Mabel's Blunder

Written and directed by one of the first ladies of comedy, Mabel Normand, Mabel's Blunder (1914) features Normand as the title character, Mabel. The young woman is a secretary who has been courting with the boss's son, Harry (Harry McCoy). They become engaged, keeping it a secret from their family and friends. Following their engagement, Mabel sees Harry with a beautiful woman. She fears that he is cheating on her with the mysterious woman, and those fears are confirmed when she witnesses the two in an embrace. Intent on catching Harry in the act, Mabel dresses as a man and drives Harry around in her brother's taxi cab.

Prior to her film career, Normand got her start as an artist's model, later working at Vitagraph Studios. In 1911, she starred in Her Awakening, directed by D.W. Griffith. It's here where she met director and producer Mack Sennett who put her under contract and helped make her a star. During her time at Keystone Studios, Normand frequently worked with Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, as co-star, writer and co-director. By 1916, Normand and Sennett formed a production company, which dissolved two years later in 1918. Normand ended her long professional relationship with Sennett the same year, signing a contract with Samuel Goldwyn and then later working for Hal Roach Studios in the final years of her career. Normand went on to star in several feature length films throughout the 1920s, including Head Over Heels (1922), Raggedy Rose (1926) and Should Men Walk Home? (1927).

Director: Mabel Normand
Screenplay: Mabel Normand
Producer: Mack Sennett
Cast: Mabel Normand (Mabel, the Office Girl), Harry McCoy (Harry, the Boss's son), Charley Chase (Billy Bronx, Harry's Friend), Charles Bennett (The Boss, Harry's dad), Wallace MacDonald (Harry's Money Borrowing Friend), Edward F. Cline (The Boss's Business Associate), Al St. John (Mabel's Brother) and Eva Nelson (Harry's Sister)
B&W-13min.

By Jill Blake