stage farces Chaplin knew from his British music hall upbringing—he's literally translating Victorian theater into cinematic slapstick.
US
