Editing Making a Living (section)

==Production==
Chaplin wears a large moustache and a top hat in the film; he also carries a walking cane. His famous "[[The Tramp|Little Tramp]]" screen persona did not appear until his next film, ''[[Kid Auto Races at Venice]]'', which was released by Keystone only five days after the studio began distributing ''Making a Living''.<ref>Chaplin's first three films, including the first two to feature his signature character [[The Tramp]], were released over the span of just one week.</ref><ref name="Maland">{{cite book |last=Maland |first=Charles |title=Charlie Chaplin and American Culture - The Evolution of a Star Image |year=1991 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=0691028605 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/chaplinamericanc0000mala }}</ref> In recalling his work with Lehrman in ''Making a Living'', Chaplin maintained that the director had "deliberately" removed the best parts of his performance from the short's final cut.<ref name="Okuda">{{cite book |last=Okuda|first=Ted |title=Charlie Chaplin at Keystone And Essanay: Dawn of the Tramp |year=2005 |publisher=iUniverse, Inc.|location=Lincoln, NE|isbn=0595365981}}</ref> Lehrman, according to Chaplin, was "a vain man", who years later actually "confessed" to misediting the footage because he felt the young Englishman was arrogant and "knew too much".<ref name="Chaplinauto"/><ref name="Weissman">Weissman, Stephen. [https://archive.org/details/chaplinlife0000weis_p2t6/page/210/mode/2up ''Chaplin: A Life'']. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2008, p. 211. Internet Archive. Retrieved February 22, 2021.</ref>

In his extensive 1985 biography of the comedian, ''[[Chaplin: His Life and Art]]'', English film critic and historian [[David Robinson (film critic)|David Robinson]] provides further insight into the short's production, including its filming locations, the evolution of the Chaplin's costume selections for his screen debut, and his acting style in some scenes:{{blockquote|Chaplin’s first film, ''Making a Living'', was one of Keystone’s more elaborate productions. It had a comparatively well-developed story line, and was shot partly on the stage, partly in the gardens of a nearby house, and partly in the street, on Glendale Avenue. Chaplin's  costume, make-up and character resembled Archibald Binks in ''The Wow-Wows'' and ''A Night in a London Club'', with nothing as yet of the Charlie figure to come.<ref>Both ''The Wow-Wows'' and ''A Night in a London Club'' were two popular stage productions or comic "playettes" in which Chaplin performed while a member of The [[Fred Karno]] Company.</ref> He wore a grey top hat, check waistcoat, stiff collar, spotted cravat and monocle. Most surprising was the long, drooping moustache of a rather dejected stage villain. At the start of the film he established the fraudulence of his elegant pretensions by touching a passing friend (played by Lehrman) for a loan. The first characteristically Chaplin gag is where he disdainfully rejects the proffered coin as too mean, but then hastily grabs it before the friend can change his mind.<ref>Robinson, David. [https://archive.org/details/chaplinhislifear00robi/page/108/mode/2up ''Chaplin: His Life and Art'']. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985, pp. 152-153. {{ISBN|0-07-053181-1}}. Full copy of biography available on Internet Archive. Retrieved February 21, 2021.</ref>}}

Although Lehrman and Reed Heustis are often credited with co-writing the film's scenario, Chaplin in his autobiography offers his view on the screenplay's status when production began. "We had no story", he writes, adding "It was to be a documentary about the printing press done with a few comedy touches."<ref name="Chaplinauto"/> He then states that Lehrman appeared to be "groping for ideas", so as a "newcomer at Keystone" he began to make suggestions. "This", Chaplin continues, "was where I created antagonism with Lehrman."<ref name="Chaplinauto"/>

The footage of street scenes depicts various areas of downtown Los Angeles in 1914. In the scene with the swindler and newspaper reporter fighting in the road, the sign of the [[Fremont Hotel, Los Angeles|Fremont Hotel]] is shown briefly in the background. That hotel closed in the 1940s, and the entire structure was demolished in 1955.<ref name="McCannTaube2008">{{cite book|last1=McCann|first1=Linda|last2=Taube|first2=Dace|last3=Zachary|first3=Claude|author4=Roseman, Curtis C.|title=Historic Hotels of Los Angeles and Hollywood, (CA)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ElSTJpnxs7oC&pg=PA40|accessdate=22 February 2021|date=8 October 2008|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-5906-3|page=40}}</ref>