A Dog’s Life (1918)
A Dog’s Life Review
A Dog’s Life is a 1918 action comedy short film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. It is such an endearing short.
Charlie rescues a stray from other dogs, and together they meet Edna after finding a wallet full of cash that changes both of their lives forever. This is such a simple, yet very effective story that is so well told through many very memorable scenes. For a movie about a dog, he is shortchanged a bit. I would have preferred more scenes with the two together and less sequences with the thieves themselves.
But still, the action is very good for the most part and I found some moments fantastic. I loved the happy ending, which was earned and so beautiful. The romance is also quite strong. But the best part is Scraps and Charlie sleeping together on the street. It was a great choice to make a stray dog companion for the Tramp character who is already on the streets, thus those moments are both moving and full of charm. Scraps is incredibly cute, and the film’s cinematography is excellent.
A Dog’s Life needed more scenes with Scraps, but he is so cute, the moments between him and Tramp are endearing and the plot is terrific.
