Charlie Chaplin - Film great?

Others may disagree, but I would check out MONSIEUR VERDOUX--one of his few "talkies".


He plays a HIGHLY elegant man--the antithesis of The Little Tramp--who marries wealthy women and then kills them to get their money.

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I adore "Moderns Times." I wrote a paper on it for my OrgCom class.

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Wasn't she something like 16 and he in his early 40s when they wed?

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purely opinion - The Gold Rush is too slow for me, I get impatient. Some scenes in Modern Times are a little too formulaic. The Great Dictator is my favorite of these three.

My two major Chaplin recommendations are City Lights and The Circus. The Circus holds a special place in my heart because the first time I saw it was a fantastic night. A few years ago the original score was found at Chaplin's estate in Switzerland, researched and restored. During the process it was discovered that the film had been remastered at an incorrect speed when it had been joined to a recorded soundtrack when talkies came out. The original music couldn't be played fast enough to match the film at the incorrect speed. Corrected to the slower speed the film is even funnier because all the jokes and slapstick have better setup. After completing the research and remastering the researcher toured with the film and used local sinfoniettas playing the recovered score to provide live accompaniment. Another extra was that the screening here was in honor of the theater's anniversary - it opened the same year The Circus was released. The whole event was a throwback to 1928 and was just incredible.

The shorts of The Kid and A Dog's Life are worth checking out, too (they're both on one dvd).

Eugene O'Neill was devastated by the marriage of his daughter to a man just a few years younger than himself, and, in fact, refused to ever meet Mr. Chaplin.

Let's add to that the fact that BOTH of O'Neill's sons committed suicide. Not exactly a happy family.

My theatre did a play called EVERYBODY SMILE by the late N.Richard Nash (best known for THE RAINMAKER) based on the "what if?" premise of a meeting between Chaplin and O'Neill. It was one of Nash's last plays and might do well in New York with the right two actors in the leads.

Thanks for the tidbit, Yawper! Do you know if The Circus is available on DVD? It would have been amazing to have seen it played live with a real orchestra! As it is now, is the current release of The Circus the one at the incorrect speed?

What's the plot of City Lights? This is different from Limelight, right? Was Chaplin ever nominated for any Oscar aside from the lifetime achievement one he received? Was it because of the Un-American Activities tangle that he stopped releasing films? Such a shame - Modern Times in particular was so ahead of its time, it seems. And The Great Dictator speaks for itself. Was America involved in WWII by then?

Jon - did you act in the show? Sounds like an interesting premise. I'll look it up at the library/bookstore.

Evelyn - Thanks for the advice! I'll look into Harold Lloyd, but after Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe is next on my list of classics to educate myself on!

By the way, anyone who read the latest issue of Premiere magazine, do you agree with their list of the Top 50 Movie Stars Of All Time?

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"Smile though your heart is breaking"

So glad to see others here who appreciate the genius that is Charles Chaplin.

Yawpers, your assessments are spot on!! Happy to know someone else appreciates The Circus. Though not his best film, it still contains some of his funniest (and most underappreciated) scenes.

Watch "City Lights." It is, in my opinion, Chaplin's true masterpiece. All of his humor, timing, storytelling, pathos and agility are presented here in their finest form. The "boxing ring" scene alone is perhaps one of the best uses of choreography ever put on celluloid. I can't express how floored I am that one person could be so talented.

As for bios -- there are so many. The best one (and many other cinephiles agree) is "Chaplin: His Life and Art" by David Robinson. Check Amazon.com

Also, an easy and informative read is "Tramp;..." by Joyce Milton. This bio is pretty thorough and works hard at describing the eras that Chaplin lived in and how important he was in those eras. It is relatively easy to find in your local bookstore as it is still in print. But Robinson's is more indepth into both his life with an analysis of the art he created.

Chaplin's own autobiography is interesting but is more intersesting once you know Chaplin's "story" and you can see how much Chaplin embellished and/ or altered his life in this text.

The film "Chaplin", though not a masterpiece, is a good biopic that does capture a lot of what Chaplin was all about and I liked Downey Jr. very much in the film.

..just my two cents. Wish I could be enjoying these films over again for my first time. You are in for some fun Type_A_Tiff.

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Thanks for your input, guys. I'll check out City Lights and the other ones that were mentioned. Just curious how he was accepted at the Academy Awards - graciously and with open arms, or was there still reluctance from the Hollywood community after the HUAC fiasco?

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I really enjoyed Modern Times, although I think The Great Dictatory has a slight edge. His commentary seems so avante for his day, especially considering the US weren't involved in WWII at the time!

(By the way, what on earth are you doing on here instead of enjoying the London nightlife??)

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Thank you AndyHardy for introducing me to Chaplin.

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