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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 866

The Idle Class

192132 minUnited States

Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs: 30:01
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Charlie Chaplin · Public domain

Synopsis

A wanderer arrives at a resort with ambitions to enjoy golf and the comforts surrounding it. Elsewhere, a wealthy man's drinking has driven his wife away. Their resemblance brings the outsider into a masquerade ball and an established marriage, where mistaken identity gives him temporary access to a social position that was never meant for him.

Cast

Charles Chaplin

Edna Purviance

Henry Bergman

Mack Swain

DirectorsCharles Chaplin

Behind the scenes

Chaplin plays both the wanderer and the wealthy husband. The double role lets similar physical appearances expose the very different treatment attached to money, clothing and social expectation.

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)
Henry Bergman — Mutual Film Corp.; detail from http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=98107 · Public domain
Mack Swain — Witzel; J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs · Public domain

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