DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

TheLittleSongbird Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors. He did do better than 'Between Showers'. Can understand why the Keystone period suffered from not being as best remembered or highly remembered than his later efforts, but they are mainly decent and important in their own right. 'Between Showers' is a long way from a career high, but does have historical significance for obvious reasons. 'Between Showers' is not as hilarious, charming or touching as his later work and a good deal of other shorts in the same period. The story is flimsy and the production values not as audacious, the humour only amusing and lacking freshness at times. For someone who was new to the film industry and had literally just moved on from their stage background, 'Between Showers' is not bad at all. While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable for so early on and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick. The Tramp did become more likeable later but again he was still evolving. Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later, 'Between Showers' is mildly humorous, sweet and easy to like, though the emotion is not quite there. It moves quickly and doesn't feel too long or short. Overall, far from one of Chaplin's best but not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Jay Raskin 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.

rbverhoef In this comedy short we see a man steal an umbrella from a police officer. After a big shower the man who stole the umbrella wants to help a woman cross the street without getting her feet wet. While he is looking for things she can walk on, Charles Chaplin enters the film. He also wants to help the woman. While Chaplin is looking for useful things as well the woman is carried across the street by a police officer. Chaplin and the man who stole the umbrella have a fight.With some of the usual Chaplin moments 'Between Showers' is entertaining enough to watch, but it misses the magic of Chaplin's later work. We see some little things from his famous tramp, one moment when he is walking away with the umbrella in particular, but it is not enough to really recommend this short. There are many better Chaplin shorts, but if you like his work you probably enjoy this one as well.

Akihse The ten minute short film Between Showers is best seen, perhaps, as a historical document. More than ninety years old, it serves as a reminder that movies has both changed and not changed since that time. This is obviously a silent, which calls for a visual kind of humour. The plot is thus fairly straight forward and serves as an excuse for the characters to fall on their butts and fight in an overly theatrical manner, judged by today's standards anyway. However, it is interesting to see Chaplin's crude and early attempts at what he and others (Jackie Chan to name one of our contemporaries) would later perfect – well timed physical humour. No doubt intended as entertainment for the moment, Between Showers lacks the social commentary of the 22 years younger masterpiece Modern Times, but it contains a seed, albeit small, of the breathtaking acrobatics displayed therein.Of historical interest.