Silent Sundays presents Charles Chaplin in "Tillie's Punctured Romance."

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Silent Sundays at the Revue Cinema presents

TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE (1914)
Directed by Mack Sennett
Starring Marie Dressler, Charles Chaplin, Mabel Normand, the Keystone Cops.
68mins | 16mm

Sunday, March 14, 4PM.

Admission is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. Memberships available at the door!


"Tillie’s Punctured Romance," starring Charlie Chaplin, Cobourg's own Marie Dressler and Mabel Normand is one of Hollywood’s earliest feature-length comedies.

This silent 1914 classic is coming to The Revue, on Sunday, March 14, at 4 p.m., and will be accompanied by Toronto’s own William O’Meara on the piano.

Director Mack Sennett decided to make the feature after being inspired by the momentous efforts of his mentor D.W. Griffith in Birth of a Nation.

It came out when Chaplin was still creating his iconic Tramp character, so you’ll see a Chaplin here that you perhaps have never seen before. He plays an opportunistic, villainous city slicker, with a pencil-thin mustache and derby hat, who latches on to Tillie (Dressler), a farmer's daughter. His girlfriend (Normand) from the city also gets in on the action once she realizes Tillie is heir to a multi-million-dollar fortune.

We’ve already seen Chaplin’s Little Tramp at The Revue in a couple of shorts. The character, with his toothbrush mustache, bowler hat, baggy pants and heart of gold, is, along with Mickey Mouse, perhaps one of the most recognized screen icons in the world.

Thanks to a videocassette found at Kresge's in the early 1980s, "Tillie's" was the first Chaplin film I ever saw. It has a little bit of everything: slapstick, romance, intrigue, a car-chase or two. It also features other stars from Sennett’s Keystone studios, including Edgar Kennedy, Mack Swain and Charley Chase. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. As always, a short subject will precede the feature.

When the film premiered in Toronto in August, 1915, the lineups at the Strand Theatre on Yonge St. did not dissipate for an entire week. "From the moment the doors of the Strand opened yesterday morning til they closed after the ninth successive performance at night," said the Toronto Star, "the theatre was packed, while for the evening shows hundreds were waiting, in a long line stretching nearly to King street, to gain admission."

Our pianist William O’Meara, who has performed internationally at silent film screenings, accompanied Tillie's last year during TIFF's Shhh! Silent Film Screenings.

A print programme will be available at the door -- come early to ensure you get a copy!

-Eric Veillette

SILENT SUNDAYS is presented by The Revue Film Society & 32elvismovies.com!