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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 764

The Adventurer

191725 minUnited States

Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs: 25:55
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Charlie Chaplin · Public domain

Synopsis

An escaped prisoner repeatedly outwits guards along a beach and cliffside. After saving people from drowning, he gains entry to a wealthy household where gratitude briefly replaces pursuit. The change of setting offers food, comfort and romantic possibilities, but his borrowed respectability is vulnerable to recognition and the persistent reach of the law.

Cast

Charles Chaplin

Edna Purviance

Eric Campbell

DirectorsCharles Chaplin

Behind the scenes

The film concluded Chaplin's twelve-picture contract with Mutual. It moves his comic fugitive from outdoor escape stunts into an elegant social gathering, where the same quick improvisation must operate under different rules.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film reference Wikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

Charles Chaplin — Strauss-Peyton Studio, 1921; published in Photoplay no. 3 (1922); National Portrait Gallery / Wikimedia Commons. · Public domain in the United States (PD-US-expired)
Edna Purviance — Unknown photographer, 1923; J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Libraries, SAYRE 8372 / Wikimedia Commons. · Public domain in the United States (PD-US-expired)
Eric Campbell — Unknown photographer, by 1917; The Moving Picture World (1918), p. 53; Internet Archive / Wikimedia Commons. · Public domain in the United States (PD-US-expired)

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