A cross-dressing Mabel Normand disguises herself as a (rather comely) man in order to reclaim the job from which she was dismissed by her boss's wife when she found the pair of them canoodling in the office. A simple five-minute comedy from Max Sennett which was probably quite titillating for the time because the wife of Normand's boss takes a shine to her when she's dressed as a man and at one point coaxes him/her into sitting on her lap. Slightly bizarre, then, but not particularly good.
3 Reviews
Mabel Normand as a Very Pretty Boy
jayraskin14 November 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Fred Mace plays a businessman with two secretaries. He gets playful with the second secretary, Mabel Normand. His wife, Alice Davenport walks in on him. He does some nice embarrassed husband pantomime. Davenport fires the two secretaries and tell Fred that he will only have male secretaries from now on. The next day, Mabel arrives in drag as a boy to apply for the job. The wife takes him into the next office and starts to make a pass at him. She takes him to a restaurant. Mace decides to divorce her. He gathers some friends and when she comes back to the office with Mabel, they catch Davenport flirting with Normand. He pulls a divorce paper naming Mabel as the correspondent. She takes off her hat and her long hair falls over her shoulders. Everybody realizes that she is really a girl and not a boy. Apparently this means that the divorce is off. This is more naughty domestic situation comedy than slapstick. It is nicely done with the nice gag of Mabel's true sex being revealed at the end.
This is worth seeing for Mabel Normand fans. She looks quite pretty as a boy too.
This is worth seeing for Mabel Normand fans. She looks quite pretty as a boy too.
Tootsie in 1912!
planktonrules23 April 2020
This Mabel Normand comedy reminds me a bit of the film "Tootsie"...where a man pretends to be a woman to get a job. Here in "Mabel's Stratagem" things are a bit different...but still funny.
When the story begins, Mabel's boss is being VERY attentive to her...too attentive. Soon his wife arrives and insists that he fire Mabel and replace her with a man so the husband won't be tempted. However, he actually ends up re-hiring Mabel as she's dressed like a guy and fools him completely. The funny part about this is soon the boss' wife ends up becoming attracted to this new employee! Where's all this going? See the film.
This is very good for 1912, though I think had it been longer, it would have worked better. But for a one-reel Keystone comedy, it's a winner...and better than usual.
When the story begins, Mabel's boss is being VERY attentive to her...too attentive. Soon his wife arrives and insists that he fire Mabel and replace her with a man so the husband won't be tempted. However, he actually ends up re-hiring Mabel as she's dressed like a guy and fools him completely. The funny part about this is soon the boss' wife ends up becoming attracted to this new employee! Where's all this going? See the film.
This is very good for 1912, though I think had it been longer, it would have worked better. But for a one-reel Keystone comedy, it's a winner...and better than usual.
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