We're slowly approaching the point where Charlie Chaplin movies celebrate their 100th birthday. And a huge part of his work is still superior to many films made today. "The Vagabond" features some regular faces from other Chaplin films. Edna Purvance, who looks like a silent film version of Greta Gerwig with her long curly blonde hair, is on board again and so is the hilariously scary Eric Campbell, once again using his physical presence in another nice effort as Charlie's main antagonist. This film can be split into two halves, the first is pretty much drama, the second contains mostly romance and of course both feature a great deal of Charlie's trademark slapstick comedy.

Chaplin, in his usual outfit, does some street music with his violin and afterward meets a girl who is held under slave-like conditions including lots of screaming and even lashing from her boss. After some fighting, a hilarious sequence that has Chaplin up a tree, Charlie and the object of his affection manage to get away. Back in safety, the two meet a well-dressed who quickly turns into a love interest for the girl. It's a decent little short film, which drags occasionally, but also has its moment. It's probably one of my favorite endings from Chaplin's body of work. The farewell hug is the greatest thing ever, just so beautiful and sad at the same time and the final twist was really cute too. Recommended.

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.