I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Excellent but underrated film

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The spoiler is already present in the synopsis; therefore, don't worry that there is no additional spoiling information.Funny! Off course this is not one of Charlie Chaplin's best films, as none of his short films for Keystone Studios (1914) or Essanay Studios (1915) is, but it is nice, possibly his best from 1914. There are two elements extremely interesting here: 1) First of all, Chaplin portrays ans actor that is a tramp-like version of himself (a lot of slapstick in spite of having his real appearance), without mustache, and the little tramp is a character played by that actor! 2) Besides that, it is impressive to see Chaplin disguised as a woman in order to charm the director. In addition, it is worth mentioning that some minutes from the film show a scene in which Chaplin acts together with comedian Fatty Arbuckle. They have been together other times (like in "The Knockout", which is much worse than "The Masquerader"), but here the partnership has a better outcome than in other situations, although not an exceptional one. This is the 10th film directed by Chaplin but only the 2nd written by him.

This is the first Keystone Chaplin film that I've actually found funny, and it's not just down to the Chaplin-as-woman gag. (Although, as others have pointed out, the slender Chaplin actually makes a remarkably pretty girl, and does a convincing job of acting feminine too.) The film is interesting in its own right as a backstage look into what I assume was film-making practice of the day -- the director (a notable performance by Charles Murray) acting out his leading lady's role to indicate what he wants, the male cast sharing a dressing-room as basic as that of your average stage chorus troupe -- and was apparently shot on Keystone's own studio lots. It contains a fair amount of standard brick-throwing, arse-kicking antics but also a significant quantity of more subtly-paced and genuinely amusing material, starting with Chaplin and Arbuckle's double act in the dressing-room and ending with a truly dreadful (in the best sense) pun. 'Senorita Chapelino' sneaking a surreptitious exhalation from a puff on 'her' beau's cigarette is worth a mention too.

Chaplin wrote and directed his second film, and he appears as himself with Fatty Arbuckle at Keystone studios in the opening scene before changing into costume as the tramp. He then makes time with the ladies while filming is going on, much to the dismay of the director. The director kicks Charlie to the curb only to find him getting revenge by returning to the studio dressed as a woman and initially fooling the director. Chaplin's second film where he appears as a woman is interesting because he is fairly convincing as a woman. Whether it's due to the age of the film, his height, or the expected neck to ankle dress of the period is uncertain. It doesn't matter because it maintains one's interest, although the film is uneven like most of his early efforts. Several silent stars are on hand including Mabel Normand and Charley Chase in small parts. ** of 4 stars.

In The Masquerader, Chaplin sort of breaks the fourth wall, in that he appears in the film as himself, sort of, and then changes into the costume of the Tramp a few minutes into the movie. Similar to his work in Film Johnnie, Caplin creates mayhem on set during shooting and promptly gets himself fired. Just before he leaves, he throws his suitcase at his boss and some hilarious mayhem ensues.The next day, Charlie returns dressed as a woman named Senorita Chapelino ("...a fairy floated into the studio..."). He is disturbingly convincing as a female, and of course all of the men at the studio come forward with aggressive amorous advances. Eventually, of course, Charlie is discovered, and this is followed by some of the best of those hilarious fight scenes of nearly all of Chaplin's early comedies. As with all of these old comedies, this one is deteriorated pretty badly, but there is still some pretty good editing at the end of the film. One thing about films made during that time is that they move so fast, and this fast motion makes some of the shorter shots go by so fast that some of them are almost incomprehensible, and the editing of these films seems to have suffered from this. But at the end of The Masquerader, there is some editing that is better than usual in these early comedies, particularly in the scene where he falls into the well.Fatty Arbuckle also appears early in the film as a fellow actor, which might be the most interesting scene in the film since Chaplin and Arbuckle play themselves, basically, as they get ready to go to work. I think The Masquerader is a bit of a milestone, as Chaplin is clearly developing the character of the Tramp as a down and out everyman just trying to turn his luck, rather than resorting to drunkenness or so much punching and kicking as in so many of his earlier films.