Not the best slapstick boxing comedy (that place is held by Buster Keaton's 'Battling Butler'), but it is more than just silly entertainment. You can see this movie as a precursor to a masterfully choreographed boxing scene in 'City Lights'.
Tramp is in trouble, after having shared his last sausage with his dog, the Tramp wanders onto the boxing hall, which is looking for sparring partners. He swindles himself into the competition. This is followed by a clumsy beer-fuelled training montage (I wonder where the ones in the Rocky movie inspired by this?). Then the Tramp meets with the Trainer's daughter (Edna Purviance). Over the top villainous con man comes and tries to manipulate the Tramp so he would lose the fight. And then the big fight, where the Tramp manages to hit himself and the referee more than his opponent, who by the way is at least four times heavier than the Tramp.
As I understand, many different cuts are circling around, varying with the length from 10 to 30 minutes. The one I saw, ran for almost 31 minutes, and it was well-structured. I guess most of the scenes were in place, and it might have been very close to Chaplin's original vision. Recommend to look this one up, as this film actually has a decent story and there are many ingenious gags there. Probably one of the best from early Chaplin.
Tramp is in trouble, after having shared his last sausage with his dog, the Tramp wanders onto the boxing hall, which is looking for sparring partners. He swindles himself into the competition. This is followed by a clumsy beer-fuelled training montage (I wonder where the ones in the Rocky movie inspired by this?). Then the Tramp meets with the Trainer's daughter (Edna Purviance). Over the top villainous con man comes and tries to manipulate the Tramp so he would lose the fight. And then the big fight, where the Tramp manages to hit himself and the referee more than his opponent, who by the way is at least four times heavier than the Tramp.
As I understand, many different cuts are circling around, varying with the length from 10 to 30 minutes. The one I saw, ran for almost 31 minutes, and it was well-structured. I guess most of the scenes were in place, and it might have been very close to Chaplin's original vision. Recommend to look this one up, as this film actually has a decent story and there are many ingenious gags there. Probably one of the best from early Chaplin.