just watch it!

i must have seen a different film!!

Brilliant and touching

Absolutely the worst movie.

The first trait that called my attention in this short film is that it brings sequences of situations considerably independent to each other, although presented linearly. Besides that, forgive me if I am wrong, but I had the impression that this film is somewhat different from most of the Tramp's movies. Slapstick is Chaplin's trademark, off course, but in this movie, perhaps more than usual, he performs strongly cartoon-like scenes, with movements which really look like the ones shown in animated TV shows. Another interesting possible novelty is that Edna Purviance has a quite funny scene together with Charlie. She uses to be portrayed in Chaplin's movies as an unassailable beauty diva, but here she gets down the pedestal and makes we laugh at her bath. That is something very nice to see. The end is also somewhat unusual, although related to an issue that is present in almost all Chaplin's movies. These are the novelties, but, on the other hand, prejudice against gypsies is a serious drawback in my opinion. The violent kidnappers could have been non gypsies at no expense to the story. Anyway, the little tramp tried everything to make a living: even as a street musician he tried to get some coins!

Chaplin edited, wrote, directed, and produced this film for Mutual in July of 1916 and it stands the test of time, even more so than many of his earlier much funnier films. The reason probably is that the structure of this film, more than any predating it, resembles (however crudely) the basic plot structure of films today. There is a definitive beginning, middle, and end in this film. The film is well edited and written for its time. Chaplin plays a wandering vagabond who tries to make a living playing his violin in public. The film opens in typical Chaplin fashion with misunderstandings and chases punctuated by sight gags and slapstick. There are those viewers who may wander what the tavern scenario has to do with the rest of the film, and the answer is it sets up Chaplin as a resourceful fellow who gets by with his wits and not his fists. Thus when he meets the sad, browbeaten Edna Purviance, it's clear what Chaplin must do to extricate her from a band of cruel gypsies; he must use some good old-fashioned ingenuity. After rescuing her from the likes of the crude, whip-wielding Eric Campbell in comic fashion, the story settles into its melodramatic mode. The film successfully combines bits of comedy, plot, and pathos-inducing drama in a way that previous Chaplin films had not. The result is a rough draft of the Chaplin formula, which he would later reuse to greater effect and success in his longer features. *** of 4 stars.

This is one of my favorite Chaplin comedies, but that doesn't mean it's one of his funniest. Gags notwithstanding, The Vagabond is decidedly the most serious film Chaplin had produced up to this time. You might say this short served as a dress rehearsal for his later features such as The Kid, films with melancholy story elements and (in some cases) sad endings. Here, Chaplin tells a melodramatic story in a straightforward fashion, elevating his Tramp to the role of hero. Having already proved that he could provoke laughter, it appears Chaplin wanted to see if he could inspire sympathy, enough so to draw viewers into a dramatic situation, and make them care about what happens to his "little fellow." In my opinion he succeeded admirably, for watching this movie almost 90 years after it was released I find it still works beautifully, like a vintage automobile still in perfect working order.Although this project marked a new chapter for Chaplin, he assembled it from decidedly old-fashioned ingredients. The plot must have felt familiar to audiences even in 1916: leading lady Edna Purviance plays a young woman kidnapped by gypsies as a child, held captive as their "drudge" ever since. Charlie is a traveling musician who rescues her - - after an exhilarating fight in which Edna takes part. Having fallen in love with her, he is prepared to take care of her forever after. However, the idyll is interrupted when a handsome young artist happens by and paints Edna's portrait, which he takes back to the city to exhibit. Her wealthy mother sees the picture in a gallery, recognizes a distinctive birthmark, and realizes that the portrait's subject is her daughter. With the artist in tow, the mother arrives at Charlie's camp via automobile and brusquely takes her daughter away, leaving Charlie forlorn. Just as we're bracing ourselves for a sad ending, Edna belatedly becomes aware of her feelings for Charlie, and orders the car to turn back and retrieve him.As a lead-in to the melodrama concerning the gypsies, Chaplin gives us a comic opening sequence set in a saloon. Charlie, a busker with a violin, has a dispute with a band of musicians who are competing for coins from the same clientèle. But even here it's striking how much Charlie has evolved since his Keystone days: when he pockets the coins intended for the combo it's an honest mistake, that is, he sincerely believes the money is a reward for his performance, and when he's confronted he doesn't understand why, but promptly defends himself. Charlie is no longer the aggressor, no longer larcenous, drunk or rude: only two years after his screen debut, he's matured into a likable character.It's to Chaplin's credit that the recognition device with the birthmark, ever popular in the world of opera, is served up straight and somehow doesn't feel hokey. Maybe that's because The Vagabond plays like a dramatized folktale, what with its strolling minstrel, wicked gypsies, and damsel in distress; the birthmark feels just as natural in this context as Cinderella's glass slipper or Rapunzel's long hair. Charlie's rescue of Edna and their escape together in one of the gypsies' own wagons is a thrilling sequence, splendidly filmed and edited, belying those critics who insist that Chaplin the director was insufficiently "cinematic." This is followed by a poignant scene set the next morning, when Charlie helps Edna clean herself up. The tone is gentle and the gags are mild, and by the time the scene ends we're on his side. Charlie doesn't have to be funny every moment he's on screen. We've been won over: we care what happens to this guy and the girl he's rescued. And when Edna's head is turned by another man, and it looks like Charlie's going to get jilted, it's heart-breaking.As I mentioned above, this is not the most laugh-packed comedy Chaplin ever made, but nonetheless I believe it's one of his strongest short films, and therefore highly recommended to silent comedy buffs, and to anyone open to viewing great works from the cinema's early days. Personally I feel that The Vagabond is Chaplin's first masterpiece in the two-reel format.

The Vagabond is a funny short film that features Charlie Chaplin as The Tramp. Here he's a wandering violinist who bizarrely finds himself in a gypsy camp, where The Gypsy Drudge--the lovely Edna Purviance--is slaving over a wash tub. He falls in love right away. Several funny episodes here and an oddly happy ending, but there is plenty of Chaplin's stock in trade: masterful comedy, sight gags, and that Victorian sweetness that makes his films so special. Chaplin was a master of creating laughter and tears, and his best films do both. The Kid and City Lights are among the most emotional films you'll ever see. Edna Purviance made more than 20 films with Chaplin and should have been a star in her own right. Eric Campbell, Albert Austin, Charlotte Mineau, and Leo White (as a the gypsy hag) co-star.