Chaplin’s final film in his Mutual contract and marking the
end of a brief but fruitful relationship is The
Adventurer. A convict (Chaplin) is on the run from Prison Guards on the
coast when he hears the sounds of people crying out for help. He comes across three
people who are drowning having fallen off a nearby pier and saves each of them
one by one. One of the people he saves is an attractive young woman (Edna
Purviance) who invites the man back to her house to rest without knowing his
past. As the two begin to get on very well, the convict’s past catches up with
him thanks to the persistence of the young girl’s suitor (Eric Campbell).
Chaplin’s final outing for Mutual is a more than decent
short which features some genuinely laugh out loud moments in addition to a
well tailored story and plenty of trademark slapstick. What makes it stand out
for me though is not only was it the last film Chaplin made for the Mutual Corporation
but it was also his last to feature regular adversary Eric Campbell who
tragically died just a couple of months after the film’s release in a drink driving
accident. Chaplin and Campbell were very close friends, living next door to one
another when the latter died and Chaplin never again cast a regular actor to
play his antagonist.
