The Vagabond (1916)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writers:

Charles Chaplin
Vincent Bryan
(more)

Release Date:

10 July 1916 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

After passing the hat and taking the donations intended for German street musicians Charlie heads for the country...

Plot Keywords:

Gypsy | Gypsy Girl | Violinist | Painter | Kidnapping

Cast

Charles Chaplin	...	Street Musician
Edna Purviance	...	Girl Stolen by Gypsies
Eric Campbell	...	Gypsy Chieftain
Leo White	...	Old Jew / Gypsy Woman
Lloyd Bacon	...	Artist
Charlotte Mineau	...	Girl's Mother
Albert Austin	...	Trombonist
John Rand	...	Trumpeter, Band Leader
James T. Kelley	...	Gypsy and Musician
Frank J. Coleman	...	Gypsy and Musician
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Phyllis Allen
Henry Bergman	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Chaplin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Vincent Bryan
Charles Chaplin
Maverick Terrell		uncredited

Produced by
Charles Chaplin	....	producer
Henry P. Caulfield	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Yati Durant		(re-score)

Cinematography by
William C. Foster		(as W.C. Foster)
Roland Totheroh		(as R.H. Totheroh)
Frank D. Williams		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
Charles Chaplin		(uncredited)

Art Department
George Cleethorpe	....	property master (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Roland Totheroh	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Toraichi Kono	....	driver: Mr. Chaplin (uncredited)

Other crew
Ed Brewer	....	technical director (uncredited)
Tom Harrington	....	assistant: Mr. Chaplin (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Lone Star Corporation

Distributors

• Mutual Film (1916) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hallmark Pictures Corporation (1919) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Inter Arte Films (1974) (Spain) (theatrical) (re-release)
• FilmAnnex (2006) (worldwide) (all media)
• Grapevine Video (2006) (USA) (DVD) (DVD-R)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (1995) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• Screen Time Images  film restoration

Also Known As:

"Gipsy Life" - USA (alternative title)

Runtime:

Argentina:34 min | Germany:24 min (restored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Spain:T | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Lone Star Studio - 1751 Glendale Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Lone Star Corporation

Goofs:

Continuity: Charlie loses his hat outside the bar, is seen inside wearing it, then picks it up where he lost it when he leaves. When he escapes from the gypsy, he is hatless at first, but the next shot shows the hat suddenly back in place.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Chaplin Today: The Circus (2003) (TV)

An Interesting Sign of Things to Come

This must have seemed like a real change-of-pace from Chaplin when it first came out, since it has a much different tone than almost any of his previous short features. It has a few funny moments, but this time humor is not the emphasis - except for the familiar presence of Charlie's usual tramp-like character, it feels more like one of the short melodramas from the same era, rather than a comedy.

As "The Vagabond", Charlie performs a few antics, mostly towards the beginning, but then gets involved in the life of a young woman in distress (Chaplin regular Edna Purviance), and the story turns more serious. It is not one of his best films, but it is always watchable, and is quite interesting as a fore-runner of the way that Chaplin would combine slapstick and humanity to much greater effect in the masterpieces that he would go on to create some years later.