Just finished re-watching The Rink from 1916 from his Mutual period. Watching him on skates is balletic. How does he lean backwards for that long, on roller skates, and not fall down? And how does he do all the other things on skates?
There’s a bunch of great photos of him out of costume, usually wearing a suit. I have a couple in my room, one of him (probably in his 20s) in a suit, and another of him wearing everyday clothes (one of his tennis sweaters), holding a violin, talking to Buster Keaton on the set of Limelight.
And then there are the artsy ones like the one above taken by Lee Miller. I absolutely love the lighting.
Another one that is artsy, and I love almost as much as Miller’s photo, is one taken by Edward Steichen in 1925. Again the lighting is great, and the use of Chaplin’s larger than life shadow.
Two obvious choices, but I’m going with them anyway:
His own “My Autobiography” (what a genius title! haha), and David Robinson’s “Chaplin: His Life and Art”
Chaplin: His Life and Art by David Robinson
Robinson’s book was the first Chaplin book I bought. It was around the beginning of my fanhood days. I had seen it in my favorite used book store, but was hesitant to get it because “what if it was no good?” The internet wasn’t a big thing yet, so I couldn’t Google it or check Amazon to find out other reviews. Then one day I was sitting in one of my college classes and out of nowhere I had an urge to go down to the store and get it after class.
So I drive down there and I stop and think I better skim through it, and right away there were some interesting images. One was of the Chaplin family tree (up to date as of book publishing, circa 1985), a newspaper clipping announcing his birth, and a picture of a child age Charlie for the Sherlock Holmes play. All three of these (especially the last one) sold me. And I have loved the book ever since!
A few years later I bought another edition of it that was published around the time of the “Chaplin” had more updated information about his family.
Below is a recent interview with David (during the coronavirus ordeal) by Dan Kamin for the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum YouTube channel:
My Autobiography by Charles Chaplin
I don’t remember when I first read Chaplin’s autobiography. Maybe before I bought it, like from the library? I don’t know. ut When “Chaplin” came out, they re-released the book in paperback and I bought it. And then visited England about 2 years later and while in a bookstore in the airport, I found another copy, and how could I *not* buy a copy from his birth country? And so I bought that as well. I still have both of those, which the silhouette of Downey as the Tramp on the cover. Wore them out.
I loved reading about his rough childhood, getting on stage, coming to America, being scared to death of getting into movies but taking the plunge anyway.
I do hope that sometime in the near future there will be a new, or re-release, of an audiobook version. There was one I listened to years ago on cassette tape (that gives an idea how long ago! LOL) from the library.
Love these two books. Absolute must-haves for Chaplin fans or fans of movies in general.
My Father, Charlie Chaplin by Charles Chaplin, Jr.
Charlie Sr, Charlie Jr, and Lita Grey Chaplin
Another book that I really love is “My Father, Charlie Chaplin” by Charlie Chaplin Jr (one of two sons when Chaplin was married to Lita Grey). That is a lovely book. One of my favorite stories was when senior Chaplin came home, still in makeup, and came over to toddler-aged junior. Junior was confused who this strange looking man was with his father’s voice, and started to cry. Not knowing why his son was crying, Senior tried to cheer junior up, and then it dawned on him why there was crying. The makeup. So senior washed off the makeup and junior began smiling at the familiar clean face of his dad.
Charlie, wearing his tree costume from Shoulder Arms
Oh boy. I’m going to be jumping all around his timeline!
Well, maybe 1918. Right when he starting rolling with his studio and around the time when he was working on creating United Artists. Watching the making of Shoulder Arms. That would be cool 🙂
Second would be the filming of Limelight.
Charlie as Billy the Pageboy in “Sherlock Holmes” play
And in 1894, to sit in the audience when he took the stage at the first time at 5 years old to save his mom when she had a breakdown on stage and people were booing her. To divert their wrath, he started to sing and everyone loved him.
And, as a Sherlockian, an absolute must would be to watch one of his performances as Billy the pageboy in the Sherlock Holmes play, with either William Gillette or H. A. Saintsbury as Holmes.
Just now I released how I started this article, and is somewhat fitting. “Oh boy” was the signature line said in one of my favorite TV shows, “Quantum Leap“, about a guy who time travels by leaping into people’s bodies.
One person towers ahead of other bad guys. Standing at 6’5, and just under 300 pounds, it’s Eric Campbell.
He worked with Chaplin back in the Fred Karno days in England, and later found his way to America. Chaplin brought him into his cast at Mutual, and they worked on 11 of Chaplin’s 12 Mutual films from The Floorwalker in 1916 to The Adventurer in 1917. His last appearance was as a golfer in the unreleased How to Make Movies.
He was great as the big bully, his Goliath to Charlie’s David. And those make-uped eyebrows! He was a bit of a cartoonish bad guy, but he was fantastic at it. Sadly he died young in 1917 in a car accident.
A number of films, whether they be home made movies, newsreels, or unfinished/unreleased films still exist. Some black and white, some are even in color. Some are of him entertaining visitors to his studio, friends, or family, or traveling.
But there’s two films that are on top of my list.
How To Make Movies
The first is one that I have shared before on the blog (and where I matched a song to the beginning of the film), “How to Make Movies”. He made it in 1917-1918, shortly after building and working in his new studio (which still stands). Originally he wanted to have it released, but First National (the film company he was working for at the time) wouldn’t let him. So it sat in his archive of films. He did use small parts of the beginning for the beginning of “The Chaplin Revue” with him giving commentary on it.
While it is staged, it is loads of fun to watch (and no, there’s no music):
Home movies on set of The Great Dictator, shot by brother Sydney
The other one is home movies shot by Charlie’s brother Sydney, on the set of The Great Dictator. These were not discovered until 1999. Sydney was probably the only person Charlie would allow to film home movies during the production of the film. Security was very tight at the studio due to many powerful voices being strongly against him making a satire attacking Hitler. But Syd had no problem getting permission from his little brother.
Unlike the above film, this one was not staged. All the retakes, Chaplin getting upset, and the joking around were real.
Even the color is real, it is not colorized! But again, no music.
One cool shot is at about 11:21 mark where Charlie, shielding his face from the sun, looks up at Syd who is shooting from on-top of scaffolding (?). On the right side you can see Syd’s shadow, holding up the camera.
There’s also shots of a nurse attending one of the actors that Charlie hit with the white paint during the filming. And then there’s the scene itself, at 10:02, which could be the same take that was used in the final film. Going through my head every time I watch it, I have the dialogue, the sound effect of the frying pan bonging the stormtrooper on the head, and intense music.
There are a number of songs that are wonderful, like “Eternally” (theme song to Limelight), or A Paris Boulevard from Monsieur Verdoux, or “Georgia/The Dance Hall” from The Gold Rush. Those are closely behind my favorite
Mandolin Serenade. I just adore it. Many of his songs just melt my heart, but this one the most.
Below is the original:
Below is my favorite version of it, even more than the original (it seems seems like a song called Mandolin Serenade should have a mandolin more in the spotlight)
And here he is conducting it. I guess “conducting” is the best word for what he’s doing, haha
This is not to say that I hate the movie. Not at all. This one just is at the bottom of my list.
A Countess From Hong Kong.
There are things I liked about this, but I think it’s the weakest of his films. Mostly, I think, he was not working with his old crew since this was several years into his exile from the United States. Also he gave himself just a cameo.
It is weird to watch a film of his in color. Very much so. Also widescreen. What world have I popped into?
Absolutely love the music! While he as not at his normal stomping grounds of his studio for filming, he did have an excellent access to a great orchestra.
“This is My Song” is one of my favorite Chaplin pieces, both the instrumental version from the soundtrack…
… and the version sung by Petula Clark
And another version that I like a lot:
The thing that bothers me about it (and I have only watched it one time 3 years ago during it’s 50th anniversary) was I could see Chaplin directing them. Not literally of course, but how Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren, and the rest of the cast acted. It didn’t come off as natural as the cast in his earlier films. Some reason that just got to me.
Chaplin, in one of the 2 cameo shots
Other than the music, I thought that Harvey’s character had interesting growth, from jerk to being thoughtful. And Miss Gaulswallow was a hoot! Sophia Loren as Natasha was very elegant the whole time, even when she was wearing baggy pajamas.
And Charlie’s two cameo spots were nice. And being seasick on a ship was reminiscent of the opening scenes of seasick travelers on a boat to America in his The Immigrant 50 years earlier.
Maybe it was just Marlon that I didn’t like that much. He and Chaplin did not get along on set. Marlon was a method actor, and Chaplin was a “do *exactly* how I act it out or we do it again, and again, and again, and…” directing method which he had been doing since his early silent days. And Marlon didn’t like that.
So, no, not a terrible movie. Just below the other movies he made. Would it have been better if he was in it more? I have wondered about how it would have turned out if he made it back when he wrote it in the 1930s with Paulette Goddard being the female lead. One ting for sure: It certainly is an experience to watch a film of his in widescreen and color.
Sometimes, depending on my mood, it is City Lights, or Shoulder Arms, or The Great Dictator, or if I was in a noir frame of mind, Monsieur Verdoux. Or really any one of them. Over the years some people have assumed my favorite was Limelight since I picked Calvero as my username. Nope. Though I do truly love and adore it.
In my MT post, I mentioned the feeding machine scene where I laughed so much I was crying and my sides hurt. A few months after my post, the Chaplin YouTube channel posted the scene:
And a interesting picture of Chaplin rehearsing the scene:
Another scene that I love, and that is the fascinating foreshadowing scene where he gets falsely arrested for being a communist leader:
And lastly, a neat behind the scenes of how the roller skating scene used some special effects:
Next in the 30 Day Charlie Chaplin Challenge – Least Favorite Film
