In the 14 short films he directed for Essanay Studios, Charlie Chaplin let go of the simple, quick comedy that marked his passage through Keystone and focussed instead on character development. In Charlot The Champion we follow the lead character as he offers himself to a boxing champion as training partner before, unexpectedly, defeating him, setting in motion a quest to take on the current world title holder. The result is an unpretentious and hilarious film, full of the action, pantomime and slapstick comedy for which Chaplin would be immortalised.