Trying to pick from 36 of his Keystone films (only one was feature length) is tough, but there’s one that I really like. And it has cultural and historical significance as well.
Kid Auto Races at Venice.
Not the complete version (missing the ending with Chaplin being yanked by the nose off camera), but it is a good print and pretty good music.
This was the first time the public saw the Tramp character *. Chaplin had made only one film prior to this one, Making a Living.
I love KAR because it’s funny (well, duh) and I love watching the people in the background, who were all real bystanders at a real race. The only actors are Charlie, Henry Lehrman (the director who keeps shoving Charlie out of the way. Also the director of the film.) and Frank D. Williams (poor cameraman who is trying to film the race). Mack Sennett (head of Keystone Studios) did this quite a bit where he would use real events (races, parades, etc.) and shoot a film somehow involving that event. It was cheaper because he wouldn’t have to pay for the extras or the event. So it was with this one, filming a real go cart type race in Venice, California. There’s people who watch Charlie and laugh, or just stare probably wondering who that goofball is with the bowler hat and cane and why is he wandering out in front of the on coming race cars? Does he want to get on camera that badly?
Anyway, it’s a fun little film, and interesting to think how quickly Chaplin’s life would change because of pressure to find the right outfit that worked (and, boy, did it ever!)
*– David Robinson does make a good argument in his wonderful book, Chaplin: His Life and Art that the first Tramp movie that was actually filmed was probably Mabel’s Strange Predicament according to filming schedules and set events, and it wasn’t uncommon to shoot films in different sequence to release dates. But that Kid Auto Races is definitely the first one that was released to the public.
This isn’t too hard to decide on: Edna Purviance (second would be Paulette Goddard). From the time Chaplin hired her for her first movie, A Night Out, she definitely had something special.
I don’t remember when I first saw Edna… The Tramp (somehow I got my hands on a narrated version) maybe? Those early days of fandom are a bit fuzzy (25+ years will do that to ya!), but that’s definitely one of the first times I saw her.
Edna and Charlie in A Burlesque on Carmen
Some of my favorite films she was in was Easy Street, Burlesque on Carmen (a satire on the opera Carmen. She plays the flirtatious Carmen. Her parts are great! The “finished” film is a bit long though… thanks a lot Essanay!), Shoulder Arms, and The Kid (heart-wrenching and beautiful!)
And there is that last appearance, a cameo in Monsieur Verdoux, but according to the wonderful Edna Place site, she isn’t there. She did to a reading for a part for Charlie, but in the end, it didn’t work out. She had been rumored for many years to be in the background, and I looked for her, and haven’t seen anyone that looks like her.
They did a\have a romantic relationship off-screen but nothing that led to marriage, and quite frankly, Chaplin was a bit of a cad to her towards the end of their relationship. They did remain friends until she passed away.
But I thought it was sweet on Chaplin’s part to continue to pay her, even after she stopped working for him and up until her death after he was exiled from the United States. One of her last letters to Charlie that he shared in his autobiography was so sweet and funny, and she begs him to come back to America. “You belong here.” Sadly, she did not live long enough to see that happen. She passed away of throat cancer in 1958.
Three great sites (all sister-sites to each other) to find out more about her are:
Edna’s Place – A great blog. Not updated very often (something I can relate to) but has oodles of info
EdnaPurviance.org – The first Edna site I came across many years ago. Also has extensive database of Chaplin books and documentaries. French version is here.
Leading Ladies – Started by Edna’s grand nieces, Lita and Ellie Hill, and later partnered with Linda Wada (of the above two sites) to help preserve Edna’s memory. You can also buy “The Sea Gull”, a book about the film that was going to be Edna’s last film, but mysteriously destroyed by Chaplin.
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 🙂
This is another really difficult one. There’s 26 years of Classic Who, and 13 (and counting!) of New Who. So yes, there’s going to be another tie! Several ties! Each one in a shape of a bow. Because ‘bow ties are cool!”
“Hate is always foolish, and love is always wise”
“Never cruel or cowardly. Never give up, never give in.”
“We’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?”
The Doctor: “But I don’t exist in your world!”
Brigade Leader: “Then you won’t feel the bullets when we shoot you.”
“Chap with wings there, five rounds, rapid!”
“Splendid chaps. All of them”
Watch Mojo UK put together a pretty good top ten earlier this year that bring out a lot of really good ones, and a couple I hadn’t thought of:
And here’s one that a fan put together.
There is the one by Steven Moffat about the Doctor:
“Heroes are important. Heroes tell us who we want to be but when they made this particular hero they didn’t give him a gun, they gave him a screwdriver to fix things. They didn’t give him a tank or a warship or an X-Wing, they gave him a call box from which you can call for help and they didn’t give him a superpower or a heat-ray, they gave him an extra heart. And that’s extraordinary. There will never come a time when we don’t need a hero like the Doctor.”
And there is the one that means a lot to me because it’s what got me hooked onto the show:
“But that’s not right!” – Said by Susan Foreman from the first episode, An Unearthly Child as she’s reading a book on the French Revolution. Which got my imagination going and it hasn’t stopped since.
Next on Doctor Who 30 Day Challenge – Favorite Christmas Episode
There aren’t a lot of male companions. Ones I really love are Adric (another controversial opinion :P), and Captain Jack Harkness.
But again I have a tie:
Ian Chesterton
There aren’t a lot of male companions. Ones I really love are Adric (another controversial opinion :P), and Captain Jack Harkness.
But again I have a tie:
Ian Chesterton
Ian (played by William Russell) was part of the original Tardis team. He and fellow teacher Barbara went to investigate the strange behavior of one of their students, and wind up traveling in time and space with a mysterious person called “the Doctor”.
“Who is he? Doctor who? Perhaps if we knew his name, we would have a clue to all this.”
I loved his friendship with Barbara and how they were in their weird adventure together and bound determined to return home… even if it was 2 years later (London1965!).
And a fun bonus. Earlier this year Russell T. Davies happened to be on the same train as William and shared this on his Instagram –
Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
The Brigadier is my other top fav. Also a unique character because he was the only character to have played opposite with every Doctor from 2 to 7 as well having worked along the 8th Doctor in the audio Minuet in Hell. And the actor, Nicholas Courtney, also played Space Security Agent Bret Vyon with the 1st Doctor. His grandfather met the 1st and 12th Doctors, and his daughter Kate continues to work for UNIT and has helped out the 11th and 12th (Kate is awesome!). I love how he continues to hold an important place in the show, even years after Courtney passed away, (Though I do have “ewww” feelings about him being turned into a Cyberman)
I remember watching one episode where the Doctor and Brig were arguing having totally different opinions on how to handle a situation, and my daughter asked me if they were enemies. And I explained that no, they are friends, they just are a bit stubborn, but they are both on the same side.
Recommended episodes:
As I mentioned in my last post, I started my own gaming channel, Calvero Plays. And I chose to start with my favorite series, Assassin’s Creed.
From the very beginning.
I should say that the game is violent, though not in the way that there is horror or a lot of slashing(okay, a good amount of slashing). You only can kill who your target is (along with the target’s henchmen). There’s penalties when you kill innocent people (one of the reasons why I like this series better than Grand Theft Auto).
Below is the first part:
(My microphone level is low, I’m working on adjusting it.)
There also is a good dose of history throughout the series, which is one of the reasons why I love the series so much. This first installment of the series takes place during the Third Crusade in 1191 in such places as Damascus, Acre, and Jerusalem. The music is great (improves IMHO in AC II and Brotherhood), graphics are beautiful, and the game play is fairly good (there have been complaints about it being to repetitive, which is is, but it doesn’t bother me as much).
And this is combination “Let’s Play” and “Walkthrough” since I have played this before and show where things like flags are, easter eggs, and how to defeat people. It’s not thorough though. I never have found all the flags, and I’m sure there’s easter eggs that I do not know about, but there’s a bunch that I share.
How I got interested in the series
I do not fit the typical demographic for playing a game like this. I’m female, in my 40s, and a mom. So how did it happen?
First thing is the historical aspect. As I say in the video, I love history. Any era, it doesn’t matter. I may not understand Wall Street or wrap my head around various scientific theories, but I love learning about the history of anything. Always have (I have a BA degree in it). And when I was first reading an article about the game in a gaming magazine back in ’07, I thought “Wow! That’s amazing!” The pictures were great. I loved that is took place in a different era that was rarely tackled by game developers.
But I was put off by the title. *Assassin’s* Creed. That sounded…well…. violent. Too violent.
Then I got drawn into it. Both the historical part, and the mystery of “The Ones Who Came Before”, the First Civilization, which added a scifi element (where is Ubisoft taking that story anyway? Do they even know?) drew me in.
The first AC game I actually got to play (since Ubisoft didn’t make any AC games for the Nintendo Wii and it was before I got a XBox 360) was Altair’s Chronicles. It was a great game, though a side-scroller which is a different set-up than the 3D-ish POV of AC console games. The ending was a bit of a let down….
And so now I have completed the first installment through III (AC, AC II, AC Brotherhood, AC Revellations, and AC III, total of 5 console games. Yeah, Ubisoft numbered them weird), didn;t finish IV Black Flag. Have yet to start Rogue. At some point I’ll be getting a XBox One and play Unity. But for right now I’m replaying the first one again, this time recording it.
Come along, won’t you? See some beautiful cities, meet some historical figures, watch for glitches (for there are bound to be some)!
A Native American, Theodore Roosevelt, a night guard, Attila the Hun, a monkey, an Egyptian Pharaoh, and the night guard’s teen aged son walk onto a bus…
A couple weeks ago I went to see Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. I had only seen bits of the first one so I had an idea of what the series was about. And I also went because I was, in a way, paying my respects to Robin. I did not become a sobbing mess like I thought I would be when it got to the scene where Robin Williams’ Teddy says goodbye to Larry. Not going to lie though, I did get choked up. Backtracking, it was good to see Dick Van Dyke again (another person from my childhood), though only for a couple minutes. Mickey Rooney makes an even shorter cameo in his last (?) movie (ah, another one lost in 2014!). Sir Ben Kingsley makes a regal appearance as the father Pharoah, and Sir Lancealot is played by Dan Stevens (of Downton Abbey fame)
Ben Stiller returns, making an interesting straight man for a group of somewhat historical misfits.
And this was all preceded by a trailer for the upcoming Peanuts movie (seeing Snoopy fighting the Red Baron has always been one of my childhood’s fondest memories.)
Wow. So many bits of my youth all in one afternoon.
Memorable scenes: The bit with Jedediah and Octavius watching a cat video on YouTube.
Seen in the trailer where Sir Lance and Teddy introduce themselves to each other:
Sir Lancelot: Sir Lancelot, at your service. Teddy Roosevelt: Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America. Sir Lancelot: I have no idea what that means.
The bit in the MC Escher work, “Relativity” was very smartly done..
Hugh Jackman. Was not expecting to see him in the movie. Loved when he broke into his Wolverine pose. Lance asks what is he doing. The woman says he’s doing “his Wolverine thing.”
I did expect, and laugh, when Teddy gives Larry one more scare just like he did in the first movie.
One of the reasons why I like these types of movies is that you have people from various different places on the panet, and from different historical eras, all working together. And saying things that you would not expect to hear, like Larry slapping Attila the Hun and telling him “Huns don’t hyperventilate” (another one of my favorite lines)
Some extra stuff
I came across some videos playlisted on NYT’s site containing clips of the film, interviews, and trailers. Here’s one of them.
I read a lot of professional critics saying it wasn’t that good, but I enjoyed it. Not the best movie out there, but definitely a lot of fun. A good popcorn movie. YouTuber movie reviewer Jeremy Jahns made a good video about his thoughts on it:
Behind the Scenes
And for those of you who like behind the scenes type stuff, Movie Bloopers & Making of uploading 3 parts of various raw clips of the making of the movie.
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
As I mentioned 
Backtracking, it was good to see Dick Van Dyke again (another person from my childhood), though only for a couple minutes. Mickey Rooney makes an even shorter cameo in his last (?) movie (ah, another one lost in 2014!). Sir Ben Kingsley makes a regal appearance as the father Pharoah, and Sir Lancealot is played by Dan Stevens (of Downton Abbey fame)
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 🙂