It's hard to imagine that these movies are more than 90 years old. Funny stuff.

Not terrible, but not great either. Chaplin's first film pits him as a swindler in an extended fight with a reporter trying to do his work. The highlight comes when a car careens off a cliff and the reporter goes to photograph and interview the man pinned beneath the vehicle. When he sets his camera and notepad down to help, Charlie steals the material and turns it in as his own. This kind of unlikable behavior is common in the early shorts, keeping them several notches below the later work.

Chaplin is such a charismatic bad ass that it's hard not to like him, even when he's cold-cocking ten-year old newsies and jacking cameras and shit. I'll still take the "tramp" Chaplin over this, but it's a nice piece of history.

Very charming.

Not the best, but a importante short.