Director: Charlie Chaplin
Year: 1918
Runtime: 33 minutes
Source: Youtube
Though it may come before his greatest and most well-known works, A Dog's Life shouldn't really be considered an "early" Charlie Chaplin film. By 1918, Chaplin was a massive celebrity, one of the highest-paid men in the world, and his character "The Tramp" was already a global icon. But it is clear from this film that Chaplin was only just beginning to push his character beyond pure vaudeville slapstick.
A Dog's Life is a breezy delight from beginning to end - there are plenty of great set-pieces. The dog is plenty cute, although she doesn't actually play a huge role in what plot there is, or even in the best comedy bits. Of course I'm just guessing here, but it's easy to imagine that Chaplin with his notorious perfectionism was immensely frustrated while dealing with a canine costar, and chose to limit her involvement. In any case, Chaplin is more than capable of sustaining this movie himself with his wonderful demeanor and expressions, although kudos to the wonderful side characters that populate this film. There are many films that better illustrate the way that Chaplin reflects class dynamics, but you don't have to be a Chaplin scholar (I'm certainly not one) to see how all these conniving thieves, hapless hobos, and oblivious aristocrats must have been a Chaplin cliche by this point (perhaps a Chaplin Cinematic Universe?)
As a physical comedian, Chaplin doesn't hold a candle to Buster Keaton in my book, but there's a wonderful pacing and energy to these scenes, and I can appreciate the tremendous craft it took to construct them. The best thing I can say about A Dog's Life is that it just feels immune to deep critical analysis. It's a fun comedy and I'm glad to have watched it. There's a great version on Youtube, so like so many other early films on this list - no reason not to check it out.
Year: 1918
Runtime: 33 minutes
Source: Youtube
Though it may come before his greatest and most well-known works, A Dog's Life shouldn't really be considered an "early" Charlie Chaplin film. By 1918, Chaplin was a massive celebrity, one of the highest-paid men in the world, and his character "The Tramp" was already a global icon. But it is clear from this film that Chaplin was only just beginning to push his character beyond pure vaudeville slapstick.
A Dog's Life is a breezy delight from beginning to end - there are plenty of great set-pieces. The dog is plenty cute, although she doesn't actually play a huge role in what plot there is, or even in the best comedy bits. Of course I'm just guessing here, but it's easy to imagine that Chaplin with his notorious perfectionism was immensely frustrated while dealing with a canine costar, and chose to limit her involvement. In any case, Chaplin is more than capable of sustaining this movie himself with his wonderful demeanor and expressions, although kudos to the wonderful side characters that populate this film. There are many films that better illustrate the way that Chaplin reflects class dynamics, but you don't have to be a Chaplin scholar (I'm certainly not one) to see how all these conniving thieves, hapless hobos, and oblivious aristocrats must have been a Chaplin cliche by this point (perhaps a Chaplin Cinematic Universe?)
As a physical comedian, Chaplin doesn't hold a candle to Buster Keaton in my book, but there's a wonderful pacing and energy to these scenes, and I can appreciate the tremendous craft it took to construct them. The best thing I can say about A Dog's Life is that it just feels immune to deep critical analysis. It's a fun comedy and I'm glad to have watched it. There's a great version on Youtube, so like so many other early films on this list - no reason not to check it out.
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