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Short Subjects: Charlie Chaplin in The Vagabond

© John Vincent Brennan

In February of 1916, Charlie Chaplin signed with the Mutual Film Corporation to film a series of short comedies. Over 17 months, Chaplin produced, directed and starred in twelve two-reel films that stand today as his most sustained period of creativity.

By the time he signed with Mutual, Chaplin was already the most famous man in the world, beloved for his Little Tramp character. He was Hollywood's first superstar, and remained the comic yardstick against which all other comedians would be measured for years. In fact, most of his competition through the years, including Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton and The Marx Brothers, truly adored and worshipped Chaplin. With the exception of W.C. Fields, of course, who considered him nothing more than "a g..damn ballet dancer."

I have several favorites of the Mutual series, including The Floorwalker, in which Chaplin creates havoc at a department store; One A.M., in which a drunken Chaplin arrives home and spends a full twenty minutes trying to get from his front door to his upstairs bedroom; and The Cure, which features Chaplin as an orderly in a health resort.

However, one film in the series stands out above the rest: The Vagabond. It is the first film where Chaplin successfully showed the Tramp’s humanity while still giving us wonderful comedy. It marked a change in the character of the Little Tramp, a change that would enable Chaplin to move the Tramp into feature films beginning with THE KID (1921).

Chaplin plays the title role, a vagabond who makes his living playing violin for anybody and everybody, in the hope that his listeners will drop coins in his hat. Many critics of Chaplin have complained he never used the camera in interesting ways, but the opening shot of The Vagabond is one of Chaplin’s cleverest. For a few moments, all we see is the swinging doors of a saloon, but then, underneath the door, we see two splayed feet heading toward the camera. As Chaplin’s walk was as much a trademark as his moustache or his cane, this scene is an effective and funny way of letting us know our hero has arrived and the story is about to begin.

After a misadventure at the saloon, he takes his talents to the countryside, where he rescues a gypsy girl from the clutches of her cruel caretakers. The beautiful Edna Purviance, Chaplin’s most famous leading lady, plays the gypsy girl.