Back in 2017, I decided to watch A Countess From Hong Kong. It was the 50th anniversary. I did not have it due to it not having been released on video until recently. So I bought the DVD, did a live tweeting of it to record my first thoughts while watching it..
I already shared some of my thoughts on Day 10. It was a weird sensation to watch a film of his that:
was in color
widescreen
I had never watched before (outside a couple clips)
I did a live tweet while watching. Below I copied and pasted my tweets, all are timestamped so you an follow along if you wish. Maybe I might do a commentary for it? Hmmm…
My live tweets (typos included)
(I put a star by my favorites)
Livetweeting #CharlieChaplin ‘s Countess From Hong Kong in 20 minutes. Sort of a 50th anniversary celebration 🙂 #CountHK 19:40:46, 2017-07-07
Since #CharlieChaplin wrote and directed it, but only gave himself cameos, I feel I’ll be seeing his “direction” in everyone #CountHK 19:58:33, 2017-07-07
And play… #CountHK 20:00:25, 2017-07-07
Bit nervous for this, don’t know why #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 20:01:34, 2017-07-07
Ah, the familiar dance hall girl theme #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 20:02:52, 2017-07-07
Written and directed by Charles Chaplin. Woop! #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 20:03:42, 2017-07-07
That looked like that hurt #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:28:58, 2017-07-07
Ah, lovely Tippi Hendrin. She seems to have escaped the birds #CountHK #CharlieChaplin #badHitchcockjoke 21:30:34, 2017-07-07 *
Charlie could have done better job with the beach. #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:36:15, 2017-07-07
The lovely Chaplin girls 😊#CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:37:28, 2017-07-07
I like that zoom on Brando #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:42:37, 2017-07-07
Oooh. BUSTED! Never try to outsmart your wife. She always figures it out! #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:44:37, 2017-07-07 *
And the ending credits #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:48:32, 2017-07-07
Pretty good! I’ll have to watch it again, but I thought it was nice. VERY weird to watch Chaplin movie in color. #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:50:46, 2017-07-07
Reminded me of King of New York. And a few others where Charlie falls for a dancehall girl. #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:52:41, 2017-07-07
But that makes me having seen all of Chaplin’s films. Only took 25 years, lol. Don’t like rushing a good thing 😉 #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:55:06, 2017-07-07
To end this livetweet: This is My Song sung by Petula Clark, music & lyrics by Chaplin #CountHK #CharlieChaplin https://t.co/3UiNFEnSXj 22:19:41, 2017-07-07
https://youtu.be/6te8487zsbE
Bonus
Curing the filming, Charlie celebrated his 77th birthday with the cast. And shared in on a tall cake with a Little Tramp figure at the top. Film from British Pathé YouTube channel. And, sorry, no sound (which seems fitting).
Bit of trivia: the little girl with the blonde hair in pigtails is Tippi Hedren’s daughter, future actress Melanie Griffith.
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.
