With its all-star cast and fizzy blend of sophistication and flat- out slapstick, Tillie’s Punctured Romance is a landmark in film history for several reasons. Besides providing Marie Dressler with her screen debout and being the first feature film for both Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin, it is believed to be the first feature-length comedy film ever. The film’s reputation suffered over the years as it was available only in drastically re-cut and shortened versions. The restored Tillie’s Punctured Romance reveals itself as an interesting hybrid. Much of the action is staged frontally on sets, as befits Dressler’s theatrical experience and Chaplin’s music-hall roots. At the same time, many scenes are shot on location, and Sennett intercuts deftly between as many as four different locations. The film’s final reel is a comedic crescendo, building from a brief pie fight to may- hem caused by Tillie firing a pistol indiscriminately, culminating with a farcical chase on a pier featuring the Keystone Kops on land and sea.

David Pendleton