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According to reports, Sennett gave the newcomer the severest call-down ever heard on the Keystone lot. Chaplin remained doggedly silent and went on acting his own way. Sennett feared that he had a "lemon." Others who acknowledged his talent thought it was not for the screen. Nevertheless, though he appeared to be something of a misfit and kept to himself, the quiet and serious Englishman soon became personally popular. One reason was that he taught them how to do falls without hurting themselves.
When Sennett saw a screening of the first Chaplin film, he was sure it would be a flop. Kessel and Baumann groaned at their mistake in hiring him. Mabel Normand, however, realized that the newcomer had something and predicted he would go places.
When "Making a Living" was released February 2, 1914, it did not do badly. Of the new English comedian, variously referred to as Chapman, Chatlin, and Edgar English during the first few months (Keystone did not run a cast of characters on the screen) the Moving Picture World wrote, "The clever player who takes the part of a sharper ... is a comedian of the first water." Many, however, did not think him as funny as Ford Sterling. The screen character and costume that would really put Chaplin over was yet to come.
Chaplin hit on his world-famous costume by accident.
It was Sennett's custom to place his actors, whenever possible, in the foreground of races and parades. Hearing that there was to be a children's auto race at Venice, the Los Angeles seaside resort, Sennett despatched Lehrman and Chaplin to the scene for a short "filler." For the film, eventually called "Kid Auto Races at Venice," Chaplin was told to go on in a funny costume. He put one together from what he saw around him — oversize pants belonging to Arbuckle, size14 shoes belonging to Ford Sterling (each placed on the wrong foot so they