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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 844

The Vagabond

191624 minUnited States

Synopsis

A wandering violinist rescues a young woman from people who have abducted and mistreated her. Their makeshift life together offers tenderness after the rescue, but an artist's portrait reveals her identity to the family searching for her. The discovery promises a different future for the woman and leaves her rescuer uncertain whether there is still a place for him in it.

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Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs: 25:58
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Charlie Chaplin · Public domain

Cast

Charles Chaplin

Edna Purviance

Eric Campbell

DirectorsCharles Chaplin

Historical context

Chaplin combines the physical disruptions of his Mutual comedies with a story of care and possible separation. The portrait changes more than the woman's circumstances: it forces the wanderer to confront the limits of the home they have improvised.

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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