A waiter (Charlie Chaplin) gets into trademark mischief at
work and then goes to a skating rink on his lunch break. There he meets a
pretty girl (Edna Purviance) and the two of them hit it off. The waiter has a
confrontation though with a customer (Eric Campbell) who recognises him from
the restaurant and the two start bickering and fighting while skating. Having
left the rink, the girl invites the waiter to her skating party that night but instead
of revealing his real job he tells her that he is Sir Cecil Seltzer. Later, at
the party, people who had met during the day once again meet up as various
strands of the story come together, resulting in a fast paced chase ending.
I was a little bored by the first half of this film which
was set mainly in a restaurant, but my enjoyment grew as the action turned to
the rink. There Chaplin was able to showcase his remarkable skating skills and
ability to bully his co star Eric Campbell in an ever changing variety of ways.
The second half more than makes up for the lacklustre opening and left me with
a smile on my face if not a laughter induced stomach ache.
