Specifically, 1918's A Dog's Life:
After a night off from watching cinema on Friday night, last night was a return to normal. A recent realization was that not only had it been over a year since I’d see any Charlie Chaplin, there had been more viewed by me from Keaton and Lloyd than from The Tramp himself. Thus, a popular short available on the Criterion Channel was selected.
Indeed it was The Tramp who was portrayed here, along with a dog literally named Scraps. He has bad interactions w/ the police (a mutual used the phrase ACAB; no comment), can’t find work at the unemployment office, and engages in various hijinks w/ Scraps. For example, he has to steal food to survive; you can’t get mad at him for that, right? Again, no comment on that—and actual thieves who steal wallets become the main plot in the second half. There are even some Chaplin family members who appear throughout.
As expected, there are plenty of creative sight gags and pratfalls through this 34 minute short. It’s more than just getting to see a cute dog, although I enjoyed that as a fan of canines; many other dogs are seen in one scene. A bar known as the Green Lantern is sometimes seen; there was no Hal Jordan around, let alone Hector Hammond. There is even time for romance in this tale where I’ll be doggone if a good time wasn’t had.
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