El aventurero

Although there isn't quite the depth to "The Adventurer" that many of Chaplin's films have, since most of it is just slapstick comedy, on that level it is still quite a success. It is non-stop fun with a lot of good gags, with good work not only from Chaplin but also from his supporting cast.

Charlie plays a convict who escapes from prison and tries one thing after another to stay free. Early in the movie, when he happens to save a rich girl (Chaplin regular Edna Purviance) from drowning, he is taken into her home, and from there, some hilarious situations and a lot of frantic activity follow.

One of the things that works very well in this feature is the re-use of a couple of the same gags with different details. Chaplin and the rest of the cast also work together well in building up the humor as it goes along. There are also some hints at some of Chaplin's usual social themes. For pure comedy, this is one of the best of Chaplin's short films.

Chaplin is a funny man that can do a lot with very little. His humour is slapstick and he is very good at it.

Here we follow a convict on the run through diverse escapades in which he amongst other things saves a woman's mother and steals the woman from her suitor.

His jokes are very simple and effective, that said they can be a bit repetitious and today obvious.

Funniest part is in the beginning when he bumps into police everywhere and repeats his mistakes all the time and also the bit with the sliding doors.

In The Adventurer, Charlie plays an escaped convict who briefly manages to enjoy the good life after rescuing a drowning rich woman before the police find him again.

The Adventurer is the last of Chaplin's twelve films for the Mutual Company. Lacking any attempt at the pathos and social commentary that Chaplin injected in some of his previous Mutual shorts, this chase comedy almost appears to be a throwback to his rough-and-tumble roots at Keystone. However, there is one major difference, this film much funnier than anything did at Keystone. While I do not consider this to be his best short, it is arguably his funniest. The chases that bookend the film are hilarious. The middle is hilarious too. The film is a laugh fest through and through. If this film doesn't put a smile on your face, check your pulse.

Charlie Chaplin made a dozen short films for Mutual Films and this is one of them. It's a very good film, but also very odd because the Little Tramp is in this case the Little Jail Bird! Charlie playing an escaped prisoner is not that unusual in his early years, but those used to the sweeter character he played in his full-length films won't really recognize this characterization.

Despite being a wanted man, Charlie seems pretty decent as he helps several people who fall into the sea. As a result of his efforts, he is taken back to the home of one of the rich people he saved. When he awakens, he thinks, initially, he's in prison. But, once he realizes where he is, he relaxes and has a good time--until the police arrive and a series of mad dashes and chases occur--much like the very beginning of the film.

Cute, fun and, all in all, pretty insignificant fare from Chaplin.

I've seen The Adventurer well over a dozen times and each time it is just as funny as the time before. I repeatedly find myself thinking during the first scenes (where Charlie is on the beach and on the lamb from the police) that those scenes must be the high of the movie and as such that the movie will progessively sink from the close of those scenes on. Yet each time I watch the film I am pleasantly refreshed to the fact that the whole film is equally great.

Chaplin is excellent in the film, and his frequent foil in the early movies, Eric Campbell, is also perhaps at his best.

This film is well worth watching (several times).