The Champion (1915 film)

The Champion is a comedy film released in 1915 by Essanay Studios, starring Charles Chaplin alongside Edna Purviance and Leo White. Essanay co-owner and star, Broncho Billy Anderson can be seen as an enthusiastic audience member in the boxing match scene.
==Plot==
In this comedy, Charlie Chaplin has a companion--a pet bulldog. Walking along a street with his bulldog, Charlie finds a "good luck" horseshoe just as he passes the training camp of an enormous fighter named Spike Dugan. Outside the camp is a large, painted advertisement which states Dugan is seeking sparring partners "who can take a punch." After watching other better fighters be soundly beaten by Dugan, Charlie decides his best bet is to put the horseshoe inside his boxing glove. Using the loaded glove, Charlie connects with a solid punch and wins. The trainer prepares Charlie to fight the world champion. A gambler wants Charlie to throw the fight. He and the trainer's daughter fall in love.
==Notes==
In some versions of the film, an inter-title introducing the heavyweight boxers refers to Spike Dugan as "Spike Hennessey"--although the surname Dugan is clearly painted on the wall surrounding his training camp.
This was the second Chaplin film to focus on boxing. He had already made a comedy for Keystone Studios, titled The Knockout (1914), in which he was a secondary character--a boxing referee. In City Lights (1931) he would again play an outsized and outclassed pugilist.
==Cast==
* Charles Chaplin - Challenger
* Edna Purviance - Trainer's daughter
* Ernest Van Pelt - Spike Dugan
* Lloyd Bacon - Second sparring partner / Referee
* Leo White - Crooked gambler
* Carl Stockdale - Sparring partner
* Billy Armstrong - Sparring partner
* Paddy McGuire - Sparring partner
* Bud Jamison - Bob Uppercut, Champion
* Ben Turpin - Ringside vendor
==External links==
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Category:1915 films
Category:American silent short films
Category:American films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American comedy films
Category:Short films directed by Charlie Chaplin
Category:1910s comedy films
Category:Essanay Studios films
Category:1915 short films
Category:Articles containing video clips
Category:Comedy short films
Category:Films
Category:English-language films