Synopsis
The Fireman (1916) is a silent Charlie Chaplin short you can watch online on iFILM. Twenty-four minutes, all gags: Charlie is the most useless man at the fire station, getting everything wrong on the first try.
The setup has a nasty twist. A homeowner torches his own house for the insurance money and bribes the fire chief to simply stay away — except his daughter is still upstairs. When the flames jump to the house next door, it falls to Charlie to fix the mess. Edna Purviance is along for it, and so is the towering Eric Campbell, Chaplin's giant foil from this period.
This is one of Chaplin's early Mutual films, directed by the man himself. Pure hundred-year-old physical comedy: runaway fire-wagon chases, ladder acrobatics, timing sharpened to the frame. A friendly way into silent film for anyone curious where the Tramp got his start. Stream The Fireman (1916) online on iFILM.
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