Summary
In a kinetic ballet of accidental heroism and ocular eccentricity, Ben Turpin’s Aloysius Piffle, a barber whose gaze perpetually defies parallel, finds his mundane existence irrevocably upended. His humble tonsorial parlor, a bastion of routine shaves and unrequited longing for the florist across the way, becomes the unwitting epicenter of urban pandemonium. A notorious underworld figure, “Slick” Sid, seeking a clandestine trim, inadvertently sheds his meticulously crafted disguise—a false mustache—under Aloysius’s clumsy ministrations. The ensuing revelation, a result of a faulty chair and Aloysius’s characteristic ineptitude, catapults our protagonist into a city-spanning chase. Mistaken for a rival operative, Aloysius flees, believing he has merely botched a customer’s haircut, while Sid, enraged, pursues him with nefarious intent. The chaotic odyssey sweeps Aloysius through a cascade of slapstick calamities: a market stall’s demise, a perilous rooftop scramble, and an impromptu trolley car escapade. Amidst the pandemonium, he unwittingly intercepts a satchel of pilfered blueprints, unknowingly thwarting Sid’s criminal enterprise. The climax, a precarious dance on a teetering scaffold, sees Aloysius accidentally orchestrate the capture of Sid and his gang via a spectacularly collapsing billboard. Hailed as an unwitting champion, he finally captures the gaze of his beloved Penelope, his cross-eyed bewilderment remaining delightfully intact, a testament to the sheer, unadulterated chaos he inadvertently conjures.
Review Excerpt
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Stepping back into the flickering glow of early cinema, one often encounters figures whose comedic prowess transcends the passage of decades, their physical artistry speaking a universal language. Among these luminaries, Ben Turpin stands as an undisputed titan, his distinctive ocular alignment becoming a signature of the era's most uproarious slapstick. In The Close Shave, we are treated to a quintessential Turpin vehicle, a frenetic ballet of mistaken identity, accidental heroism, and ..."
