Charlie Chaplin (1889 - 1977)
Chaplin even now is probably the most
famous film star that ever lived. The international audience for silent
film, the wide appeal of silent comedy and the mythic little tramp
combined to create a popularity it is unlikely will ever be surpassed.
Buster Keaton called Chaplin the greatest comedian that ever lived and
he probably was. Since the 50s though there has been a critical rebuff
against Chaplin which has viewed him as only a competent director and
not very funny at all. He certainly wasn't the most cinematic of
film-makers but his technique was perfect for capturing the hypnotic
antics of the Tramp. His comedy might be tinged at times with sadness
but he was a master of pantomime who achieved precisely the effects he
wanted.
Chaplin's poverty stricken childhood in the London of the 1890s informs a lot of his art. The sequence in his first feature The Kid (1921) in which Jackie Coogan is torn from his surrogate father actually happened to Charlie as a seven year old boy the only difference being it was his mother from which he and half brother Sydney were separated. Chaplin's work in retrospect always had a leftish tinge to it which was eventually along with his gregarious private life to lead him into trouble and eventual exile from the USA.
Chaplin began his film career at Keystone and was so successful he was able to begin directing his own work early on. At Essanay he made his first classic short The Tramp (1915) which ends with the iconic shot of the little man walking down a country lane. This introduced the emotion of pathos to his work which was to be integral to his art. In the Mutual series it appears again in the superb The Immigrant (1917). The Mutual shorts are the one part of Chaplin's work to maintain a great popularity among critics many of whom think Chaplin's later work became too sombre compared with the pure comedy of films like One AM (1916), The Pawnshop (1916), The Cure (1917) and The Adventurer (1917).
This might be one of the reasons the First National films have been largely neglected, a pity when they include A Dog's Life (1918), Shoulder Arms (1918) and The Idle Class (1921). Chaplin now had his own studio but was still answerable to his exhibitors until he joined Pickford, Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith in United Artists. His first film for the company A Woman of Paris (1923) was a fascinating romantic comedy which headlined his leading lady Edna Purviance but he only directed the film not appearing apart from in a brief cameo. The critics raved but the public stayed away.
His first feature comedy for United Artists The Gold Rush (1925) was a big hit with Chaplin at his creative peak delivering such classic sequences as the dance of the rolls and the eating of the shoe(actually made of liquorice). To maintain his international audience Chaplin pretty much ignored the introduction of sound : City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) were really silent films with few concessions to the new era, both are excellent films and were big hits, proof that he still retained the affection of the public after many years.
Modern Times (1936) attacked mechanised labour and The Great Dictator (1940) dictatorships showing up their absurdities. The political nature of these films led to a growing suspicion Chaplin was a bit of a left winger, this impression was confirmed for many when he called at rallies during World War II for a second front to aid our Russian allies. Chaplin turbulent private life (he had two unhappy marriages to child brides) had a happy ending when he married Oona O' Neill in 1943.
Monsieur Verdoux (1947) a clever black comedy was rejected by the public who couldn't accept the Little Tramp as a wife murderer, so by the time Limelight (1952) was released Chaplin had lost much of his old audience. He was prevented from returning to the US when his re-entry permit was rescinded and went into retirement in Switzerland. Charlie made two disappointing films in Europe before finally returning to the US in 1972 to receive an honorary Oscar.
It was an incredible life,full of incident which Richard Attenborough attempted to sum up in Chaplin (1992) but Chaplin lived for his film work and was planning new films almost up to the end. At the end of the 20th Century there was a poll of international film critics to find the greatest movie star of all time, the winner was Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplin's poverty stricken childhood in the London of the 1890s informs a lot of his art. The sequence in his first feature The Kid (1921) in which Jackie Coogan is torn from his surrogate father actually happened to Charlie as a seven year old boy the only difference being it was his mother from which he and half brother Sydney were separated. Chaplin's work in retrospect always had a leftish tinge to it which was eventually along with his gregarious private life to lead him into trouble and eventual exile from the USA.
Chaplin began his film career at Keystone and was so successful he was able to begin directing his own work early on. At Essanay he made his first classic short The Tramp (1915) which ends with the iconic shot of the little man walking down a country lane. This introduced the emotion of pathos to his work which was to be integral to his art. In the Mutual series it appears again in the superb The Immigrant (1917). The Mutual shorts are the one part of Chaplin's work to maintain a great popularity among critics many of whom think Chaplin's later work became too sombre compared with the pure comedy of films like One AM (1916), The Pawnshop (1916), The Cure (1917) and The Adventurer (1917).
This might be one of the reasons the First National films have been largely neglected, a pity when they include A Dog's Life (1918), Shoulder Arms (1918) and The Idle Class (1921). Chaplin now had his own studio but was still answerable to his exhibitors until he joined Pickford, Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith in United Artists. His first film for the company A Woman of Paris (1923) was a fascinating romantic comedy which headlined his leading lady Edna Purviance but he only directed the film not appearing apart from in a brief cameo. The critics raved but the public stayed away.
His first feature comedy for United Artists The Gold Rush (1925) was a big hit with Chaplin at his creative peak delivering such classic sequences as the dance of the rolls and the eating of the shoe(actually made of liquorice). To maintain his international audience Chaplin pretty much ignored the introduction of sound : City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) were really silent films with few concessions to the new era, both are excellent films and were big hits, proof that he still retained the affection of the public after many years.
Modern Times (1936) attacked mechanised labour and The Great Dictator (1940) dictatorships showing up their absurdities. The political nature of these films led to a growing suspicion Chaplin was a bit of a left winger, this impression was confirmed for many when he called at rallies during World War II for a second front to aid our Russian allies. Chaplin turbulent private life (he had two unhappy marriages to child brides) had a happy ending when he married Oona O' Neill in 1943.
Monsieur Verdoux (1947) a clever black comedy was rejected by the public who couldn't accept the Little Tramp as a wife murderer, so by the time Limelight (1952) was released Chaplin had lost much of his old audience. He was prevented from returning to the US when his re-entry permit was rescinded and went into retirement in Switzerland. Charlie made two disappointing films in Europe before finally returning to the US in 1972 to receive an honorary Oscar.
It was an incredible life,full of incident which Richard Attenborough attempted to sum up in Chaplin (1992) but Chaplin lived for his film work and was planning new films almost up to the end. At the end of the 20th Century there was a poll of international film critics to find the greatest movie star of all time, the winner was Charlie Chaplin.
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
Copyright © The Fedora Chronicles
Charlie Chaplin image from
http://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Chaplin