Steffi_P Were the films of Charlie Chaplin stagey because he employed long takes and few camera moves? No! There is something else you can have on screen that you can't on stage beside camera-work and edits, and that is the field of depth. From early on Chaplin had learnt how to use depth to give his little tramp character the kind of entrances and exits that you couldn't have in the theatre, ones that stretched off into the distance, allowing him to gradually appear on the scene and make the most of that now-familiar walk. In the Tramp, he created his most iconic image, that of the tramp sauntering up and later plodding away down a winding country lane.Such a great and memorable entrance is important for the more structured story lines that Chaplin was now starting to build. Whereas most of the Essanay shorts this far had simply taken a setting in which Charlie could run wild, the Tramp seems to have been constructed plot first, with the funny business appearing along the way. Far from diluting the comedy, this actually improves the material. For example, the middle section in which Charlie causes havoc on the farm, might a few months earlier have been the basis for an entire short – "The Farmhand", perhaps – but now Chaplin is able to condense the best gags of the situation down to one segment which can be woven into the overall story.The Tramp ends on a note of poignancy – something that was unheard of in screen comedy at the time. But all that Chaplin is doing is recognising something that has been established for centuries. Shakespeare knew it, and so did Dickens. Tragedy affects us more when it appears amongst comedy, and the moment that Chaplin creates here is touching and bittersweet. He even throws in one last gag to stop the moment from becoming too strained.This isn't quite the funniest of Chaplin's Essanay pictures, but it is the first mature and truly beautiful thing he had yet created.And finally, that all important statistic – Number of kicks up the arse: 5 (2 for, 1 against, 2 other)

Petri Pelkonen Charles Chaplin is a tramp who gets in trouble with three hobos.He also saves a girl of his dreams from the hobos, a beautiful farmer's daughter played by Edna Purviance.The girl is grateful at the little tramp and he takes him home with her and he starts working at the family farm.Being a farmhand isn't really his cup of tea and also the hobos show up again causing some trouble.Happiness doesn't often seem to follow the tramp and he notices the girl of his dreams is already taken.Chaplin's The Tramp (1915) marked the beginning of his most known character as we know him today.The difference between this and his more slapstick character in the earlier films was the sad ending and showing he cared for others, rather than just himself.Chaplin works so great together with Edna Purviance, just like he did in so many other films.Ernest Van Pelt plays The Farmer.Paddy McGuire plays Farmhand.Lloyd Bacon is Edna's Fiancé/Second Thief.Leo White is First Thief while Bud Jamison plays Third Thief.The Minister is played by Billy Armstrong.This short comedy holds some funny stuff inside.Charlie walking around with that pitchfork is funny.Or Charlie trying to milk the cow from its tail.Obviously The Little Tramp hasn't spent too much time on a farm.Also using the mallet in the end.Charles Chaplin was born 120 years and one day ago.For his second film, Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) he wore baggy pants he borrowed from 'Fatty' Arbuckle, size 14 shoes that belonged to Ford Sterling, a tiny jacket from Keystone Kop Charles Avery, a bowler hat belonging to Arbuckle's father-in-law and Mack Swain's mustache trimmed down to toothbrush size.The Tramp was born!

Michael DeZubiria Of course, Chaplin's early career is over-flowing with famous short comedies, but The Tramp is probably one of the most well-known of the early two-reelers, especially since it is one of the most direct studies of the famous character after whom the film is named. A lot of the Keystone and Essanay films have dated pretty badly, and The Tramp is no exception. Many people may find a lot of the plot confusing or pointless, just random slapstick comedy, although I have a feeling that some of it was not meant to be much more than that. It starts out with the tramp wandering down a dusty road, soon knocked over by the gusts of wind created by two speeding cars, only to pick himself up and dusts his wildly over-sized pants off with the handy little brush that he carries with him, apparently for just such an occasion. There are some clever an amusing sight gags involving things like a pitchfork and huge bags of flour and lot of mallets to the head, but not much in the slapstick department that is entirely memorable.What the film is more famous for is certain elements of the tramp's personality that we learn here, such as his efforts to be proper and presentable despite being broke and wearing pants big enough for two or three of him, along with a jacket that's too small. We also see him protecting a young woman from the bullies of several oafish men, each of whom could easily have brained the little fellow (as Chaplin later lovingly called him), except that he is too smart for them.The film is most memorable for the closing shot, however. Things don't go as planned, we are not given a happily ever after ending, and the movie closes with the tramp again wandering alone down a dusty road, at first seemingly depressed, until after a second or two, he perks up and all but dances down the road. He didn't get what he wanted and he's still poor and lonely, but he faces his life with a smile and seems like he's off to make the best of it. In a lot of ways, that sums up one of the recurring themes that Chaplin espoused throughout his lengthy career. Smile.

rbverhoef Charlie Chaplin is a great artist and probably one of the best comedians ever. Watching him always brings a smile on my face. It was not different this time, but the short 'The Tramp' is one of those little films that doesn't work anymore. Some Chaplin short are great because of Chaplin, and some of them are great because of Chaplin and the film. This one, unfortunately, belongs in the first category.