The late-1910s were a great time for early Hollywood icon Charlie Chaplin; they were the years when he truly got discovered (which finally allowed him to stop cranking-out crude slapstick shorts minute-after-minute for Keystone Pictures), started to get famous, and made some of his best early comedic short-films such as 'The Immigrant' (1917) and 'The Cure' (1917). And with 'A Dog's Life,' Chaplin successfully manages to continue his groundbreaking film formula that combines both slapstick comedy, melodrama, and social commentary that he established in his previous earlier works such as the two previously listed titles above. And you better believe me when I say that 'A Dog's Life' is a worthy successor to Chaplin's best earlier works, even though it may not be as effective as his previous works. The plot behind it is simple, as is the case with most of Chaplin's films: it revolves around Chaplin's iconic character "the Tramp" trying to survive the injustices and indignities of city life while also dreaming of a better life along with his dog Scraps and, later in the film, his love interest (played by his Edna Purviance, who was the usual co-leading lady in his movies). Chaplin shines, as usual, as "the Tramp"- he manages to perfectly convey a constantly down-on-his-luck everyman who the audience can both sympathize with and laugh at. And in this movie he manages to actually successfully pull-off the homeless tramp look, unlike in some of his other films where he was just an everyman with a long, nasty streak of bad luck. Edna's performance as the equally down-on-her-luck love interest of "the Tramp" was also pretty good. Watching them struggle to live in such an unfair world makes for a great warm, at-times touchy-feely story stuffed with melodrama and story moments where the audience probably just couldn't help but root for the characters. Though there was also probably lots of moments in the movie where the audience just couldn't help but have a tragic laugh at the expense of the characters when they were to fail too. Though that's okay. The melodramatic story also allows Chaplin to stuff in a lot of social commentary commentating on the living conditions of the poor people of America. Though the social commentary is actually the main thing the movie has problems with. Unlike the social commentary seen in 'The Immigrant,' the social commentary in 'A Dog's Life' is less directed and less poignant than 'The Immigrant's.' But it's still pretty decent for a movie that completely lacks dialogue. But oftentimes it seems that 'A Dog's Life' isn't really that focused on its social commentary and more focused on its comedy, which it, at times, totally doubles-down on, unlike in 'The Immigrant.' And while the slapstick comedy in 'A Dog's Life' may not be as effective as it was in Chaplin's earlier films due to the overwhelming sheer amount and while it also may be more pratfall-based, it is still, nonetheless, hilarious- with the lounge crying scene and fence police scene and the running-of-the-dogs scene standing out in particular. Watching "the Tramp" go through hilarious surreal situation after hilarious surreal situation is a joy. And I feel like 'A Dog's Life' was truly the first of Chaplin's movies to explore farcical territory, which it does brilliantly- in turn paving the way in turn for the Marx brothers and 30 Rock. Moving on though, 'A Dog's Life' also has the same simple yet surprisingly good cinematography and crisp, slick editing seen in 'The Immigrant,' but this time around it is far more subtle- which perhaps is a good thing. You don't want a simple slapstick comedy to have a lot of spectacle, after all. It would distract from the comedy. Also, kudos to whoever trained the dog in this movie who plays Scraps, because seeing the relationship between Chaplin and the dog play-out on screen is super fun to watch. Especially during the scene where "the Tramp" first walks into the lounge seen in the movie. On a concluding note, 'A Dog's Life' is a worthy entry in Charlie Chaplin's filmography that manages to successfully continue his groundbreaking film formula that combines both social commentary, slapstick comedy, and melodrama. Sure, the social commentary in 'A Dog's Life' may not be as good or even as directed-at-something as it was in 'The Immigrant' and 'A Dog's Life' might occasionally double-down on crude slapstick instead of just picking a few really good comedic moments to go with. But A Dog's Life' is buoyed by the believable relationship between "the Tramp" and his love interest and the bond between "the Tramp" and his dog seen in the movie, even more melodrama than what is normally seen in a Chaplin film, funny-if-a-little-crude slapstick, hilarious farcical situations, decent cinematography, and slick, crisp editing. It's a must-see for any Charlie Chaplin fan or for any movie-buff in general, or for any comedy-buff for that matter. See it.
Review of A Dog's Life
