A good movie

By now, I have seen all the full-length features directed by Charles Chaplin but it had been a while since I saw one of his shorts. In fact, with almost 50 mins of running time, I'm not sure if it should be really considered as a short. Anyway, probably because of the slightly longer running time, they had to come up with a plot which was refreshing. Sure, it was basically still a succession of sketches, sight-gags and other stunts but the end-result was less random and chaotic than usual. It was also interesting that Charles Chaplin played his tramp differently than usual here. Indeed, he was this time a convict, obviously a thief, who was drinking and smoking. Sure, he was still not a full-blown villain or a real thug but I think there was still a big difference with his classic naïve tramp with a heart of gold. So, it was some solid material and Chaplin was really strong as usual and, yet, somehow the damned thing didn't really grab me though. Maybe I watched too many of these short silent comedies recently. Anyway, to conclude, even if it might not be one of his best movies, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Charles Chaplin's work. 

7/10