Synopsis
The Adventurer (1917) is Charlie Chaplin's silent comedy short, free to watch online on iFILM. An escaped convict bolts down the beach, scrambling over sand and rocks while a pack of bumbling guards trips over itself behind him. Twenty-six minutes of pure chase and acrobatics.
Chaplin plays his Tramp again, this time pulling a drowning girl, her mother and a pushy suitor out of the sea — nearly going under himself in the process. He comes to in Judge Brown's mansion and ends up at a high-society party, sparring with that same suitor for the attention of the lovely Miss Brown (Edna Purviance). The towering Eric Campbell, Chaplin's regular foil, blocks him at every turn, while the prison guards keep closing in.
This was among the last of Chaplin's films for the Mutual studio, a stretch he later called the happiest of his career. The gag of an ice cream sliding down a society lady's back became a textbook bit of physical comedy. It's a perfect, half-hour entry point into silent slapstick. Stream The Adventurer (1917) online on iFILM.
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