Happy birthday Charlie Chaplin! The man created a character so iconic that most people believe his character to be him, but no no The Tramp is just a character he created. The man was a writer/actor/director so influential that movies probably wouldn’t be the same without him. He was also a brave man, releasing silent films even when talkies became all the rage.

So to honor his birthday, we present our 5 favorite Chaplin movies, in no order:

Chaplin’s first feature film. His character The Tramp adopts a child and, to the best of his ability, tries to raise him.

My personal favorite Chaplin film. The Tramp adorably tries to gain a fortune. This movie contains the famous dancing bread loaves scene. Just don’t see it with the weird narration. Make sure it’s 100% silent.

The Tramp tries to help a blind flower seller that he has fallen in love with. Aww. Yeah, it’s adorable love story. There’s a pretty awesome boxing scene in this movie too.

I swear this movie inspired The Artist. It was released well after talkies became popular and it’s about The Tramp trying to adjust to the modern world with the help of a homeless woman. Holy crap, right?

http://youtu.be/zroWIN-lS8E

This movie was pre-World War II, yet wow. It just seems to know exactly what’s happening or going to happen. A Jewish barber is mistaken for an evil dictator that wants to do the same thing Hitler did.

charlie chaplin