I had so much fun doing the 30 Day Doctor Who Challenge that I thought I would do another one, this time on another one of my top favorites. But this one was not as easy because, unlike the many different Doctor Who challenges that fans have come up with, there was only one that I could find for Charlie, and I only found a few parts of the 30, and that was from a few years ago.
So I decided to create my own, inspired by the bits that I found:
1 How did you become a Chaplin fan 2 Favorite female costar 3 Favorite keystone 4 Favorite Essanay 5 Favorite Mutual 6 Favorite First National 7 Favorite United Artists 8 Thoughts on “Chaplin” the movie starring Robert Downey Jr 9 Favorite all time Chaplin movie 10 Least favorite 11 Favorite soundtrack 12 Favorite song 13 Favorite unreleased film/home movie 14 Favorite heavy (bad guy) 15 If you went back to meet him, at what time in his life would you do so? 16 Favorite non-fiction book 17 Least favorite book 18 Favorite photo of him in costume(Little Tramp or other) 19 Favorite photo out of costume 20 As of right now, what was the last movie you watched 21 what non Chaplin movie reminds you of a Chaplin movie? 22 what was the last Chaplin movie you saw that you had not seen before? 23 Favorite male costar 24 Favorite scene 25 Favorite story about him told by him 26 Favorite story about him told by someone else 27 What film would you recommend to recruit a fan? 28 Favorite fiction book 29 Favorite documentary 30 Favorite piece(s) of memorabilia that you own
For those of you who want to have an image of the list, I created this one:
I was planning on working on this for this month, but some last minute life changes popped up. I don’t know how often I’ll write a post (took me a few days to write this one), but I know how I’ll answer them. Most of them. Some answers change slightly from day to day, mood to mood, lol. But I’m looking forward to it 🙂
On Chaplin’s birthday, I usually watch “Chaplin” (the one directed by Sir…err.. Lord Richard Attenborough and starring Robert Downey, Jr), The Gentleman Tramp and/or Unknown Chaplin documentaries, and the ’42 version of The Gold Rush (the re-edited version narrated by and music written by Chaplin himself. It was released on April 16, 1942). Sometimes an additional short film or two.
But this year I watched (or re-watched) some fan-made videos. And now I’ll share them here:
Charlie Chaplin Tribute
One of the favrites by my kids is this one, by cldcollector. Great balance of film clips and home movies. Song is Gin Filled Boy by Divine Comedy.
Charlie Chaplin – Filmography/Montage/Tribute (Moby)
https://youtu.be/IyymymDfwUk
This one uses Moby’s Run On. The beat remains pretty constant throughout the whole video. Hard for me to listen to the song without picturing the video in my head :D.
Charlie Chaplin // Birthday Tribute (2012)
This one I just found today. It was made on his birthday 5 years ago, and somehow I haven’t seen this before. Played it several times today. Reeeaaalllly like it. Song is Light Surrounding You by Evermore
Chaplin, put to the music of Penguin Cafe Orchestra
This is something I wrote about here, but I’ll share again in this post. I’m a fan of Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and while listening to the song, Perpetuum Mobile, I pictured the building of Chaplin’s Studio from How To Make Movies. And I matched it up, and, OMG, it strangely fits.
Start the song when How to Make Movies gets to “Hollywood, Cal.”. Ends as Charlie skips off into the background after trying the lemon. Rather fun I think.
So ,there we are. Hope you enjoyed those little bits of Chaplin delight C|:=:)
There are some new things in WordPress that I’m learning to work with, but on the whole, things are moving along. And I might start writing more than just a small handful of articles (the pictures issue just was soooo disheartening). Maybe even videos! I have a camera or three that I have been fooling with.
There is just so many ideas and thoughts that just sit in my head, and real life has had a way of wearing me down to the point that I lacked the motivation and energy, but it’s going in an upswing now 🙂
Okay, maybe not, but it’s my first vlog. I did something a little different than most. I just shot some of my books (yes, it’s just a part of my book collection), along with some of my DVD/Blu ray box sets, and a Smothers Brothers record album.
What’s shown ranges from childhood (Snoopy!) to recent loves (Warehouse 13! The Fault in Our Stars!), and some are childhood loves that I recently acquired (Dick Van Dyke Show! Mork and Mindy! Doctor Who!)
I also used this video to experiment with a few things. Some of my goals that I met are:
muting the sound of the video
having music not start at the beginning, but a few seconds in
just basic editing of the video clips and putting them together in the right order
just making the thing and uploading it and not letting fear from keeping me from doing so
Those may seem like small things, but it’s all a learning curve. And a good healthy dose of confidence.
What I liked about it:
the accidental recording that I ended up using at the beginning. When I loaded all the bits into the editor, I saw that and thought “I could use that!”
that I did the thing! YAY!
It’s not the greatest thing ever, but I’m glad I did it, and looking forward to all the things I will learn from it :).
The future…
So what have I got for the future? Taking on the Doctor Who Tag started by YouTuber Luke Spillane. That was one of the things that got me going on finally making a vlog. And I also plan on talking about Sherlock Holmes, having been born with a cleft lip and palate and all that it entails, and whatever else I come up with.
Oh, and I have another channel as well. A gaming channel where I have begun to play Assassin’s Creed (the first one). I love the series and thought why not start off with the first one?
So it’s Christmas time once again, and I thought I would share some of the things I like to watch around this time of year. In no real order. Except Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown always comes in first!
A Charlie Brown Christmas
What is there not to like in this classic 1965 cartoon? Everything is so perfect that I can’t imagine it any other way. The characters, the wonderful, upbeat music, how just about every line is quotable.
Added bonus – If you are as old as I am, you might remember the special being preceded by this CBS intro
The Blue Carbuncle
The beautiful Granada series that starred Jeremy Brett and David Burke as Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in this wonderful story set at Christmastime. Ah, a Victorian Christmas! This is one of my favorite episodes of the show. Back when VHS reigned supreme this was the only episode I bought (they cost $15-20 each back then!)
This is based off the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story of the same name (text from Wikisource; audio part 1 and part 2 from Project Gutenburg, a fantastic reading!)
Mork’s First Christmas
From the Mork and Mindy tv series, this one has recently been added (though I have seen it at least a dozen times since August). Mork finds out what the true meaning of Christmas is (not a horrible plague…watch to find out his telling of his first encounter with Christmas) And what a sweet ending!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leOMutMen_k
The Greatest Gift
From one of my favorite scifi shows, Warehouse 13 (I miss that show! 🙁 ), this is their Christmas episode from season 3. Something happens to Pete where he wakes up as if he never was born. The story and title comes from the short story written by Philip Van Doren Stern that led to the film classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
Unfortunately, I am not able to find the full episode, so here is a clip from near the beginning:
If you have Netflix, it’s on there. Amazon also has it. Or you can buy it from Google
(Another tv episode that was inspired by It’s a Wonderful Life was also from Mork and Mindy, “It’s a Wonderful Mork“, but it’s not a Christmas episode so I don’t really include it in this list. But it’s really good, and a bit of a tearjerker due to recent events).
It’s a Wonderful Life
There was a time when I was growing up that this movie would be on a bunch of channels, sometimes at the same time. You turn to one channel and it would be at one scene, and go to another channel and it would be at another scene. And it remains and endearing movie, full of heart and makes you realize how much you can make a difference to someone else, even if it’s a small one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PlYcT6DmJY
A true classic starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, and Henry Travers.
The Gold Rush
Not exactly a Chistimasy type of movie, but it takes place over Thanksgiving and Christmas. This 1925 silent film by Charlie Chaplin is considered to be his best. Charlie, as the Little Tramp, goes to the mountains in hopes of finding gold. He encounters a friend. and enemy, boils and eats a shoe, does a dance with rolls, and falls in love.
The below version is the 1942 (tweaked) re-release with Chaplin’s own narration (in place of the typical silent film title cards) and musical score. While I like this one better overall, I like the story of the original better (mostly the same version, just a couple important cuts that Chaplin took out)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8a83CI1B1o
A Christmas Carol
Take a classic Charles Dickens story, and the 11th Doctor, and you get Doctor Who’s 2010 Christmas episode (my favorite Who Christmas episode so far, though I didn’t quite understand the whole thing about the fish and shark). And there is the absolutely beautiful, operatic song, “Silence is All You Know”
As with Warehouse 13, the full episode is not online for free (that I can find), so below is a trailer and a clip.
This episode is on Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, and a few other places.
Chaplin as Billy, age 14 (though he looks 12 to me.
When I became a Charlie Chaplin fan in 1991, one of the *very first things* I learned about him was his role in the 1901 Sherlock Holmes play written by William Gillette and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I had been a Sherlockian for 5 years by then and was thrilled that my new “obsession” had a connection, one of many (and growing!) I would later discover.
William Gillette, in his Holmes garb
Chaplin was born on April 16,1889, in Lambeth, London, England, at the beginning of the Sherlock Holmes publishing era. the year before the publishing of the second Holmes story, “The Sign of Four”. After living for some time in poverty, he gradually got work as a child actor (both his parents were stage performers). He wrote in his My Autobiography (1964) how he lied about his age to get a part in a H A Saintsbury play, A Romance of Cocknaye, saying he was 14, when he was actually 12 1/2. The manager of the production and cast liked him so much they offered him the Billy the Pageboy role. So from July 1903 to February 1906 he traveled the country performing the part. (Holmes trivia: The pageboy in the original stories did not have a name until after the play was made. It would have been interesting if Doyle named him Charlie!)
The argument over “Who’s the best Sherlock Holmes?” is nothing new, though the names change over time. Back in his day, Chaplin worked under two of the starring Holmes’: William Gillette and H A Saintsbury. He wrote in his “My Autobiography” that while he liked both, he felt Saintsbury was closer to the “real” Holmes.
List of the cast (including Chaplin as Billy), as they performed at Duke of York’s Theatre, circa 1905
Want to see the play? Here it is, performed in 1981 for HBO. Frank Langella plays Holmes (very well, I must say!) My favorite scene (Act 3, pt 2), which includes some great interactions with Billy, is embedded below:
(side note – the boy playing Billy in the above performance is a young Christian Slater)
The Great Dictator (1940) – Chaplin as Hynkel (center), Reginald Gardiner (left) as Schultz, and Henry Daniell as Garbitsch (right)
While he had other roles in his early childhood showbiz career, none seemed to have stuck with him later in his life than the Billy role. Decades later in 1939 when he was shooting his Hitler satire, “The Great Dictator”, he would re-enact scenes from the Holmes play in-between scenes for the movie to entertain the cast and crew.
One of the actors in Dictator was Henry Daniell, who later who appear in three of the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes films: Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942), Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943), and The Woman in Green (1945, playing Professor Moriarty, the role I best remember him for.)
Which also brings us to Nigel Bruce. Chaplin hired Bruce for his 1952 film, Limelight. Bruce was hired not only because of his talent but mainly because of his strong connection with the Holmes franchise having famously played Dr. Watson.
Basil Rathbone (left) as Holmes, Nigel Bruce (back, center) as Watson and Henry Daniell (right) from Voice of Terror (1943)
In the film Limelight, Bruce plays Mr Postant, an homage to the real life who was William Gillette’s stage manager, and who had played an important role of keeping an eye out for the young Chaplin during the Holmesian days.
I have often felt that if he played Watson like he later played Postant, Watson would have been considered less bumbling. Below is a clip from Limelight which not only includes Bruce, but also Claire Bloom (many years later she would costar with David Tennant in Doctor Who, “The End of Time”), and Buster Keaton who plays Calvero’s partner (Keaton’s Holmes connection is making the brilliant 1924 silent film Sherlock Jr.)
One of the reasons why I picked using the name Calvero on the internet, and have kept it for almost 20 years, is the Holmes connection (along with Keaton, and the later Doctor Who connection,
To Modern Times
In 1992 came Robert Downey Jr playing the title role in Sir Richard Attenborough’s “Chaplin”. Absolutely brilliant! And he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor (he was ROBBED! ROBBED, I tell you!). Downey did such a great job, that most of the time I forgot I was watching someone else playing Charlie.
Fast-forward 17 years and he was picked by Guy Ritchie to play the lead in Sherlock Holmes, which, honestly, sounded a little weird. For Chaplin, he played someone who was about 5’4″. And years later he plays someone who is described by Watson as being at least 6 feet tall. Either way, I did (and still do) enjoy his take on the Great Detective. He did win a Golden Globe for “Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy” for his portrayal of Holmes (a category I still don’t understand how he won, but he won it. So, YAY!)
Chaplin and Holmes meet once again
On season 2, episode 1 of BBC’s excellent show Sherlock, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, John Watson’s girlfriend Jeanette is played play by Charlie’s granddaughter (Geraldine’s daughter), Oona Chaplin. When I was first watching the episode, I didn’t know who the actress was but there was something about her… I couldn’t put my finger on it. She seemed familiar, and at the same time not familiar. When I immediately re-watched the episode for the second time (because it was so mind blowingly awesome), I paid more attention to the ending credits, and the name “Oona Chaplin” jumped out at me. I threw my arms up in the air and shouted “WOOOOOOOHOOOO!!!” and did a happy dance. And so a new Chaplin comes face to face with the great detective.
Close encounter of a Sherlockian/Chaplinesque kind: Aidan Quinn
Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller), Joan Watson (Lucy Liu), and Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) from Elementary
Another recent connection (though not as strong as the above ones, but still there) is CBS’s newest take of the Holmes and Watson interpretations in Elementary starring Jonny Lee Miller as Holmes, and Lisa Liu as Joan Watson (that’s right, a female Watson…a very good one), which premiered during Holmes’ 125th anniversary (2012). Co-starring is Aidan Quinn who plays Captain Thomas Gregson of the NYPD.
Joon (Mary Stuart Masterson), Sam (Johnny Depp), and Benny (Aidan Quinn)
Almost 20 years earlier (1993), Quinn played in an adorable movie that also starring Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Matherson, Benny and Joon (released just a few months after Downey’s Chaplin.). Quinn plays the older, and pretty protective brother, Benny to Matherson’s Joon who slowly falls in love with Depp’s Sam who is a eccentric person who is obsessed with Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
What kind of connections will show up later? Who knows. What I do know is that they keep popping up from time to time. And if I notice them, I’ll create a “Part 2”.
Continuing on with Chaplin’s 125th anniversary of his birth and 100th anniversary of his first film! HUZZAH!
I was listening to a song, Perpetuum Mobile by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, and it popped in my head of a scene from a not-so-well-known Charlie Chaplin film that was never released (until a few years ago). The song itself does not necessarily remind one of Chaplin, but the tempo reminded me of the stop motion building of his studio from the film, How to Make Movies (a kind of “behind the scenes” type movie). And other things just fell into place.
Below are embeds of the film (no need to adjust the volume, there is no sound at all for the film), and two different places to listen to the song (your choice). I start the song right after the “Hollywood, Cal.” title card (about 0:14), and the song ends as Charlie finishes eating the lemon and skips away from the camera.
Here is the song on YouTube:
Have Spotify? (Where I first heard the song.)
It’s not a 100% match, but it does match quite a bit of it especially since it’s not an obvious song choice (Maple Leaf Rag always reminds me of Chaplin), and ends at a good spot. Fun to watch 🙂
Some thoughts on the film:
Although the film was never released to the public, Chaplin did release the beginning part of it when he put together three of his silent films together, A Dog’s Life, Should Arms, and The Pilgrim, in 1959 for The Chaplin Revue. He added music (which is wonderful! Especially for guy who couldn’t read or write music) and narrated short intros before each of the three films. Right before A Dog’s Life, he narrates parts of HTMM.
Such as the scene where the 1918 Charlie arrives at the studio, older Chaplin says “Now you see my arrival. (Charlie gets out of car) That’s me. I looked much younger there. (laughs) That was at least ten years ago” he says, 40 years later! Always makes me chuckle.
I just tried looking for it online, and (as of right now) it’s been removed and I cannot find another one.
It is an amazing look (albeit staged) at how he worked at that time of his career. And a lot of fun to see him, for a good amount of the film, as his own person, no costume. Interacting with his cast, directing, going over gags, putting on, and later taking off, his famous tramp costume, and some golf outtakes from The Idle Class.
And like many of his other films, he wrote, produced, directed it, and starred in this one.
The lemon that Chaplin eats is from citrus trees that grew on the lot. The land was covered with them, and when Chaplin build his studio, he kept a few standing.
And now I’ll head off and watch one of The Chaplin Revue collection movies, Shoulder Arms…
Silent Scream, parts 1 & 2 Written by Tony Lee Illustrated by Al Davidson
A few days ago, Humble Bundle was having a major sale of dozens of digital Doctor Who comic books.with part of the sales going to charity (Sorry, so sorry, it’s over now 🙁 ). The max payment tier was just $15 for over 80 digital issues. I have been interested in getting the digital comic books, particularly interested in the Silver Scream issue since it first came out in 2009 (I have enjoyed the few paper DW comics that I have) but never (though close) got around to buying it. And in the spirit of Chaplin’s 125th birthday, 100th anniversary of his films, and the excellent price, I snagged it!
At the end of series 4 episode, “Journey’s End” of Doctor Who, Donna makes a request to meet Chaplin, just as she is having a mental breakdown due to her mind melding with the Doctor’s. (And I’m just re-watching on Netflix. Oh, the feels!). And in this issue, the Doctor “helps to finish her last wish”.
Summary (no spoilers!)
The Doctor arrives in 1926 at a Hollywood party hosted by Archie. Two things brought him here: last request by his now departed companion, Donna, and a mysterious static point in space and time. A bunch of bad things are happening. So the Doctor can’t help but investigate it.
A Sample Page
Which is also the beginning of the story, can be found here.
So why isn’t it actually Chaplin?
So, as you can see by the cover art, it’s not exactly Chaplin. It turned out that near the end of working on the issue, IDW (comic book publisher) was not able to work our an agreement with the Chaplin estate. So they had to make some changes to the name, Archibald Maplin, and his mustache, hat, and cane.
While the artwork was pretty good in the beginning, it had some room for improvement towards the end. But there were a number of things that impressed me about the story. When I first heard about this, I was just expecting the Doctor to pop-up and share some sort of adventure. I was not expecting Mr Lee to be familiar (or well researched?) with Chaplin’s life, specifically 1926.
So how many names changed?
So due to there being no agreement between the Chaplin estate and IDW (Boo on the CE…. ((don’t hurt me!)) but they missed a great opportunity of properly introducing him to Whovians and comic book fans), a number of things had to be renamed. Here’s all the ones I noticed, in order of appearance
Achibald Maplin, Esq. – The big one. And it’s you know who C|:=)
Kato – Toraichi Kono. You can read more about him below in the Cameos.
Future Times – Modern Times (1936). Chaplin’s comedic social commentary on the growing machine age.
United Actors – United Artists. The film company co-founded by Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (all pictured left) in 1919 to give them the freedom to make movies they way they wanted. “The inmates have taken over the asylum”
United Actors Studio – There was no actual “United Artists Studios” during this period, but there was Pickford and Fairbanks’ Studio, nicknamed The Lot (part of it was torn down just a couple years ago 🙁 ), and there was Charlie Chaplin’s Studios (still standing! Mostly :D)
The Fun Fair – The Circus (1928). As the Doctor tells Archie this film “will be one of your best films ever.” It certainly is.
Historical accuracy
In real life, Chaplin was making The Circus in 1926. Just as Archie tells the Doctor, the set burned down twice, and there was a really nasty public divorce battle between him and his second wife. It was so stressful for him, that his hair went white.
The photo to the right is one of my all-time favorite photos of Chaplin. It’s of him with his (first? second?) burned down set. His face says it all.
And after reading the comic, now we know the *real* reason why he was having all those problems! As with the Great Fire of Rome (64 AD) and London (1666), the baddies were trying to take over and the Doctor had to stop them. And fires broke out.
“They named a pub after you in the Elephant and Castle though. No, wait, That was for the other guy. The one in the bowler hat” – The only time Chaplin himself is referred to. And yes, there is a pub in Elephant & Castle named after him. I’ve been there quite some time ago (but that’s another story). Even Chaplin had visited it.
Mentions
Mentioned were the Keystone Kops, Rudolph Valentino, Harold Lloyd (as well recreating Lloyd’s famous stunt as the Doctor and baddie hanging off a giant clock), and Douglas Fairbanks who was a big silent film star and Chaplin’s best friend.
Cameos For these pictures, I found photos that were very close to how the real counterparts looked like around the time of the story.
Toraichi Kono (renamed Kato, you can see him on that sample page) who was Chaplin’s chauffeur/secretary/ bodyguard/confidant. Kono immigrated from Japan to the US and after being in the US for a few years, applied to be a driver unknowing for Chaplin in 1916. He became in the close circle of Chaplin’s associates. It got to the point where if you wanted to communicate with Chaplin, you went through Kono. Image to the right is of Kono and Chaplin, circa 1932. Interesting info about a documentary of him here.
Buster Keaton (using his real name!), one Chaplin’s major comedic (friendly) rivals and, to many fans, his equal.. Just as he and his cameraman witness the Doctor yank Archie into the cutout window of a falling front of a house which inspires Keaton this famous bit from Steamboat Bill Jr (and,no, it’s not a stuntman, that really is Buster):
Laurel and Hardy (maybe?). In the footage that Keaton shoots (cleverly drawn in black and white, with subtitles), we see the Doctor and Archie chasing the baddie on a motorcycle, and they encounter two gentlemen who closely resemble Stan and Ollie, with goatees, carrying a ladder. They would later appear in an actual episode of Doctor Who, series 6, “The Impossible Astronaut”. The three of them dance 🙂
My brief review Pros – The Doctor and a Chaplinesque character! Good story (I always liked it when the Doctor arrives in Earth history), great nods to not only Chaplin but silent comedy in general. Fun cameos (KEATON!)
Cons – IT’S NOT CHAPLIN! I mean, seriously?!? (but they did give it a honest go at it). Could have done away with the stereotypical person tied to the train tracks. Ahh well. Drawing was a bit off in the second issue. IT’S NOT CHAPLIN! (did I mention that already? I did?)
Orverall — Despite the major flaw, I really liked it. I might just get it in it’s physical form!
Where to get it? Amazon currently has issue one for the Kindle and Kindle app, as well as the full volume of Fugitive (includes the 2 parter Silver Scream as well as following 4 issues) The Fugitive is the first in 3 volumes (I am in the middle of the second volume, Tesseract),a big story arc involveing Emily Winter and Matthew . If you check out the Fugitive on Amazon’s site, you can get a sneak peak at several of pages.
And of course, I put links for The Circus DVD and also Streaming on Amazon or Hulu Plus. The music, BTW, is composed and opening song sung by him :).
Extra Links Just a few places (of many) to go for more info
Doctor Who Official site Tardis Data Core – a Doctor Who Wiki that also has a chat, forum, videos, episode list, etc. Also where I found out about the Humble Bundle package! Doctor Who Online – Huge fan site that provides news, information, apps, forum, and more. Gallifrey Base– biggest fan forum (you need to register to view it) and wonderful News page Radio Free Skaro – excellent podcast discussing all things Who Blogtor Who – excellent blog containing news about the show
Silent movies/comedy Silent Era – One of the longest running sites dedicated to the silent film era Movies, Silently – awesome blog containing review and information, and provides great info for those just getting interested in silent movies. Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations (and more) – similar to Chaplin Then and Now, shows present day locations of Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd films. The Silent Clown Film Series – If you are in the New York City area, this group play silent comedies at various time of the year. Admission is free! Nitrateville – Forums discussing both silent and talkies. Silent Comedy Mafia – active forum focusing on silent comedy Golden Silents – info on famous stars of that era, and a messageboard
Bonus trivia:
William Hartnell (most famous for playing the first Doctor), became inspired to become an actor after watching Chaplin.
Bonus image:
The original cover artwork for the issue, before things had to change around
Firstly, I am not connected to the BBC, PBS, or anything like that. I’m just a fanof both the show and the original stories :). This is not an official list, just one that I put together on my own. 🙂
I have discovered that doing these differnces betweeen the original BBC version and the recut PBS version is like those cartoons in the paper where there are two pictures, but with six differences, and your job is to notice them. In fact, there is a Sherlock version of that game: the Sherlock Observation Game. (I keep getting the rank of DI Lestrade…. I feel insulted!… yes I”m kidding, of course…sorta).
But this “game” is different in that it’s video, and the total amount of edits are unknown (to me, anyway). So there is that challenge.
I will say though that this is done for fun. I’m not ranting away at PBS who,I later learned from Steven Moffat himself, did not make the cuts:
Though I do wish they would have played it “as is”. But yes, the DVD and Netflix will have the full version, just like the first season. (YAY!)
(Note – I have done a basic clean up of my notes so there are bound to be a few mispellings. I only have included a small number of the screenshots, the rest of those will be added later. And I’ll add more of my opinions on the importance of the cut scenes later.)
And awaaaayy we go:
Based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The opening credits. This wasn’t a change but a pleasant surprise that the PBS version kept the same opening credits, unlike the first season.
Blog Envy
Right after Sherlock questions about John blogging “The Geek Intrepter” (haha! Pun on The Greek Intrepreter”), it cuts to John and Sherlock examining a dead woman on a slab in the morgue:
(Note to self: Must make above image wallpaper for laptop….. Done!)
Sherlock: Do you think people actually read your blog?
John: Where do you think our clients come from?
Sherlock: I have a website.
John: In which you write about 240 different types of tobacco ash. Nobody’s reading your website.
Sherlock gives John a cold hard stare. Both rise from bending over the body, John still looking at the woman, Sherlock still giving John a mean look.
John: Right then. Died. Blonde hair. No obvious cause of death, except for these speckles, whatever they are.
In the middle of John’s observation, Sherlock turns, still iriitated, walks out of the room, followed by Lestrade.
Importance – We begin to see the popularity of John’s blog growing, just as in the canon Watson’s stories also became more popular.
More blogging at Baker Street
John is sitting at his laptop typing away again in his blog. Sherlock comes around from the kitchen, paper in one hand, food in another. He looks over to John, walks over to read what John’s writing
Sherlock: Oh, for Godsakes. The Speckled Blonde?
Then walks away. John stops typing and looks up.
Cut to scene of the two little girls in Baker Street telling Sherlock and John about their grandfather.
Importance – Somwwhat. Shows the buildup of Sherlock’s irritation of John’s writing. Which is very similar to how Holmes felt about Watson publishing about their cases.
Even more blogging in Baker Street
Sherlock confronts John about writing about the unsolved cases.
John “This blog has had almost 2000 hits within the last 8 hours. This is your living Sherlock! (cut) Not 240 types of tobacco ash.
Sherlock: 243 (puts his saftey glasses on and flares up his handheld flamer (for lack of a better word).
I think it’s time, don’t you?
Merging from the scene of Irene Adler calling someone on her phone to the (nice!) crane shot of the exterior of 221B. Just a couple seconds, barely noticeable.
Also a cut of Mr.s Hudson cleaning up the flat by taking a mug and a jug of milk (eww!) off the mantel.
Boys, you got another one!
After man comes in and then faints, Mrs. Hudsonshouts out to the boys and then sympathitically bends over and looks down at the man and lets out a “ohh”
Helicopter for John
After Sherlock’s leptop is closed, John is told that a helicopter was landing for him. The below shot is cut.
Another nitpick
The gentleman walking in and placing down Sherlock’s clothes in front of him is cut as well.
Later, at Buckingham Palace…
After John joins Sherlock on the couch. John notices Sherlock is not wearing any pants, they laugh, he then looks around
John: Buckingham Palace. (cut) I’m seriously fighting an impulse to steal an ashtray. (cut ends)
They both giggle more.
The Woman
Mycroft introduces the case to Sherlock and shows him pictures of Irane Adler
Mycroft: There are many names for what she does. She prefers dominatrix.
(cut) Sherlock (still looking at the photos): Dominatrix…
Mycroft: Don’t be alarmed. It has to do with sex.
Sherlock (sharply looking up at Mycroft): Sex doesn’t alarm me.
Mycroft (smugly smiles): How would you know?(cut ends)
A couple minutes later…
Sherlock: Where is she?
Mycroft: In London, currently. She’s staying…
Sherlock: Text me the details. I’ll be in touch by the end of the day.
(cut) Harry: Do you really think you’ll have news by then?
Sherlock: No, I think I’ll have the photographs
Harry: One can only hope you’re as good as you seem to think.
Sherlock then looks at him and makes the following deductions about Harry —
Dog Lover
Horse Rider
Publis School
Early Riser
Left Side of Bed
Non-Smoker
Father
Half Welsh
Keen Reader
Tea Drinker
Sherlock: I’ll need some equipment of course.
Mycroft: Anything you require, I’ll have it sent…
Sherlock (interrupting): Can I have a box of matches?
Harry: I’m sorry?
Sherlock: Ot your cigerrette lighter,either would do (holds out his hand towards Harry)
Harry: I don’t smoke.
Sherlock: No, I know you don’t but your employer does
John (looks confused, then looks down)
Harry (reaches into his pocket and pulls out a lighter): We have kept a lot of people successful in the dark about this little fact, Mr Holmes.
Sherlock: I’m not the commonwealth (turns to leave)
John: And that’s as modest as he gets. Pleasure to meet you (turns and follows Sherlock (cut ends)
Sherlock: La’ers
Both leave the room
Later in the cab
(cut)
John: Okay, the smoking. How did you know?
Sherlock: The evidence was right under your nose John. As ever, you see but do not osberve.
John: Observe what?
Sherlock (reaching into his coat and pulls out…) An ashtray (flips it in the air)
Both of them laugh
Pictures are shown being taken by someone of both men in the cab (cut ends) and then a shot of Irene holding her phone, looking at them.
Breakfast at Baker Street
Sherlock, John are sitting at the table. Sherlock reading the paper, John eating. Mycroft is facing them, standing in front of the fireplace.
Mycroft: How can we do anything while she has the photographs. Our hands are tied.
Sherlock: She’d applaud your choice of words. (cut begins) Do you see how this works? That camera phone is her ‘get out of jail free’ card. HAve to leave her alone. Treat her like royalty Mycroft.
John: Though not how she treats royalty (cut ends)
Holmes’ phone makes a ring, the sound of a woman’s gasp
A Christmas evening with the gang
A couple seconds of Sherlock playing the violin from the beginning of the crossing over from the last scene to the Chrstimas scene.
Calling Mycroft
After Sherlock hangs up with Mycroft and John comes in to check in on him
John: You ok?
Sherlock: Yes (and closes the door. (cut) (He stares out while walking back to his bad)
Shot to Mycroft, still holding his phone, staring out of the window as the snow falls. Then turns and walks away. At Bart’s Morgue
A couple seconds cut from Sherlock and Mycroft walking down the hall to the morgue.
Later when Sherlock and Mycroft walk out, there’s a second of Molly (poor Molly!) cut. The nice camera shot of the back of Sherlock’s head through the morgue’s window is shortened.
After Sherlock and Mycroft wish each other Merry Chirstmas and Happy New Year, Mycroft stays inthe hallway and calls John who is still at 221B.
Mycroft: He’s on his way. Have you found anything?
John: No. Did he take the cigerrette?
Mycroft: Yes.
John: (with a sigh) Shit (turns around to Mrs. Hudson) He’s coming. Ten minutes.
Mrs. Hudson: There’s nothing in the bedroom.
John (back on the phone) No, it looks like he’s clean. We’ve tried all the usual places. Are you sure tonight’s the danger night?
Mycroft: No. But I never am. You have to stay with him John.
John: Uh, I’ve got plans.
Mycroft: Nooo. (and hangs up)
(back to 221B) John: Mycroft…Mm (hangs up his end and turns toward his girlfriend who is sitting on the sofa. He joins her) I’m really sorry.
Jeanette: You know, my friends are so wrong about you.
John: Hmm?
Jeanette: You’re a great boyfriend.
John (taken by surprise, looks away) Ok, that’s good. (turns back to her) I always thought I was great.
Jeanette (looking at her watch): Sherlock Holmes is a very lucky man.
John (makes an exasperating sound): Jeanette, please.
Jeanette: No I mean it. It’s heart warming. You’ll do anything for him. (gets up to leave) You can’t even tell your girlfriends apart.
John (gets up and follows her to the door): Look, I’ll do anything for you. Just tell me what it is I’m not doing!
Jeanette: Don’t make me compete with Sherlock Holmes!
John: I’ll walk your dog for you. I said it now, I walk your…
Jeanette: I don’t have a dog!
John (in a loud whisper to himself): Because that was the last one…okay.
Jeanette: Jesus! (picks up her things and walks out)
John: I’ll call you.
Jeanette: No!
John: Okay ( and walks back inside)
Mrs. Hudson: That wasn’t very good, was it?
Importance – Helps show more of Mycroft’s and John’s concern for Sherlock. Not happy that the scene with John and Jeanette was cut. I am a gigantic fan of her grandfather, the legendary Charlie Chaplin (yes, *that* Charlie Chaplin). And there are multi-faceted connections between Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chaplin which I will write about in a future post, one of them being that as a boy he was in the Sherlock Holmes play as Billy the page during the very early 20th century.
Later at 221B
Exterior shot of the outside of 221B with a cab driving by is cut. John is sitting in his chair reading a book. Sherlock walks in, looksing dazed. John puts down his book and turns around.
John: Oh, hi.
Sherlock stands in the doorway, slowly looks around the room.
John: You okay?
Sherlock still looks around and walks away.
Sherlock: Hope you didn’t mess up my sock index this time.
John turns forward, puts his book down, and rubs his hand on his face, sighs, and rests his face in it. (cut ends. Yup from Mycroft calling John up until now was cut)
Sherlock composing
Next shot is of Sherlock playing his violin and writing down music in front of oen of the long windows in the living room. The first shot of the hallway is cut.
After Sherlock attempting and failing with the 1895 passcode, John mentions that he’s going out.
John: Well, I’m going out for a bit.
Sherlock continues to playin, not replying to him. John walks to the kitchen where Mr’s Hudson is claening up. He picks up his keys off the table.
John (talking a little above a whisper): Listen, has he had any kind of girlfriend, boyfriend, a realtionship? Ever?
Mrs. Hudson( also talking just above a whisper): I don’t know.
They both look toward Sherlock who is still playing the violin, his back to them.
John turns back to Mrs. Hudson.
John (in a somewhat frustrated tone): How could we not know?
Mrs. Hudson (shrugs): He’s Sherlock. How will we ever know what goes on in that funny old head?
John smiles, and they both turn toward Sherlock again.
John (tosses his keys a little into the air): Alright, see ya.
He turns and walks out. (cut ends) Mrs. Hudson looks at Sherlock again while the sound of John’s footsteps are heard going down the stairs. She walks out of the room.
221B exterior. John walks out the front door and starts walking down the sidewalk. A woman in a black dress is standing outside calls out to him.
Woman: John?
John: (turning around. The sounds of Sherlock’s violin can still be heard) Yep? (sees woman) Hello.(then struck by her looks. Slower, he speaks again) Hello.
Woman: So. Any plans for New Year’s tonight?
John (slying smiling): Ahh (looks behind him then back to her). Nothing fixed. Nothing I couldn’t heartlessly abandon. You have any ideas?
The woman looks behind her.
Woman: One. (cut ends) A black car pulls up right next to where they’re standing. He shakes his head a little.
John looks over to the car and then walks towards it.
John: You know, Mycroft could just phone me, if he didn’t have this bloody, stupid, power complex.
Sherlock to the rescue
A couple seconds is cut of Sherlock looking up the stairs with a look of quiet seething on his face
Importance – minor. Perosnally, I am glad that this scene was not cut more than that. This is my favorite scene in the episode :).
After Sherlock sprays and headbutts the gunman, the is a couple cut of Sherlock looking back at the gunman after checking Mrs. Hudson and the black car pulling up and John getting out.
Later when John is attending to Mrs. Hudson’s injuries, the gunman’s shadow is seen falling and a crashing sound is heard.
Mrs. Hudson: Oh, that was right on top of my bins!
The groaning of the gunman from outside is cut out
X-raying the phone
A couple seconds are cut out near the end of the scene with Sherlock and Molly.
The trio at Baker Street
After Sherlok and John finding Irene asleep in Sherlock’s bed, they begin to ask her questions.
Sherlock: So who’s after you?
Irene: PEople who want to kill me.
Sherlock: And who’s that?
Irene: Killers.
(cut) John: It would help yif you were a tiny bit more specific.(cut ends)
Sherlock: So you faked you’re own death in order to get ahead of them?
Irene: It’ll work for a while.
Sherlock: Except you let John know you’re alive and therefore me.
Irene: I knew you’d keep my secret.
Sherlock: You couldn’t.
Irene: But you did, didn’t you?
Pause.
Irene: Where’s my camera phone?
John: It’s not here. We’re not stupid.
Irene: (cut) Then what have you done with it? (cut ends) If they guessed you got it, they’ll be watching you.
Dear me Mr. Holmes, dear me.
A few seconds of Mycroft sitting with a look of worry on his face is cut.
Catching a flight
A souple seconds are cut from the car that is driving Sherlock to the plane.
After the confrontation with Mycroft and Irene, there’s a couple seconds of the plane’s exterior that was cut.
An unlikely meeting place
In the rain, John and Mycroft meet in front of the Speedy’s sandwich shop. A couple seconds are cut from the time Mycroft steps on his cigerrette to after John follows him int othe cafe.
Another second is cut after Mycroft mentions that initially Sherlock wanted to be a pirate.
Last couple seconds of silence at the end of the scene are also cut.
John hands over Irene’s phone
Sherlock: That her phone?
John: Yes, I was just about to take it back. (looks at Sherlock who has gone back to sitting at his microscope) Do you want to…?
Sherlock takes a deep breath. John quietlystands there, still holding Irene’s file and phone, looking at Sherlock. A couple seconds is cut of him standing there.
John: Listen, actually….
Sherlock: No, but I will have the camera phone then. (He holds out his hand while still looking through his microscope)
John (looking down at the pile of Irene’s file) But there’s nothing on it any more. It’s been stripped.
Sherlock: I know, but I…(moves his hand again towards John, still looking through the microscope) I’ll still have it.
(cut) John: I’ve gotta give this back to Mycroft. You can’t keep it…
Sherlock, still holding out his hand. (cut ends)
John: Sherlock, I have to give this to Mycroft. It’s the government’s now. I couldn’t…
Sherlock (still holding out his hand): Please.
John looks at Sherlock’s hand and then back to him. He thinks about it and then goes inside the clear plastic bag and pulls out the phone and puts it in Sherlock’s hand.
Sherlock: Thank you (all while still looking thorugh his microscope.)
So I sat down tonight to do some searching and saw an image for Google’s logo.
It looked like a video (with the triangle in the middle) so I clicked it. Lo and behold, I see a Chaplin imitator! Not the best one but a very good one, and definitely done with resepect to the subject.
Yay for Google!
A couple weeks ago, I had wondered if they were going to do anything for his birthday, but was thinking in the realm of a static image. Was not even thinking a cute 2 minute film tribute!
Fast-forward 17 years and he was picked by Guy Ritchie to play the lead in Sherlock Holmes, which, honestly, sounded a little weird. For Chaplin, he played someone who was about 5’4″. And years later he plays someone who is described by Watson as being at least 6 feet tall. Either way, I did (and still do) enjoy his take on the Great Detective. He did win a Golden Globe for “Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy” for his portrayal of Holmes (a category I still don’t understand how he won, but he won it. So, YAY!)
On season 2, episode 1 of BBC’s excellent show Sherlock, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, John Watson’s girlfriend Jeanette is played play by Charlie’s granddaughter (Geraldine’s daughter), Oona Chaplin. When I was first watching the episode, I didn’t know who the actress was but there was something about her… I couldn’t put my finger on it. She seemed familiar, and at the same time not familiar. When I immediately re-watched the episode for the second time (because it was so mind blowingly awesome), I paid more attention to the ending credits, and the name “Oona Chaplin” jumped out at me. I threw my arms up in the air and shouted “WOOOOOOOHOOOO!!!” and did a happy dance. And so a new Chaplin comes face to face with the great detective.
A few days ago, 
Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith, Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (all pictured left) in 1919 to give them the freedom to make movies they way they wanted. “The inmates have taken over the asylum”
In real life, Chaplin was making The Circus in 1926. Just as Archie tells the Doctor, the set burned down twice, and there was a really nasty public divorce battle between him and his second wife. It was so stressful for him, that his hair went white.
Keaton shoots (cleverly drawn in black and white, with subtitles), we see the Doctor and Archie chasing the baddie on a motorcycle, and they encounter two gentlemen who closely resemble Stan and Ollie, with goatees, carrying a ladder. They would later appear in an actual episode of Doctor Who, series 6, “The Impossible Astronaut”. The three of them dance 🙂
