A look back at Charlie Chaplin's early life and career, from his rough childhood and music hall success in England to his early Hollywood days and the development of his enormously popular character, the Little Tramp, also called Charlot.

Charlie begins to woo a woman on a bench, only to have her seaman boyfriend object. After a brick fight between the two men that eventually involves two police officers, all five people end up in the local pond to cool off.

Charlie plays an actor who bungles several scenes and is kicked out. He returns convincingly dressed as a lady and charms the director, but Charlie never makes it into the film.

Mother, father and daughter go to the park. The women doze off on a bench while the father plays a hide-and-seek game with a girl, blindfolded. Charlie leads him into a lake. Both dozing ladies on the bench fall for Charlie and invite him for dinner. The father returns home with a friend. Charlie rushes upstairs and dresses like a woman, shaving his mustache. Both men fall for Charlie.

Charlie is released from prison and immediately swindled by a fake parson. A fellow ex-convict convinces Charlie to help burglarize a house.

A janitor at a bank is in love with a secretary and dreams that she has fallen in love with him too.

Charlie and his wife are in the park when he encounters Ambrose and his wife. Each man is attracted to and shows unwanted attention to the other man's wife. A policeman becomes involved.

It is windy at a bathing resort. After fighting with one of the two husbands, Charlie approaches Edna while the two husbands themselves fight over ice cream. Driven away by her husband, Charlie turns to the other's wife.

A gypsy seductress is sent to sway a goofy officer to allow a smuggling run.

The Little Fellow finds the girl of his dreams and work on a family farm. He helps defend the farm against criminals, and all seems well, until he discovers the girl of his dreams already has someone in her life. Unwilling to be a problem in their lives, he takes to the road, though he is seen skipping and swinging his cane as if happy to be back on the road where he knows he belongs.

Two drunks fight with their wives and then go out and get even drunker.

Three Chaplin silent comedies "A Dog's Life", "Shoulder Arms", and "The Pilgrim" are strung together to form a single feature length film. Chaplin provides new music, narration, and a small amount of new connecting material. "Shoulder Arms" is now described as taking place in a time before "the atom bomb".

When a married couple become separated in the park, a tramp sits with the lady and is beat up when her husband rejoins her. He takes a room in their hotel, and chaos ensues.

To show his girl how brave he is, Pug challenges the champion to a fight. Charlie referees, trying to avoid contact with the two monsters.

In a dance hall, two members of the orchestra and a tipsy dancer fight over the hat check girl.

Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.