The Floorwalker (Mutual, 1916). Very Good on Linen. One Sheet (27" X 41.5").. ...

Description

The Floorwalker (Mutual, 1916). Very Good on Linen. One Sheet (27" X 41.5").
Just two short years following his first appearance in a motion picture, Charles Chaplin had become the number one movie star in the world. Elevated by immense success with his comedies for Keystone and Essanay, in 1916 the star was offered the largest salary to ever be extended to a motion picture star. In addition, Chaplin's new contract with Mutual freed him from the low-budget, assembly-line atmosphere of moviemaking that he detested at his former studios, and so he agreed to create 12 two-reelers in twelve months, far more time than was spent on any of his earlier films. The idea for his first Mutual two-reeler, The Floorwalker, came to the actor while visiting a New York department store. Going up an escalator, Chaplin saw a nervous man slip, and at once grasped the comic possibilities of the moving staircase. This beautiful stone litho, one of only a few examples known to exist (and very few first release one-sheets exist from any of Chaplin's Mutual films), depicts Chaplin in a contemplative moment with a pretty store mannequin, and the studio added "I am now with Mutual" to the poster, so viewers would know of the studio's great acquisition of the world's foremost star. The poster has received professional conservation and includes restoration to minor chips within the image, along the top and bottom horizontal fold and within the vertical fold, though none disconcerting. The bottom 5 to 6 inches of the poster, which was the title saying "in The Floorwalker" was expertly trimmed and replaced. Incidentally, the reason the poster was trimmed in this way was surely because a theater used it to promote another Chaplin short by a cost-conscious theater exhibitor. The borders have also been lightly airbrushed to address border chipping.


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