Tramp (character)

As Chaplin himself tells, the character of the Tramp appeared completely by accident. At that time, he worked at the Keystone Film Studio as a comic actor. After the failure of the film “ Making a living ”, Chaplin was looking for another character in whose image he could perform further:

I did not know how to make up. I didn’t like my appearance as a reporter. On the way to the dressing room, I instantly decided to wear baggy pants that would sit on me in a bag, prohibitively large shoes and a bowler hat , and take a cane in my hands. I wanted everything in my suit to be contradictory: baggy pants and a too-narrow business card , a bowler hat that was too small for me, and huge shoes. I did not immediately decide whether I would be old or young, but, remembering that Sennett considered me too young, I put on my little mustaches, which, in my opinion, should have made me older, without hiding my facial expressions.

While dressing, I had not thought about what character should be hiding behind this appearance, but as soon as I was ready, the costume and makeup suggested an image to me. I felt it, and when I returned to the pavilion, my character was already born.

Later, other comedians who worked with Chaplin at Keystone recalled that Chaplin allegedly put together the details of their costumes, and the Tramp character turned out.

The vagabond Charlie first appeared on the screen in the film Mabel 's Unusually Difficult Situation , a little later than the earlier film Children's Car Racing , which, however, was filmed later. In these and subsequent films, Tramp's character was a cocky, cheeky comedian who was a lover of drinks and arousing about girls, and in case of attacks on him by grooms or spouses of girls, he threw cream confectionery at them and constantly ran away from raging competitors.

The first film with Tramps, which Chaplin himself shot, is “ Caught in the Rain, ” released on May 4, 1914.

Later, Chaplin left Keystone and moved to Esseny . It was then that began the growth of the character Vagabond. In Esseny, Chaplin continued to shoot comedies. In them, the vagabond Charlie is a restless dreamer, necessarily in love with a beautiful girl ( Edna Perviens , who was Chaplin's regular partner until 1923, often played the role of a beloved Kistonian character, often loved her lovers). The tramp became a landmark film in Esseny. In this film, tragic features began to appear in the character of Tramp.

When Chaplin worked at , the tragic tramps of Charlie were preserved, but they usually went for mischievous purposes (for example, in the film The Usurer 's Shop , the Vagabond almost asks the moneylender not to dismiss him from work, gesturing that he has many hungry children, and when the startled moneylender gives him one more chance and leaves, Charlie gives kicks to another assistant, with whom they didn’t get along right away). The film “ Immigrant ” is also a tragicomic one, in which the sufferings of immigrants are very truthfully depicted and comic situations are present.

With the arrival of “ First National ”, Chaplin shot his first full-length film, “The Kid ”, in which the Tramp creates funny situations and at the same time takes great care about the Kid, whom he picked up and sheltered. The same film was Chaplin’s only full-length work in First National. Having finished in the picture " Pilgrim ", Chaplin left there. In the same year, the director shot the psychological drama " Parisian ", where he appeared in the episode.

Tramp's character also appeared in Chaplin's next comedies - The Gold Rush and The Circus , where Charlie found himself in the most unusual situations. In the movie "The Fires of the Big City " Tramp, according to the plot, decided to help heal the blind girl flower girl. In the comedy " New Times ", tramp Charlie was a clumsy factory worker trying to settle in the world of the Great Depression. This film was the last in which the character appeared Tramp.

In one of the following Charlie Chaplin's films - “The Lights of the Ramp ” - the character of Kalvero - the old clown performed by the director - with his comicness, touchingness and optimism for life was close to the image of the vagabond Charlie (also in several episodes of this film Calvera appeared in a costume similar to Tramps). In the next (after the Fires of the Ramp) film of the great director - “ The King in New York ” - the character of King Shadov, also performed by Chaplin, was very close to Vagabond.

Chaplin had a great influence on Sergei Eisenstein , Osamu Tezuka , Mark Shagal , clown Pencil , Raj Kapoor , Alexander Kalyagin in the comedy “ Hello, I am your aunt! ”, Norman“ Mr. Pitkin ”Wisdom , Rowan“ Mr. Bean ”Atkinson , Woody Allen , Roberto Benigni , Walt Disney and many others.

Igor Kosukhin and German Lupekin appeared in the image of tramp Charlie in the Soviet films “ Into One Fine Childhood ” and “ Striped Flight ”.

The character of Yuri Detochkin in the film “ Beware of the car ” helped to create three classic looks: Don Quixote , Little Tramp and Prince Myshkin .

Also, the Blue Puppy - rejected by society, the character of the cartoon of the same name , voiced by Alice Freindlich - with its appearance resembles a vagabond Charlie.

There is a film-ballet " Chapliniana " to the music of Chaplin. The roles of the Clown and the Dictator in this film are performed by Gali Abaidulov .

• Maland, Charles (1991), Chaplin and American Culture: Princeton University Press, ISBN 9780691028606