Watch The Champion For Free

The greatest movie ever!

Good movie but grossly overrated

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Chaplin was certainly the champion of silent films and was rapidly becoming well known in early 1915 when he edited, wrote, directed, and starred in The Champion. Chaplin plays a hapless guy with a dog, who still retains its dignity even in desperate straits. Chaplin seasons the stubborn dog's sausage; otherwise, it appears the dog refuses to eat. They happen upon a local fighter needing a sparring partner where Chaplin gets the brilliant idea of utilizing a horseshoe in his boxing glove in order to even the odds. Chaplin becomes invincible and later secures a match with a champion. The championship boxing match predates the one in City Lights by over 15 years, but Chaplin is magnificent dancing around the ring as the champ tries in vain to put him away. The referee takes as much of a beating as the fighters in the ring. This is pure slapstick fun with just enough plot to balance the film, unlike most other Chaplin films up to this time. Edna Purviance is Chaplin's love interest in their second film together. Ben Turpin appears as an obnoxious vendor. The silent screen giant of westerns Bronco Billy Anderson is the enthusiastic man in the audience. Warner Brothers director of 1930's and 1940's films Lloyd Bacon appears as one of the sparring partners. **1/2 of 4 stars.

In 1915 Chaplin produced fourteen films for Essanay, just over a third of his output for the previous year under the conveyor belt-like production values of Keystone. This was a trend that would continue, with Chaplin's quantity shrinking more and more each year until the two-features-a-decade of his final years. However, with this shrink in output, the quality would increase, with massive advancement in the artistry of his work.This said, the Essanay shorts, while more inventive, better plotted and better realised than the Keystone work, initially aren't all that better. A case in point is The Champion, still a relatively primitive piece that has no great meaning or comedic punch (pun unintended). It's worth remembering that this was still only twenty years since the emergence of the first extensive film productions, and that it would have been sophisticated in its day. Yet despite this, the lack of continuity between internal/external locations and lapses of plot logic (Chaplin's Tramp becomes a feared boxer because he has a horseshoe in his glove… later he is able to perform the same feats of knock out artistry without the horseshoe, which makes no sense at all) do pall somewhat.Probably most notable for inspiring a sequence in "City Lights", this is still the era of large comedy moustaches and lack of screen realism. While comedy can be exaggerated, with nothing to ground it in any form of reality it has no great currency over 90 years on. Thankfully the Essanay shorts began, most notably from "The Tramp" on, to develop Chaplin's character as a more sympathetic and socially relevant persona; the seeds of which can be seen here, with a more likable take than Chaplin had previously indulged in. Charlie himself resented the working practises of Essanay, claiming in his autobiography that the company was "smug and self-satisfied" and that "their last consideration was the making of good pictures." In all, The Champion is interesting as a historical document and notable for the rapid progression Chaplin was making. On its own terms though, it isn't terribly good.

This is one of 5 Chaplin that are on the first DVD of Chaplin's Essanay Comedies. In general, compared to volume 2, the shorts on volume 1 aren't as well-made--because the DVDs are arranged chronologically. Chaplin's skill as a film maker and actor appeared to improve through his stay with Essanay Studios.This short is not great, but compared to the previous Essanay shorts, it is a major improvement. That's because this short is more like a mini-movie and is very plot-driven--something ALL great Chaplin shorts have in common. The final boxing sequence is funny but makes no sense--just turn off your brain and enjoy.By the way,...I like the dog in the film. Dogs like this are cool.

Like so many of Charlie Chaplin's early films The Champion has been subjected to a lot of tampering over the years. Depending on which print you see, the tough guy Charlie knocks out might be named Spike Dugan or Spike Henessy, his hefty opponent in the ring might be identified as Young Hippo or Bob Uppercut, leading lady Edna Purviance's presence during the training sessions may or may not be explained (in some editions she's identified as the trainer's daughter), Charlie's encounter with two cops might be deleted, and, all told, the film's running time could be anywhere from twenty minutes to as little as nine or ten. It's appalling what latter-day distributors have done to Chaplin's work; movies are renamed, scenes are rearranged or chopped out, and jokey title cards are added which are often unfunny, inappropriate and/or in poor taste. And on top of all that deliberate abuse the inevitable ravages of time and heavy usage have taken a toll on the quality of the prints themselves. Happily, however, and despite the rough treatment it has sustained, The Champion stands as one of Chaplin's funniest and most satisfying early comedies. The film boasts lots of sure-fire gags, colorful supporting players, and an especially vigorous and winning performance from the leading player himself.During his apprenticeship at Keystone in 1914 Chaplin learned the rudiments of filmmaking from Mack Sennett, who liked his comedies low and fast. Thus, in his earliest movies Chaplin is concerned only with action and gags, and doesn't seem to care whether the viewer likes his character or not; sometimes he's an out-and-out rotter. But with this new series for the Essanay company Chaplin learned, first, to slow down a little and let things unfold as they may. More importantly, he learned to develop a sympathetic character viewers could care about.The opening of The Champion shows Charlie sitting on a stoop with his only friend, an endearingly ugly bulldog named Spike, as they eat a meal. Charlie offers a sausage to Spike who, amusingly, chooses to eat only after the sausage has been properly seasoned. It's a charming scene and a leisurely one, and it sets an agreeable tempo. By the time the sequence is over, whether we've seen Charlie before or not, we like this poor guy and his ugly dog, and we're rooting for them. When Charlie decides to try his luck as a boxer he even manages to retain our sympathy when he employs less-than-ethical means to knock out his foe.Later, we're troubled when Charlie appears to flirt with the idea of accepting a bribe from a crooked gambler, but ultimately the crook gets what he deserves and Charlie is more The Good Guy than ever. This sequence, in some respects, is the funniest in the entire film. Gambler Leo White is hilariously hammy, and Charlie peppers us with gags using every available prop: the paper money he grips in his mouth, the gun that points every which way, and even Leo White's villainous mustache, which Charlie reaches over and twirls one step ahead of the villain.Everything builds towards the climactic battle. Chaplin fans taking the long view might regard this as a dry run for the big fight in City Lights, made in 1931, but for my money the boxing match in The Champion can hold its own as a great sequence in its own right. In addition to being well staged and beautifully timed, the scene features several notable participants silent film buffs will recognize. Charlie's tubby opponent in the ring is character actor Bud Jamison, at the beginning of a 30-year career supporting just about every prominent comedian of the era. In the stands meanwhile are two prominent players of the day, G. M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson and Ben Turpin. Anderson was among the very first Western stars, and also happened to be a co-founder of the Essanay company, producers of this film. Therefore Anderson was in effect Chaplin's boss, and his cameo (as a highly enthusiastic spectator) can be seen as something of a good-natured inside joke. Ben Turpin, on the other hand, had co-starred with Chaplin in his two previous comedies, but it's said that the two men didn't get along, and they went their separate ways after this point. Turpin is granted a very brief bit as a peanut vendor in the stands during the bout, clambering over spectators before he is bodily thrown out -- out of the stands, out of the film, and, in effect, out of Chaplin's orbit.In any event, the fight makes for a funny and exciting finale, and it provides Spike the dog with one last moment of screen immortality. (Sadly, the dog was struck and killed by a car shortly after this movie was completed.) For Spike's co-star, The Champion was not only a vast improvement over his earlier work, but the first of many classic comedies.