Plot Summary for
The Idle Class (1921) More at IMDbPro »

Chaplin plays a tramp who sneaks into a upper class golf resort. The tramp meets a rich woman (Edna Purviance) who is having an argument with her drunken husband (also played by Chaplin). Complications arise when she mistakes the tramp for her husband. Written by Robert Duncan {robert.duncan@usask.ca}

The conflict here is between Charlie the wealthy and alcoholic husband and Charlie the Tramp: the idle rich and the idle poor. In the opening scene wealthy Edna descends from a Pullman car while the Tramp crawls out from under another one. At a fancy masquerade ball Edna's husband (Charlie) appears as a knight whose visor is stuck closed. The Tramp shows up, running from the law, and is mistaken for the husband. Edna finds the new "husband" more to her liking than the real one. When true identities are revealed, a fight breaks out and the Tramp is ejected. Written by Ed Stephan {stephan@cc.wwu.edu}

Related Links