Well, well, well, Charlie becomes a gal... And this is the third time that we get to see him in drag (after "A Busy Day" and "The Masquerader") - but in "A Woman" he REALLY brings this role to perfection! And not only that: this short is so FULLY packed with hilarious gags that you simply can't stop laughing all the time...
It all starts like so many of his Keystone films: the little tramp takes a walk in the park and meets a pretty young girl, who's already 'occupied' with a gentleman, though, whom she blindfolds to play 'hide and seek' with him after he's knocked Charlie out. Well, such a thing demands revenge, of course, and so Charlie leads him with his cane around his neck to the lake - and pushes him in! But while the enraged 'gentleman' is trying to recover, Charlie gets friendly with his wife and daughter (Edna Purviance), whom the old philanderer had simply left sleeping on a bench, and they take him home with them, have tea together and get even more friendly - until Father comes home, and as soon as he recognizes the impudent little guy who pushed him into the lake, he starts chasing him, and the only way for Charlie is upstairs; and the only way out for him is to wear one of Edna's dresses, to shave his mustache, and to turn into a charming young lady... who immediately awakes Father's interest...!
The whole cast is simply wonderful throughout the whole film; and especially Charlie, of course - who really makes a most LOVELY 'girl'! Without his mustache, with a little bit of makeup, and playing it 'shy' in the most amusing way, he tricks and fools Father and his equally lecherous friend even into kissing each other!! Constant laughs are guaranteed in this outrageous and for its time quite daring picture; one of the most WONDERFUL examples of Keystone nostalgia, and great family entertainment even today, exactly 100 years later!
It all starts like so many of his Keystone films: the little tramp takes a walk in the park and meets a pretty young girl, who's already 'occupied' with a gentleman, though, whom she blindfolds to play 'hide and seek' with him after he's knocked Charlie out. Well, such a thing demands revenge, of course, and so Charlie leads him with his cane around his neck to the lake - and pushes him in! But while the enraged 'gentleman' is trying to recover, Charlie gets friendly with his wife and daughter (Edna Purviance), whom the old philanderer had simply left sleeping on a bench, and they take him home with them, have tea together and get even more friendly - until Father comes home, and as soon as he recognizes the impudent little guy who pushed him into the lake, he starts chasing him, and the only way for Charlie is upstairs; and the only way out for him is to wear one of Edna's dresses, to shave his mustache, and to turn into a charming young lady... who immediately awakes Father's interest...!
The whole cast is simply wonderful throughout the whole film; and especially Charlie, of course - who really makes a most LOVELY 'girl'! Without his mustache, with a little bit of makeup, and playing it 'shy' in the most amusing way, he tricks and fools Father and his equally lecherous friend even into kissing each other!! Constant laughs are guaranteed in this outrageous and for its time quite daring picture; one of the most WONDERFUL examples of Keystone nostalgia, and great family entertainment even today, exactly 100 years later!