The Rounders (1914 film)


The Rounders is a 1914 comedy short starring Charles Chaplin and Roscoe Arbuckle. The film involves two drunks who get into trouble with their wives, and was written and directed by Chaplin.

Plot

A drunk reveller returns home to a scolding from his wife. Then his equally inebriated neighbor goes home to a cold reception from his wife. When the first couple hear the physical altercation across the hall, the reveller's wife sends him to investigate. The two men flee together and end up in a cafe, where they also cause trouble. When their spouses track them down, they escape, this time to a leaky rowboat. Safely out of reach of their wives, they fall asleep, oblivious to the rising water into which they eventually disappear.

Title

Now somewhat antiquated, the term "rounder" was once commonly used to mean "a habitual drunkard or wastrel".

Review

Moving Picture World wrote, "It is a rough picture for rough people, that people, whether rough or gentle, will probably have to laugh over while it is on the screen. Chas. Chapman and the Fat Boy appear in this as a couple of genial jags."

Cast