The Laugh of the Tramp

The Laugh of the TrampThe first time the tramp laughs on screen, he chuckles to himself.Sozzled, he growls and yaps at a young woman rocking in a chair safely out of his cane's reach.An older woman bustles into the hotel foyer, her curled pompadour all a-jitter.She leans over the counter to ask for the manager: she has a complaint to make.The tramp's head swivels round like a compass needle finding north.His eyes lock onto her behind.He rises unsteadily to his feet and grabs her arm as she crosses the room.This isn't his first pass at her.He has already used her hip as an armrest, been brought to his feet by her buttocks, taken her arm, and been swatted away.This time, though, he manages to say something to her before her shock settles into outrage.He smiles.She smiles back and then laughs.She frees herself and bats him away, amused by his flattery, incorrigibility, or even his cheek.He laughs after her, pirouetting before giving the space she has just vacated a gleeful donkey kick.The second time he laughs is at Mabel, whose 'strange predicament' gives this 1914 Keystone production its title.The strange predicament in question is that she has been locked out of her room in nothing but her underclothes.Drawn upstairs by the lure of another young woman's buttocks, the tramp is shocked to find that Mabel isn't decent.Startled, he stumbles back against a doorframe.Mortified, she turns her body away from him to face her locked door.She bids him not to look with one hand and pounds on the door with the other.He doffs his derby hat, turns away from her, snatches a glimpse at the camera, and lets loose a boy's tee-hee at the sight of a girl in her underclothes.He covers his mouth with his hand, looks away, and then peeks back over his shoulder at her.In less than ten seconds, he has gone from being on the trail of skirts to laughing at what lies beneath them.The butt of the joke does, however, have a nice butt.So, the tramp approaches.She tells him to go away.He shushes her and looks around; no one is coming.Eyes on the prize, he fixes his hat, slaps his cane a few times like a rider giddying a horse, and breaks into a lecherous laugh.He gives her a suggestive 'you up for it?'nod and waddles up to her.Unlike 'The Great Stone Face', Buster Keaton, the tramp laughs a lot.Keaton keeps a straight face, either unfazed by the mad excesses