Charlie Chaplin (1951)

"A Dog's Life" — first masterpiece " up plays innocent before a half-empty glass. Unable to produce cash, however, he gets the "bum's rush" through the front door. In the next sequence a pair of crooks, after "rolling" a rich drunk, seek a hiding place for the loot to evade the police. They bury the stolen wallet in Charlie's bedroom— the vacant lot to which Charlie returns to sleep with Scraps as his pillow. The crooks then go on to the Green Lantern to celebrate. One of them shows an interest in Edna, who repulses him. The boss, anxious about his customers' good will, fires the girl. Edna, coming out of her dressing room with her suitcase, asks the boss for her pay, is refused, and falls weeping on the table. Meanwhile Scraps, foraging for food, digs up the wallet. Fortified by this wealth Charlie returns to the Green Lantern. He suffers a minor defeat trying to roll a cigarette in "tough guy" style. He sees the weeping Edna and learns that she has been fired. After a shrug he assumes the arrogance of a rich man in his orders to the waiter. He is observed by the crooks showing off the wallet. "We will settle down in the country," he tells Edna and pantomimes a happy future with marriage, a home, and no less than five little ones. The crooks put a rough end to that dream and once more Charlie finds himself in the gutter. After Edna picks him up and dusts him off, Charlie steals back in an effort to regain what he considers his property. Crawling behind the bar, he takes a position next to the curtained booth where the two crooks are again celebrating. Charlie pulls out a mallet from under his hat, draws the curtains, and comes down with the mallet on the head of one of the crooks. Charlie promptly slips his own arms through the stunned man's coat from behind, gestures to the other man to keep quiet, lifts a glass, and holds his hand out for his share of the money. Each time the stunned man comes to,