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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 952

A Film Johnnie

191412 minUnited States

Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs: 11:21
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · George Nichols · Public domain

Synopsis

A cinema spectator becomes infatuated with a woman on the screen and follows that fascination to the studio where she works. Once inside, he cannot reliably distinguish a staged emergency from a real one. His attempts to take part in the action interrupt the filmmakers, turning the production process into the subject of its own escalating comedy.

Cast

Charles Chaplin

Roscoe Arbuckle

Virginia Kirtley

Mabel Normand

Ford Sterling

DirectorsGeorge Nichols

Behind the scenes

The short uses the Keystone studio and appearances by its performers as part of the attraction. Chaplin's intruder lets the audience look behind screen fiction while demonstrating how easily a viewer can misunderstand the work of making it.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film reference Wikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

Charles Chaplin — Strauss-Peyton Studio, 1921; published in Photoplay no. 3 (1922); National Portrait Gallery / Wikimedia Commons. · Public domain in the United States (PD-US-expired)
Roscoe Arbuckle — Photographer uncredited; https://archive.org/stream/starsofphotopla00phot#page/n25/mode/2up · Public domain
Virginia Kirtley — Unknown author Unknown author; Filmland favorites; being the autographed photographs with biographical sketches of the leading photo play stars (1915). Book available online at: https://archive.org/details/filmlandfavorite00losa · Public domain
Mabel Normand — Herman Mishkin · Public domain
Ford Sterling — Unknown author Unknown author; J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs · Public domain

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