Reviewers here so far seem to be apologizing that this isn't a later Chaplin film. Perhaps if they understood the circumstances under which it was made, they would appreciate it for what it is.
In 1913, Mack Sennett had contracted to produce three one reel comedies a week. By the end of 1913, they were so popular that he contracted to produce four. Producing 30 minutes of comedy every week was strenuous. Everybody at Keystone felt overworked. Now they were commanded to produce four reels Lead comedian Fred Mace had quit in June 1913. His replacement, Ford Sterling told Sennett that he was getting better offers and would also quit soon. Sennett hired vaudeville comedian Charlie Chaplin to replace Ford. The problem was that Chaplin had never made a film before. He was about to enter a comedy factory where he would be punched, slapped, kicked, pushed and fall down again and again for 12 hours a day, six days a week, 50 weeks a year.
Ford was gracious enough to stay on for a few months to help Chaplin get accustomed to the pace. This is a film that was probably written for Sterling by Lehrman. Sterling has the starring role. If Chaplin had not signed with Keystone, probably Lehrman himself or Eddie Dillon or a half dozen other actors at keystone could have played the part or the rival lover that Chaplin plays. It was a simple Keystone formula picture: two men fight over the same beautiful girl. Chaos breaks out. Cops come. A chase ensues and when it ends so does the picture.
The movie begins as its title says "Between Showers." It has rained and Ford Sterling's umbrella has been ruined. He is going to steal an umbrella. What is great about Sterling is that he talks directly to the audience. He tells them exactly what he is going to do. He breaks the separation between the audience and the actor (the invisible fourth wall). Sterling talks to the audience like they're his best friend. He tells the audience straight out, "Watch me while I steal this umbrella," as if he is doing something the audience is going to find daring and funny. It is a little strange that he would pick a cop to steal the umbrella from, but it just makes the silly heist even sillier.
At this point, we skip to Sterling being noble and helping a pretty woman, Peggy Pearce across a street. The street is flooded and she will get soaked if she tries to cross it. Sterling foolishly gives her his newly stolen umbrella and goes to find a board to help her cross. At this point he first encounter the tramp, Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin also finds the woman quite fetching and he also tries to help her. Sterling and Chaplin begin some great slap-stick fighting. This is the main motif for the rest of the film.
What is marvelous is how perfectly Sterling and Chaplin match. They both have perfect comic timing and look as if they have been working together for years. If Sterling was not about to leave Keystone and strike out on his own and if Chaplin had not just been hired, it is possible that they would have have been the movie's first great comedy team with the large sized Sterling finding the perfect foil and stooge in the small sized Chaplin. There is something wonderful in watching Chaplin getting knocked down, popping right up and fighting back and refusing to let the bigger sized Sterling intimidate him.
Again, you have to see Chaplin here as just an actor in a Keystone formula movie. The formula is funny, and Chaplin is executing it perfectly, but it is not really Chaplin's film. It would be another month before he would really start making his own films.
The writer-director Henry Pathe Lehrman, also deserves a lot of credit. He was apparently struggling bitterly with Chaplin to get him to adapt to Keystone's breakneck style and pace. For this round, at least, he won.
