A Fair Exchange – Charlie Chaplin the little tramp is walking in the park with his wife, & he’s attracted to a young lady. Mack Swain’s wife!
A Fair Exchange (1914) starring Charlie Chaplin, Mack Swain, Edgar Kennedy
A Fair Exchange is an early silent Keystone comedy short film. In it, Charlie Chaplin the little tramp is in the park with his homely wife. But when he sees a pretty girl, he begins flirting with her. Only to be rejected and slapped! And, poked in the posterior with a small dagger! But he keeps trying, and flirts with the lovely Mabel Normand.
Meanwhile, Mack Swain is in the park with his lovely wife — Mabel! But they separate, and he flirts with … Charlie’s wife! There’s a funny bit as each wife separates, commiserates with each other, and then introduces her friend to her husband. Unaware that they’ve already met!
The police get involved, with a slapstick chase. Eventually the couples straighten everything out, and the couples head home. After Charlie manages to get in trouble with his wife one more time!
Cast of characters
- Charlie Chaplin (The Rink; Modern Times) … Mr. Sniffels
- Phyllis Allen (Dough and Dynamite) … Mrs. Sniffels
- Mack Swain (The Gold Rush) … Ambrose
- Mabel Normand (Mabel’s Strange Predicament) … Ambrose’s Wife
- Harry McCoy (Caught in a Cabaret) … Flirt in Park
- Edgar Kennedy (Duck Soup; The Star Boarder) … Policeman
- Cecile Arnold (Dough and Dynamite) … Mary – The Flirt
Additional Cast
- Joe Bordeaux (Spite Marriage) … Stalled Driver (uncredited). Whom Ambrose tries to help start his car again.
- Helen Carruthers (Mabel’s Busy Day) … Lover in Park (uncredited)
- Glen Cavender (The Masquerader) … A Passing Turk (uncredited)
- Gene Marsh (Caught in a Cabaret) … Girl in Park (uncredited)
Also Known As:
As with many early Keystone releases, the short film is known by a variety of different names, depending on the country where it’s released. Sometimes by multiple titles in the same country:
- (original title) Getting Acquainted
- A Fair Exchange
- Exchange Is No Robbery
- Hello Everybody
- Brazil Carlitos e Mabel de Passeio (DVD Title)
- Czech Republic Charlie flirtuje
- Finland Kuhertelua puistossa
- France Charlot et Mabel en promenade
- Italy Charlot e la moglie gelosa
- Japan 夫婦交換騒動
- Poland Charlie i Mabel na spacerze
- Romania Charlot si Mabel la plimbare
- Russia Состоявшееся знакомство
- Slovakia Charlie flirtuje
- Spain Charlot tiene una mujer celosa
- Sweden I parken
- Turkey Şarlo Flört Ediyor
- Ukraine Знайомство
- United States A Fair Exchange(new title)