Fifty Before '50: THE ADVENTURER (1917)

 by JB

Today, let’s travel back in time to 1916... and a little place I call... Malibu, California.

After becoming the biggest movie star in the world with his pioneering work at the Keystone Studios in 1914, Charlie Chaplin next moved to Essanay Studios, where he made 14 short comedies in two years. In 1916, Chaplin became the highest paid performer in the world, signing a contract with the Mutual Film Corporation for $670,000 for 12 short films. (That’s more than $20 million in 2026 dollars.) The Adventurer was the last of these. You can watch it here.

THE PLOT IN BRIEF: An escaped convict (Charlie Chaplin) evades prison guards and policemen and jumps into the ocean to escape. He ends up swimming to a seaside pier, where a rich family is cavorting. After saving one of them from drowning, he is invited back to their mansion. He poses as “Commodore Slick” and enjoys their hospitality. Unfortunately, another guest is suspicious and calls the cops, who proceed to chase the resourceful Chaplin all over the house.

So distinctive is the scenery along the Pacific Coast Highway, that while watching the film again this morning, I instantly recognized where these first scenes were filmed. Remember that ALL HOLLYWOOD FILMS TAKE PLACE IN THE SAME META-VERSE. As you watch the film on the YouTube machine, imagine the camera panning slightly to the right as the coppers chase Charlie on the beach. The camera picks up a man on horseback far in the distance. He follows the shoreline until something in his line of sight makes him pause and dismount.

The man is Charlton Heston. He walks along the sand, shouting, “"Oh, my God. I'm back. I'm home. All the time, it was... We finally really did it. YOU MANIACS! YOU BLEW IT UP! AH, DAMN YOU! GOD! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!” As Heston squats in the sand, the camera continues to pan right and we see teenagers driving various funny cars down the Pacific Coast Highway; they are singing “Beach Party.” The happy couple in the lead car is Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The camera finally pans left, and we see two new teenagers cavorting in the surf. These teenagers look older, like the boy might be 24 and the girl could be 30. They are saying goodbye to each other after an eventful summer. Their names are Danny and Sandy. These disparate movies were all filmed in Malibu within a few miles of each other. Thus, the singularity is achieved.

ASTOUNDING FACT: Chaplin’s The Adventurer was filmed twelve years before the Pacific Coast Highway was ever built. How did the film crew get to the location? Mules?

I have been watching Chaplin’s Mutual comedies since I was a teenager, and it’s always very comforting to see him interacting with his stock company. Edna Purviance plays the female lead; Chaplin would later write and direct A Woman of Paris in 1923, a film designed to make her a star. Eric Campbell was Chaplin’s reliable heavy, a mountain of a man who made Chaplin look tiny and sympathetic in comparison. Albert Austin plays both one of the prison guards at the beginning of the film and Purviance’s butler at the end; he was a multi-talented utility player. Purviance’s father is Henry Bergman, another all-purpose actor who prided himself on being able to play any part. He would be a member of Chaplin’s stock company for more than twenty years.

Most critics opine that The Adventurer, the last of Chaplin’s 12 Mutual comedies, harkens back to Chaplin’s earlier Keystone days, as if the strain of producing 11 of the greatest short comedies was too much for the comedy genius, and so Chaplin “rested on his laurels” for the last one in the series.

I disagree. While Mutual comedies like The Vagabond, The Pawnbroker, and Easy Street may feature more sophisticated themes and narratives, it’s not as if the intricate slapstick of The Adventurer were somehow easier to pull off than more complex story elements. The chase at the end of The Adventurer is so elaborate and so dependent on perfect timing that it hides its own artistry. It must have been incredibly tricky to pull it off at all! As for matters of theme, Chaplin was pretty consistent in championing the little guy in all his films, whether said little guy is a waiter, a firefighter, a police officer... or a prison inmate.

It’s worth noting that many of the Mutual films have job descriptions as titles: The Floorwalker, The Fireman, The Count, The Immigrant... but does Chaplin title this one The Convict? The Escaped Crook? Tramp on the Lam?

No, he is... The Adventurer!