It should be noted that Chaplin’s Tramp character changes quite drastically from One A.M. to The Kid. In the first movie, he portrays a drunken man who cannot stand straight, which causes him a lot of inconvenience and results in awkward interactions with regular objects (Melton, 2017). The film exhibits the ridiculousness of the situation in which the main character finds himself due to excessive alcohol consumption. In the second movie, Chaplin’s character evolves from a comic character into a more complex one with a dramatic mood to it. The main hero is a mature and kind person who decides to take responsibility for an abandoned child (Coyote Cinema, 2018). In contrast with the first character who cannot take proper care of himself, the second hero provides care and protection to another human being, which makes Chaplin’s character attractive.
Chaplin’s interactions with inanimate objects at One A.M. are both ridiculous and amusing since the drunk character refuses to be beaten while the household objects attempt to thwart his ambition. When the main hero gets back home, he immediately faces the difficulty of entering his own house. The household objects such as the rug, whiskey refill, the bed additionally worsen his unsteady footing (Melton, 2017). I do not fully empathize with Chaplin’s character, nor do I find him the crooked one. However, I believe that his experience is relatable to almost any human being, and Chaplin’s exaggerated acting is understandable since it reflects the experience of people. Chaplin’s walk is also quite curious since it is not easy to determine straightaway why his manner of walking is so strange. At One A.M., it is possible to assume that the character thinks his walk gives his intoxicated state away, so he tries to control it. Nevertheless, in The Kid, the viewer may understand that the hero walks this way because of the ill-fitting clothing, which allows further speculation on the main character’s destiny.
References
Coyote Cinema. (2018). The kid (1921) Web.
Melton, S. (2017). Charlie Chaplin: One A.M. (1916) HQ 720p | funny movie [Video file]. Web.