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the Karno Company and tour of America 17
his slight figure was almost lost, and a little black mustache. His stage mission was to tempt "Stiffy the Goalkeeper" (played by Harry Welden) to throw the game. The inducements included a bribe but also alcoholic refreshment labeled "training oil."
When Karno offered Chaplin the lead in "Jimmy the Fearless," Chaplin hesitated, perhaps through lack of confidence. The part was given to another bright young comedian named Arthur Stanley Jefferson (later to become famous on the screen as Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy.) Both young actors were reminiscent of the celebrated Dan Leo. The forte of all three was to preserve a touch of pathos even in their most boisterous action. Chaplin regretted his decision, but got the part later when Karno moved Jefferson elsewhere.
"Jimmy the Fearless" was a boy who should have got home hours ago. When he eventually returned, he informed his questioning parents that he had been out with "a bit o' skirt," which earned him a scolding from his mother. Left alone with his supper and a candle, Jimmy starts to read a "penny dreadful," falls asleep, and dreams himself into incredible feats of valor. He triumphs over a Wild West gang, rescues beautiful maidens, and acquires great wealth. Just as he wins the consent of a beautiful maiden, he wakes up, and the skit ends with the father giving Jimmy a strapping.
This was the germ of some of the later Chaplin movies. "A Night in the Show," "One A.M.," and other Chaplin films revive some of the Karno turns. To this rich early background and experience Chaplin was to add a profusion of comic inventions and a rare subtlety and originality of presentation. But the lessons of this period were not forgotten.
Chaplin stepped up in the world in other ways. His apartment in Glenshore Mansions was furnished with "Turkish carpets and red lights." He also went through