The Marvellous Mabel Normand: The Leading Lady of Film Comedy

Discover early Hollywood's irrepressible comic pioneer, showcased in this delightful package of short films in which she appears alongside fellow greats Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle and Oliver Hardy.

Mabel Normand was the irrepressible spirit of early Hollywood, an extraordinary performer from the anarchic days of Mack Sennett’s Keystone company to the refined comedies of the 1920s. She directed her own films, ran her own production company and worked with the best: in this selection of short films we see her with Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle and a young Oliver Hardy – but make no mistake, Normand’s the star here.

The Marvellous Mabel Normand: Leading Lady of Film Comedy is a package of short films from the BFI National Archive, including Mabel’s Blunder (1914), Mabel’s Dramatic Career (1913) and His Trysting Place (1914) and Should Men Walk Home? (1927). The films are accompanied by a newly commissioned score from The Meg Morley Trio.