The first thing you'll notice in this very first Chaplin film short is that he doesn't look very much like Chaplin at all! At least not the famous character he invented later on by way of The Tramp. His appearance here is almost villainous, offset if at all possible by his main rival (Henry Lehrman, who also directed), a stranger that he good naturedly panhandles, before reverting to a more nefarious side by stealing the man's camera after landing a job as a newspaper reporter. Much of this thirteen minute short is taken up by the heated sort of fisticuffs that seem to be a hallmark of Chaplin's early film forays. If this is all you'd know Chaplin by, you'd have to wonder how he ever managed to become a sympathetic character in his later works. The rivalry between Chaplin and Lehrman never really ends here, as both men are whisked off screen by the front end of a trolley car. As a stand alone effort, there's not much to recommend here other than Chaplin's very first film short appearance, but of course, that's the main point. Every actor has to get his start somewhere, and for this novice, it was a determined start to making a living.
Review of Making a Living
