Charlie Chaplin left Essanay studios after about a year because the studio "big wigs" began cutting and splicing his films even after he was guaranteed control over his films. They reneged on the bargain, so Chaplin sued (unsuccessfully).
About two years after his break, some idiots at Essanay had the sleazy idea of taking deleted film scenes, his last previous complete Essanay short (POLICE, 1916) and splicing in some NEW scenes to make a "new" Chaplin short. The result, while not 100% horrible, is a confusing mess of a story compared to other Chaplin shorts. Plus, it just seemed wrong to even release the film. My advice is see it to see what this final product looked like from a historical perspective but don't see it for its artistic merit.
About two years after his break, some idiots at Essanay had the sleazy idea of taking deleted film scenes, his last previous complete Essanay short (POLICE, 1916) and splicing in some NEW scenes to make a "new" Chaplin short. The result, while not 100% horrible, is a confusing mess of a story compared to other Chaplin shorts. Plus, it just seemed wrong to even release the film. My advice is see it to see what this final product looked like from a historical perspective but don't see it for its artistic merit.