Between Showers (1914)
A stolen umbrella and a flooded street corner spark a rivalry between two gallants competing to help a young woman across a puddle. When a policeman scoops her up before either man can act, the pursuit turns into a brawl over who really owns the umbrella.
One of Chaplin’s earliest Keystone one-reelers, Between Showers was directed by Henry Lehrman rather than Chaplin himself, made in the brief early stretch of his career when he was still learning studio filmmaking from Keystone’s house directors before taking the reins on his own pictures.
Background
Released February 28, 1914, Between Showers was the fifth film Chaplin made during his first month at Keystone, produced by Mack Sennett and directed by Henry Lehrman from a story by Reed Heustis. It was also the last Chaplin film Lehrman directed; the two had a famously contentious relationship, and Chaplin would move toward directing his own pictures within months. The large roadside puddle at the center of the plot was reportedly inspired by an actual stretch of torrential Los Angeles rain that had been soaking the city when the film was shot.
What to watch for
The plot is built almost entirely around a stolen umbrella and a flooded street corner, where Chaplin and Ford Sterling compete to help a young woman across the water, each trying to upstage the other’s display of gallantry. Chester Conklin and Emma Bell Clifton round out a small cast built for maximum collision in a tight space. A policeman eventually scoops the woman up himself before either man can act, turning what had been a courtship rivalry into a straightforward brawl over ownership of the umbrella, a shift typical of Keystone’s preference for physical chaos over any sustained romantic plot.
