''A Dog's Life'' is a 1918 American Comedy short

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

written, produced and directed by Charlie Chaplin. This was Chaplin's first film for First National Films. Chaplin plays opposite an animal as "co-star". "Scraps" (the dog) was the hero in this film, as he helps Charlie and Edna towards a better life.

Edna Purviance Olga Edna Purviance (; October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with hi ...

plays a dance hall singer and Charlie Chaplin,

The Tramp The Tramp (''Charlot'' in several languages), also known as the Little Tramp, was English actor Charlie Chaplin's most memorable on-screen character and an icon in world cinema during the era of silent film. '' The Tramp'' is also the title ...

Sydney Chaplin Sydney John Chaplin (; 16 March 1885 – 16 April 1965) was an English actor. Chaplin was the elder half-brother of actor and director Charlie Chaplin and served as his business manager in later life. Through their mother Hannah, they were o ...

(Chaplin's brother) had a small role in this film; this was the first time the two brothers were on screen together.

Charles Lapworth Charles Lapworth FRS FGS (20 September 1842 – 13 March 1920) was a headteacher and an English geologist who pioneered faunal analysis using index fossils and identified the Ordovician period. Biography Charles Lapworth was born at Faring ...

, a former newspaper editor who had met Chaplin when he interviewed him, took a role as a consultant on the film.

Synopsis

Charlie is jobless and has few prospects for employment. He tries to steal food from a lunch cart and is nearly caught by a police officer, avoiding arrest by doing some fancy rolling back and forth under a fence. Later, Charlie saves a stray dog (Scraps) from other dogs. Charlie and Scraps become fast friends and partners in purloining food. Charlie enters a cabaret where dogs are not allowed. Charlie hides Scraps in his baggy trousers, but Scraps' tail emerges from the back end. Charlie meets a girl who works in the cabaret. She is disillusioned with life, so Charlie attempts to cheer her up. Charlie is ejected from the cabaret for having no money and returns to his normal outdoor sleeping spot. By chance, thieves have buried a stolen wallet nearby that is laden with a small fortune. Scraps digs up the wallet. Charlie returns to the cafe and shows the girl he has enough money for them to be married. The crooks discover that Charlie has the wallet and violently take it back from him. Charlie fights furiously to reclaim it. This leads to a frantic chase which culminates in the thieves' arrest. Charlie uses the money to buy a farm for himself and his bride. The movie ends with the newlyweds peering fondly into a cradle. It contains Scraps and her puppies.

Cast

* Charlie Chaplin –

– Bar singer * Mut – Scraps, a thoroughbred mongrel * Syd Chaplin – Lunchwagon owner * Henry Bergman – Fat unemployed man / Dance-hall lady *

Charles Reisner Charles Francis Reisner (March 14, 1887 – September 24, 1962) was an American film director and actor of the 1920s and 1930s. The German-American directed over 60 films between 1920 and 1950 and acted in over 20 films between 1916 and 1 ...

– Employment agency clerk / Door-to-door / Drummer * Albert Austin – Thief * Granville Redmond — Dance-hall owner *

Bud Jamison William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944)Okuda, Ted, and Edward Watz. 1999. The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-reel Hollywood Film Comedies 1933–1958'. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . was an American film actor. ...

– Thief * Tom Wilson – Policeman * James T. Kelley — Sausage buyer / Robbed passer * M. J. McCarthy – Unemployed man * Mel Brown – Unemployed man *

Charles Force Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

– Unemployed man *

Bert Appling Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album Here Comes a Son ...

– Unemployed man * Thomas Riley – Unemployed man * Slim Cole – Unemployed man * Ted Edwards – Unemployed man *

Louis Fitzroy Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ...

– Unemployed man *

Loyal Underwood Loyal Underwood (August 6, 1893 - September 30, 1966) was an American stock actor for Charlie Chaplin's film studio. Biography Born in 1893 in Rockford, Illinois, Underwood's movie debut was in '' The Count'', a 1916 Chaplin short film created ...

— Unemployed man / Dance-hall man

Stills

Still from Charles Chaplin - A Dog's Life - 1918 - First National Pictures - EYE FOT291509.jpg Still from Charles Chaplin - A Dog's Life - 1918 - First National Pictures - EYE FOT291510.jpg Still from Charles Chaplin - A Dog's Life - 1918 - First National Pictures - EYE FOT291511.jpg Still from Charles Chaplin - A Dog's Life - 1918 - First National Pictures - EYE FOT291512.jpg Still from Charles Chaplin - A Dog's Life - 1918 - First National Pictures - EYE FOT291514.jpg Still from Charles Chaplin - A Dog's Life - 1918 - First National Pictures - EYE FOT291515.jpg Still from Charles Chaplin - A Dog's Life - 1918 - First National Pictures - EYE FOT612945.jpg Still from Charles Chaplin - A Dog's Life - 1918 - First National Pictures - EYE FOT62946.jpg

References

External links

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alternate lobby poster
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dogs Life, A 1918 films Silent American comedy films 1918 comedy films American silent feature films Short films directed by Charlie Chaplin American black-and-white films First National Pictures films Articles containing video clips 1918 short films American comedy short films 1910s American films