ThiefHott Too much of everything

RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Hulkeasexo it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

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 'The New Janitor', still made relatively early on in his career, generally a period where he was still finding his feet and not fully formed what he became famous for (though he is definitely more settled feeling here). 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. 'The New Janitor' has a lot of nice things about it and is to me one of the best efforts in the 1914 Keystone batch. 'The New Janitor' is one of his funniest and most charming efforts from this period. Sure the production values not as audacious. Appreciated the busier and more complex story than before, though occasionally it was a bit hard to follow. 'The New Janitor' for early Chaplin is very good and it showed that Chaplin was starting to settle.While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable, with more shades than before of his distinctive style here, and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick. There is more sympathy and emotion than before.Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later, 'The New Janitor' is still very funny, cute and hard to dislike. It moves quickly and doesn't feel too long or short.In conclusion, very good for early Chaplin. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Igenlode Wordsmith This film is interesting more in the light of Chaplin-as-director than of Chaplin-as-comedian; in the middle it takes a prolonged detour into what appears to be a serious dramatic plot, played perfectly straight and with some depth of character (Gene Marsh, as the bright young female secretary, is perhaps the most memorable performer in the film, along with a stand-out cameo from Al St.John). The trouble is that I actually found this strand more interesting than the not-especially-funny comedy section featuring Chaplin turning out a waste-paper basket, dusting a lady's derrière (all right, thanks to the timing of both Chaplin and Miss Marsh, that *was* quite funny...) and predictably failing to topple out of a skyscraper window while soaking the boss below. And I'm afraid I completely failed to see the pathos that I'm told Chaplin originated in this film in the role of the downtrodden caretaker.The pay-off when the two strands finally combine is largely worth the wait. I can't help wondering what fans promised "Charlie's latest side-splitter" made of this picture in 1914, though...

CitizenCaine Chaplin directed and edited this film in which he plays a janitor who loses his job because of an accident involving his boss. Chaplin ends up saving a girl from a guy caught stealing money in the office building where Chaplin has worked. Chaplin is collared by a policeman before the cop figures out who the real culprit is. Clearly Chaplin's best film since The Knockout, The New Janitor is notable because it's perhaps Chaplin's first film that balances the comedy with the drama in equal fashion. The film maintains interest throughout and never resorts to repetitive tactics either within the film or from earlier Chaplin films. Several new bits appear, the best has Chaplin holding up the thief with a gun between his legs backwards. Chaplin keeps the film moving at a brisk pace, and the film contains more of an actual plot than usual for this period. **1/2 of 4 stars.

MartinHafer I've seen quite a few Chaplin shorts from early in his career and I've noticed that his early stuff (done for Keystone Studios) is pretty dreadful stuff. Unlike his wonderful full-length films from the 20s and 30s, the films from 1914-1915 are incredibly poorly made--having no script but only vague instructions from the director. In most cases, the films had almost no plot and degenerated to people punching and kicking each other.However, unlike MOST Keystone comedies, this short actually has a pretty well-defined plot. Charlie is a janitor and gets fired when he accidentally dumps a pail of water on the boss' head. Later, an employee with gambling debts tries to steal from the company safe but is caught by a female employee. The cad attacks the lady and Charlie springs to the rescue.Unfortunately, despite having more plot, this film isn't all that funny. Still, compared with MOST early Chaplin films, this is worth watching.By the way, the bellboy appears to be Al St. John--a perennial extra in silent comedies and Fatty Arbuckle's nephew.