She was born knowing more about comedy and comedy routine than any of the rest of us ever learn... Charlie Chaplin
It says in the programme notes for the NSFF that Mabel Normand
is sometimes considered the female Chaplin but, given that she, along with Henry
Lehrman, directed the Kennington clown in some of his first films in Hollywood
– his Tramp persona first appearing in Mabel's Strange Predicament
(1914) – maybe Charlie was the male Mabel? He certainly respected her abilities
as the above quote suggests. This aside, there’s no doubt that Normand was one
of the most successful directors, writers and actors of the teens who,
according to Adela Rogers St. Johns would have been a success in any era of
film.
By 1918 Mabel had moved into features and produced the biggest
grosser of the year with the uproarious Mickey. This was the last of nine
features Normand made in 1918 and The Floor Below was the third and it
comes in at almost 78 minutes compared with Mickey’s 93 and Wikipedia’s 60?! It
was considered lost for a long time until being rediscovered "in the
estate of a Dutch collector" by the Nederlands Filmmuseum in 2005 – they
also found Gish and Valentino’s Beyond the Rocks there too. It was
screened at the NSFF and now again after restoration in 2018 and it looks
great.
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| Amabel Ethelreid Normand aka Mabs |
Given how few of Normand’s features survive, we’re very
lucky to have The Floor Below and, whilst it’s not as good as Mickey,
it does show another side to Mabel’s performance with less slapstick and more
acting with expressions that almost never fail to remind me of Stan Laurel:
direct to camera, a crestfallen look, a sniff, the edge of tears, hands moving
helplessly as the hopelessness of her situation overwhelms. It’s impossible for
the audience not to respond with sympathy and once she’s got you, the
laughter’s not far behind. And, in this case, it’s definitely Stanley who’s the
male Mabel… he copied her without much doubt.
There are many of these jolting moments in this charming if
slightly predictable and film… and the spirited orchestral score from Daan van
den Hurk uplifts the film with emphatic force, picking up on Mabel’s energy
when the narrative slows and making the audience feel like we’re as invested in
this story as much as our great grandparents would have been. Writing about the
2007 screening, Jay Weissberg essentially saw Clarence Badger doing the same
thing by allowing Normand’s fun-loving personality to shine through. Goldwyn
Studios were rapid-prototyping Mabel to be a more dramatic star and this was
very much a work in progress… which is fascinating in itself.
Mabel plays a cheeky (natch) copy girl at a big American newspaper,
she’s called Betsy Donnelly (oh, those Oirish!), name shortened to Bep probably
because she has plenty of pep! We first see her shooting craps with the elderly
delivery boy on the floor behind her desk as the rest of the floor is busy and
her boss, the publisher (Willard Dashiell) is discussing a recent spate of
robberies on Madison Avenue with his ace reporter, Mr Spitsfinder (Romaine
Callender – nothing gets past him). Spitsfinder bemoans the lack of police
cooperation as his boss hands him a piece describing the detectives as helpless
against the “bold and shrewd” criminals who seem to be one step ahead, possibly
using inside knowledge.
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| Louis R. Grise, Mabs, Willard Dashiell and Romaine Callender |
The Police suspect that the mission house of the rich but benevolent Hunter Mason (Tom Moore), The Good Harbour, could be the heart of the operation. The boss tells Spitsfinder to stay close to the police station in case anything breaks. Meanwhile in editorial, the paper’s agony aunt, Florrie Fredericks aka Janus Stuppel (Louis R. Grise - I think) is involved in a running feud with Bep! Things get out of hand after she starts reading out his latest advice in mocking tones only for the Publisher to crunch his chewed cigar in her general direction prompting one of those “Stan Laurel” moments as she turns on the waterworks, dabs her hankie to her nose, forgetting that’s where she’d hidden the dice…
“…and it will prevent thousands going into poverty and
crime.”
Meanwhile, at The Good Harbour, “the one bright spot in a
drab part of town”, designed to assist “derelicts”, we find the good Mr Mason stopping
off on route to the opera, to explain his plans for expansion to his mother (Charlotte
Granville) and his Uncle Amos (Lincoln Plumer). They’re impressed but his fiancée,
Helen Harrison (Helen Dahl), “a designing woman, who looks from the man to the
fortune beyond…” is most distressed at the inhabitants and looks down her well
powdered nose at the whole enterprise… We’re even more sure she’s a wrong un
when she goes downstairs and immediately embraces Mr Hunter’s PA, Monty Latham
(Wallace McCutcheon). Such wicked folk, clearly intent on making bad with Mr
Hunter’s fortune in their different ways. As Helen buries herself in Monty’s
arms, two strange men poke their heads in only to be moved on by a wave of his
hand.
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| Helen Dahl, Tom Moore, Charlotte Granville and Lincoln Plumer |
“You’re all wrong Hunter! Once a crook always a crook…
Environment may keep ‘em straight, but they all fall when tempted…” warns
Uncle Amos, almost quoting from Tory Party literature. Hunter makes him a wager
of a thousand dollars that he can straighten out even the finest thief…
Meanwhile Bep pushes her foe too far and temporarily gets
sacked before being selected as exactly the right person to go undercover with
the Hunter’s to find out who’s doing what to whom and why after Spitsfinder overhears
a suspect being interrogated by the police after arrest at the Good Harbour and
who has plans of the Vandervent building – the next robbery? To be honest… this
is as clunky as it reads and there were probably more elegant ways of getting
Mabel into position…
If only we had and inconspicuous person who wouldn’t arouse suspicion…
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| Florrie Fredericks vs Bep! |
She affects her own introduction after one last confrontation
with the male, pale and stale agony aunt which leads to the police being called
and her scaling the side of what turns out to be Hunter’s mission house… She
bumps into him and their chemistry begins as a cop pursues her into the Mission
and she asks Hunter for help; he duly obliges. For Bep this is the chance to
get the dirt on the Morgan operation and for him it’s a chance to win his bet
with his uncle for Bep is surely the “fine thief” he was looking for to reform.
A position of mutual mistrust, but clearly something more as Bep makes him a
fine breakfast after a night kipping on the couch.
Spitsfinder is delighted with this fortunate event and
tells her to sit tight and dig in to understand which of the party is involved,
convinced that Hunter Mason is somehow involved Cue Mabel as the fish out water
in the family mansion as he tries to make a lady out of her. Cue also a
thousand expressions of disquiet and comedy outrage… as the cultural cringe
unravels and haughty Helen and mendacious Monty are exposed by Bep’s pep!
Mabel is given plenty of opportunities to improvise her
way towards a more disciplined persona and as Jay says, director Badger allows
her the room to do this. It’s a compelling watch because of Mabel but it’s also
still entertaining as a cultural and crime caper after the twists and turns of
the opening half. Normand looks to have already transitioned to a subtler
comedic actress and that’s no surprise given her first five year were not just
with Mack Sennett but also DW G.
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| Mabel gives us The Look |
Another important part of the Normand legacy from when
she was up there with Mary, Lillian, Norma and Gloria and full props to Daan
van den Hurk for the colourful score which even online, made this feel like a
real event; one of the highlights of the online festival.
* Adela Rogers St. Johns, quoting from a conversation
with Charlie Chaplin in Love, Laughter and Tears. My Hollywood Story, Doubleday
& Company, Garden City, 1978, p. 69.
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| Trade ad from The Moving Picture World |
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