Meet Charlie Aplin (not a typo)...

Can you tell if this is Chaplin or an imposter?

In 1916 a Mexican actor by the name of Charles Amador changed his name to Charlie Aplin, and donned the now familiar costume of the "the tramp". In that same year Aplin filmed a Chaplin knock-off titled The Road Track, a film that was basically a copy of Chaplin's The Kid Auto-Race.

Charlie Chaplin was none too pleased with his new doppelgänger, and eventually sued the imposter. In 1925 Chaplin v. Amador was decided in Chaplin's favor. The basis for the ruling was not so much that Chaplin owned the exclusive rights to wear baggy pants and carry his iconic cane, but was due to Amador's intention to fraudulently deceive viewers with his "new" character.

The empty costume used an exhibit.

Chaplin on the left. Aplin on the right.

*the first photograph is a picture of Aplin used as an exhibit in the trial.