The T-Boy Society of Film and Music Selects Top Horror Films

The Horror Film’s roots lie in German Expressionism. When it moved to Hollywood, along with many of its directors, it was smart, scary and clever, but eventually evolved into camp, then cheap thrills trash. John Carpenter dominated the horror film for years, yet like most genres it has exploded with sub-genres of films that can still interrupt a good sleep. Holy Dracula, there are too many good ones out there! Our members’ lists offer a rare look at what is in their darkest dreams.

Dublin & Galway Selected Friendliest Cities in Europe

It’s travel award season on the island of Ireland! In recent weeks, the island has been awarded a number of exciting accolades. Both Dublin and Galway have topped the Condé Nast friendliest cities in Europe list, while EPIC The Irish Immigration Museum has been awarded Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction by the World Travel Awards for the second year running.

Meanwhile, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel experts were wowed by the Burren Ecotourism Network’s community effort, naming them one of ten winners in the new ‘Community’ category of Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2021. Ireland’s Burren Ecotourism Network has been named one of ten winners in the new ‘Community’ category of Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2021.

Top Horror Films

By the T-Boy Society of Film & Music
Curated by Ed Boitano

From Ed Boitano:

Nosferatu (1922)
Director : F.W. Murnau
UFA made artistically outstanding and technically competent films during the silent era. Located in Berlin, its studios were the best equipped and most modern in the world. It encouraged experimentation and imaginative camera work and employed such directors as F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch and G.W. Pabst; all pioneers in the expressive use of camera position, lighting, stylized art direction and acting, and editing techniques.

#LETUSALLUNITE: A Global Campaign on the Occasion of the 80^th Anniversary of “The Great Dictator”

To mark the 80^th anniversary of “The Great Dictator,” one of Charlie Chaplin’s most iconic films, Chaplin’s World announced today that it is launching a year-long campaign with international partners. #LETUSALLUNITE, a human fresco on a global scale, will unite the citizens of the world around the universal values of the film.

80-Year-Old Man Killed After Confronting Bar Patron For Not Wearing Mask

When an 80-year-old man at a bar near Buffalo, New York, noticed a fellow customer not wearing a face mask, he confronted him. The customer responded by swiftly pushing him to the ground, the police said. Five days later, the man was dead.

Fall Foliage Trip Planning

Written by Kim Knox Beckius

The annual display of colorful fall foliage clogs scenic byways this time of year as onlookers travel for “leaf peeping” getaways. As the trees put on a memorable show for us, behind the scenes, it’s due to the slowing of chlorophyll production. That’s what’s going on, you see: an un-greening of leaves that unveils the true colors that have been masked throughout the summer. As underlying pigments pop, lighting up the landscape, mountainsides and roadsides truly do warrant gawking.

The Radical History of Corporate Sensitivity Training

By Beth Blum

During these turbulent months, American corporations have responded to demands for racial justice by straining to showcase their sensitive sides. They’ve pledged, like Quaker Oats, to change offensive product names; they’ve scrambled, like Prada, nascar, and Delta, to implement emergency sensitivity workshops; and they’ve opted, like most of the major publishing houses, to hire sensitivity readers to vet new manuscripts for racist representations. Not so at the Donald Trump White House.

Amtrak’s New Fall Fare Sale Lets You Bring a Friend for Free

Riding the rails is the perfect way to follow fall down the Northeast Corridor

Written by Katherine Alex Beaven

Summer may be officially over — R.I.P. — but Amtrak is already giving us reasons to get excited about celebrating fall. This week the national rail service announced a huge buy-one-get-one sale on Acela business class and Northeast Regional coach train fares. This means you can buy a ticket and bring a friend for free — or just split the difference and save 50 percent on ticket prices.

The 5 Best Ways to Prevent a First Heart Attack

By Sharon Basaraba
Medically reviewed by Richard N. Fogoros, MD

Whether your father, mother or siblings have had heart disease may seem like the most important predictor of your own chances of a heart attack. Not so — says a large Swedish study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2014. In fact, it showed that 5 specific lifestyle factors like eating right, regular exercise and quitting smoking can combine to prevent 80% of first heart attacks.

Epiphany Central – 15 Lessons from the Pandemic

By David Erskine

Dr.  Allen asked me to write a fourth blog yet again from just ten minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. If you read my last blog, you know that we experienced another COVID-19 surge a few weeks ago. The good news now is that California has flattened the  curve (for a second time) as I write this mid-September.

The One Horror Film Stephen King Was Too Scared to Finish

Courtesy of Richard Evans

Stephen King has been responsible for many of our nightmares over the years. The prolific author has written a staggering number of terrifying novels and stories, many of which have been adapted into equally frightening films. But King is also a fan of the horror genre, and frequently recommends books, movies, and TV shows that have hooked him. In fact, he often showers them with effusive praise. In a new foreword for the 2010 reissue of his nonfiction book Danse Macabre, he called The Blair Witch Project the “worst nightmare you ever had.” Read on to find out why the movie spooked King so badly, along with his other favorites. And for more ’90s nightmares, revisit The Scariest Movies ’90s Kids Can’t Forget.

MORE

8 Immune-Boosting Smoothies We Want to Sip All Day Long

Courtesy Mary Nunes

Whether it’s flu season, allergy season, or you’re just in the mood for a refreshing, flavorful drink, an immune-boosting smoothie is always a good idea. By snacking on something as easy and convenient as a smoothie, you can jam-pack your body with antioxidants, vitamins, and more superfoods that kick-start your immune system into gear. Smoothies are (rightfully) all the rage these days, as they are easy to make, totally filling, and can give your body a plethora of health benefits.

READ HERE

You Might be an American Traveling Abroad if…

Inspired by Jeff Foxworthy with assistance from the Alot Travel Team

If you wear a Baseball Cap while traveling abroad you might be an American tourist.

Baseball is the American pastime, right? At least, it was at one point, and it’s still thought of that way, even though we watch more pro football than baseball at this point.

Still, we love the caps, and we carry them around with us everywhere — including overseas, where they immediately mark us as Americans.

MORE

What Americans Abroad Should Not Expect

Pancakes

The fluffy flour-based pancakes that American’s have come to love at breakfast time (or for brinner) just aren’t found abroad. French crêpes are too thin. The Japanese version (okonomiyaki) is too thick and most often topped with savory things like meat, seafood, and cabbage. Australian-style pancakes are too eggy and have sugar in the dough.

MORE

5 Things Science Says Will Make You Happier

Research-backed habits that will improve your outlook and positive attitude

By Nataly Kogan
Medically reviewed by Daniel B. Block, MD

It’s easy to assume that things like money and a luxurious lifestyle lead to happiness, but research shows that it’s the more simple experiences — like practicing gratitude or spending time with friends — that promote a sunny outlook.

Whether you need to shift from negative thoughts or want to continue a streak of positivity, here are five ways to boost happiness every day.

MORE

The Future of History in the Pandemic Age

By Michael Creswell

Historians need to consider and prepare for changes to the profession that will follow the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attempting to predict the future is always perilous, and events frequently humble those who dare to try. Making predictions is especially hazardous for historians, who often struggle to explain the past. Peering into the future is not part of their professional training, and their efforts to do so are likely to fail.

MORE

The Pentagon is Missing the Big Picture on “Stars and Stripes”

By Mark T. Hauser

The Pentagon’s plan to scrap funding for the Stars and Stripes newspaper isn’t just an attack on a historic military institution. It’s ignoring the lessons the paper’s history offers for efficient operation and integrating military operations with the economic life of the nation.

In February, the Pentagon proposed slashing funding for the famed soldiers’ newspaper Stars and Stripes, a story that roared back into the news in September after its publisher reported he had been ordered to halt publication by the end of the month.

MORE

“Heroes of Our America”: Reading a “Patriotic” History of the United States

By Alan J. Singer

Not long ago, history textbooks were written as patriotic fables. Examining one offers a warning about the cost of putting mythmaking ahead of historical learning

Heroes of Our America (1952) was a history book for fourth graders published by the Iroquois Publishing Company of Syracuse, New York. Its co-authors were Gertrude and John Van Duyn Southworth. John Southworth, with Harvard and Columbia University degrees, taught at a number of schools in the New York metropolitan area and was president of the publishing company. Gertrude Southworth, his frequent co-author, was also his mother.

I picked it off my office shelf after Donald Trump called for teaching “patriotic history” in American schools as a defense against a mythical radical “left” conspiracy and to ensure that  “our youth will be taught to love America.” Heroes of Our America is an example of the kind of “patriotic history” Donald and I were both exposed to as children in the 1950s. I grabbed the book when it was discarded from the Hofstra University Curriculum Materials Center only a couple of years ago.

MORE

The post Dublin & Galway Friendliest Cities, 8 Smoothies appeared first on Traveling Archive.

The T-Boy Society of Film and Music Selects Top Horror Films

The Horror Film’s roots lie in German Expressionism. When it moved to Hollywood, along with many of its directors, it was smart, scary and clever, but eventually evolved into camp, then cheap thrills trash. John Carpenter dominated the horror film for years, yet like most genres it has exploded with sub-genres of films that can still interrupt a good sleep. Holy Dracula, there are too many good ones out there! Our members’ lists offer a rare look at what is in their darkest dreams.

Top Horror Films

By the T-Boy Society of Film & Music
Curated by Ed Boitano

From Ed Boitano:

Nosferatu (1922)
Director : F.W. Murnau
UFA made artistically outstanding and technically competent films during the silent era. Located in Berlin, its studios were the best equipped and most modern in the world. It encouraged experimentation and imaginative camera work and employed such directors as F. W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Ernst Lubitsch and G.W. Pabst; all pioneers in the expressive use of camera position, lighting, stylized art direction and acting, and editing techniques.

#LETUSALLUNITE: A Global Campaign on the Occasion of the 80^th Anniversary of “The Great Dictator”

To mark the 80^th anniversary of “The Great Dictator,” one of Charlie Chaplin’s most iconic films, Chaplin’s World announced today that it is launching a year-long campaign with international partners. #LETUSALLUNITE, a human fresco on a global scale, will unite the citizens of the world around the universal values of the film.

80-Year-Old Man Killed After Confronting Bar Patron For Not Wearing Mask

When an 80-year-old man at a bar near Buffalo, New York, noticed a fellow customer not wearing a face mask, he confronted him. The customer responded by swiftly pushing him to the ground, the police said. Five days later, the man was dead.

Fall Foliage Trip Planning

Written by Kim Knox Beckius

The annual display of colorful fall foliage clogs scenic byways this time of year as onlookers travel for “leaf peeping” getaways. As the trees put on a memorable show for us, behind the scenes, it’s due to the slowing of chlorophyll production. That’s what’s going on, you see: an un-greening of leaves that unveils the true colors that have been masked throughout the summer. As underlying pigments pop, lighting up the landscape, mountainsides and roadsides truly do warrant gawking.

The Radical History of Corporate Sensitivity Training

By Beth Blum

During these turbulent months, American corporations have responded to demands for racial justice by straining to showcase their sensitive sides. They’ve pledged, like Quaker Oats, to change offensive product names; they’ve scrambled, like Prada, nascar, and Delta, to implement emergency sensitivity workshops; and they’ve opted, like most of the major publishing houses, to hire sensitivity readers to vet new manuscripts for racist representations. Not so at the Donald Trump White House.

Amtrak’s New Fall Fare Sale Lets You Bring a Friend for Free

Riding the rails is the perfect way to follow fall down the Northeast Corridor

Written by Katherine Alex Beaven

Summer may be officially over — R.I.P. — but Amtrak is already giving us reasons to get excited about celebrating fall. This week the national rail service announced a huge buy-one-get-one sale on Acela business class and Northeast Regional coach train fares. This means you can buy a ticket and bring a friend for free — or just split the difference and save 50 percent on ticket prices.

The 5 Best Ways to Prevent a First Heart Attack

By Sharon Basaraba
Medically reviewed by Richard N. Fogoros, MD

Whether your father, mother or siblings have had heart disease may seem like the most important predictor of your own chances of a heart attack. Not so — says a large Swedish study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2014. In fact, it showed that 5 specific lifestyle factors like eating right, regular exercise and quitting smoking can combine to prevent 80% of first heart attacks.

Epiphany Central – 15 Lessons from the Pandemic

By David Erskine

Dr.  Allen asked me to write a fourth blog yet again from just ten minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. If you read my last blog, you know that we experienced another COVID-19 surge a few weeks ago. The good news now is that California has flattened the  curve (for a second time) as I write this mid-September.

The One Horror Film Stephen King Was Too Scared to Finish

Courtesy of Richard Evans

Stephen King has been responsible for many of our nightmares over the years. The prolific author has written a staggering number of terrifying novels and stories, many of which have been adapted into equally frightening films. But King is also a fan of the horror genre, and frequently recommends books, movies, and TV shows that have hooked him. In fact, he often showers them with effusive praise. In a new foreword for the 2010 reissue of his nonfiction book Danse Macabre, he called The Blair Witch Project the “worst nightmare you ever had.” Read on to find out why the movie spooked King so badly, along with his other favorites. And for more ’90s nightmares, revisit The Scariest Movies ’90s Kids Can’t Forget.

MORE

You Might be an American Traveling Abroad if…

Inspired by Jeff Foxworthy with assistance from the Alot Travel Team

If you wear a Baseball Cap while traveling abroad you might be an American tourist.

Baseball is the American pastime, right? At least, it was at one point, and it’s still thought of that way, even though we watch more pro football than baseball at this point.

Still, we love the caps, and we carry them around with us everywhere — including overseas, where they immediately mark us as Americans.

MORE

What Americans Abroad Should Not Expect

Pancakes

The fluffy flour-based pancakes that American’s have come to love at breakfast time (or for brinner) just aren’t found abroad. French crêpes are too thin. The Japanese version (okonomiyaki) is too thick and most often topped with savory things like meat, seafood, and cabbage. Australian-style pancakes are too eggy and have sugar in the dough.

MORE

5 Things Science Says Will Make You Happier

Research-backed habits that will improve your outlook and positive attitude

By Nataly Kogan
Medically reviewed by Daniel B. Block, MD

It’s easy to assume that things like money and a luxurious lifestyle lead to happiness, but research shows that it’s the more simple experiences — like practicing gratitude or spending time with friends — that promote a sunny outlook.

Whether you need to shift from negative thoughts or want to continue a streak of positivity, here are five ways to boost happiness every day.

MORE

The Future of History in the Pandemic Age

By Michael Creswell

Historians need to consider and prepare for changes to the profession that will follow the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attempting to predict the future is always perilous, and events frequently humble those who dare to try. Making predictions is especially hazardous for historians, who often struggle to explain the past. Peering into the future is not part of their professional training, and their efforts to do so are likely to fail.

MORE

The Pentagon is Missing the Big Picture on “Stars and Stripes”

By Mark T. Hauser

The Pentagon’s plan to scrap funding for the Stars and Stripes newspaper isn’t just an attack on a historic military institution. It’s ignoring the lessons the paper’s history offers for efficient operation and integrating military operations with the economic life of the nation.

In February, the Pentagon proposed slashing funding for the famed soldiers’ newspaper Stars and Stripes, a story that roared back into the news in September after its publisher reported he had been ordered to halt publication by the end of the month.

MORE

“Heroes of Our America”: Reading a “Patriotic” History of the United States

By Alan J. Singer

Not long ago, history textbooks were written as patriotic fables. Examining one offers a warning about the cost of putting mythmaking ahead of historical learning

Heroes of Our America (1952) was a history book for fourth graders published by the Iroquois Publishing Company of Syracuse, New York. Its co-authors were Gertrude and John Van Duyn Southworth. John Southworth, with Harvard and Columbia University degrees, taught at a number of schools in the New York metropolitan area and was president of the publishing company. Gertrude Southworth, his frequent co-author, was also his mother.

I picked it off my office shelf after Donald Trump called for teaching “patriotic history” in American schools as a defense against a mythical radical “left” conspiracy and to ensure that  “our youth will be taught to love America.” Heroes of Our America is an example of the kind of “patriotic history” Donald and I were both exposed to as children in the 1950s. I grabbed the book when it was discarded from the Hofstra University Curriculum Materials Center only a couple of years ago.

MORE

The post Sleep Tight: Top Horror Films appeared first on Traveling Archive.

You Might be an American Traveling Abroad if…

Inspired by Jeff Foxworthy with assistance from the Alot Travel Team

If you wear a Baseball Cap while traveling abroad you might be an American tourist.

Baseball is the American pastime, right? At least, it was at one point, and it’s still thought of that way, even though we watch more pro football than baseball at this point.

Still, we love the caps, and we carry them around with us everywhere — including overseas, where they immediately mark us as Americans.

80-Year-Old Man Killed After Confronting Bar Patron For Not Wearing Mask

When an 80-year-old man at a bar near Buffalo, New York, noticed a fellow customer not wearing a face mask, he confronted him. The customer responded by swiftly pushing him to the ground, the police said. Five days later, the man was dead.

Fall Foliage Trip Planning

Written by Kim Knox Beckius

The annual display of colorful fall foliage clogs scenic byways this time of year as onlookers travel for “leaf peeping” getaways. As the trees put on a memorable show for us, behind the scenes, it’s due to the slowing of chlorophyll production. That’s what’s going on, you see: an un-greening of leaves that unveils the true colors that have been masked throughout the summer. As underlying pigments pop, lighting up the landscape, mountainsides and roadsides truly do warrant gawking.

The Future of History in the Pandemic Age

By Michael Creswell

Historians need to consider and prepare for changes to the profession that will follow the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attempting to predict the future is always perilous, and events frequently humble those who dare to try. Making predictions is especially hazardous for historians, who often struggle to explain the past. Peering into the future is not part of their professional training, and their efforts to do so are likely to fail.

The Pentagon is Missing the Big Picture on “Stars and Stripes”

By Mark T. Hauser

The Pentagon’s plan to scrap funding for the Stars and Stripes newspaper isn’t just an attack on a historic military institution. It’s ignoring the lessons the paper’s history offers for efficient operation and integrating military operations with the economic life of the nation.

In February, the Pentagon proposed slashing funding for the famed soldiers’ newspaper Stars and Stripes, a story that roared back into the news in September after its publisher reported he had been ordered to halt publication by the end of the month.

The 5 Best Ways to Prevent a First Heart Attack

By Sharon Basaraba
Medically reviewed by Richard N. Fogoros, MD

Whether your father, mother or siblings have had heart disease may seem like the most important predictor of your own chances of a heart attack. Not so — says a large Swedish study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2014. In fact, it showed that 5 specific lifestyle factors like eating right, regular exercise and quitting smoking can combine to prevent 80% of first heart attacks.

Epiphany Central – 15 Lessons from the Pandemic

By David Erskine

Dr.  Allen asked me to write a fourth blog yet again from just ten minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. If you read my last blog, you know that we experienced another COVID-19 surge a few weeks ago. The good news now is that California has flattened the  curve (for a second time) as I write this mid-September.

#LETUSALLUNITE: A Global Campaign on the Occasion of the 80^th Anniversary of “The Great Dictator”

To mark the 80^th anniversary of “The Great Dictator,” one of Charlie Chaplin’s most iconic films, Chaplin’s World announced today that it is launching a year-long campaign with international partners. #LETUSALLUNITE, a human fresco on a global scale, will unite the citizens of the world around the universal values of the film.

MORE

What Americans Abroad Should Not Expect

Pancakes

The fluffy flour-based pancakes that American’s have come to love at breakfast time (or for brinner) just aren’t found abroad. French crêpes are too thin. The Japanese version (okonomiyaki) is too thick and most often topped with savory things like meat, seafood, and cabbage. Australian-style pancakes are too eggy and have sugar in the dough.

MORE

5 Things Science Says Will Make You Happier

Research-backed habits that will improve your outlook and positive attitude

By Nataly Kogan
Medically reviewed by Daniel B. Block, MD

It’s easy to assume that things like money and a luxurious lifestyle lead to happiness, but research shows that it’s the more simple experiences — like practicing gratitude or spending time with friends — that promote a sunny outlook.

Whether you need to shift from negative thoughts or want to continue a streak of positivity, here are five ways to boost happiness every day.

MORE

The Radical History of Corporate Sensitivity Training

By Beth Blum

During these turbulent months, American corporations have responded to demands for racial justice by straining to showcase their sensitive sides. They’ve pledged, like Quaker Oats, to change offensive product names; they’ve scrambled, like Prada, nascar, and Delta, to implement emergency sensitivity workshops; and they’ve opted, like most of the major publishing houses, to hire sensitivity readers to vet new manuscripts for racist representations. Not so at the Donald Trump White House.

MORE

Amtrak’s New Fall Fare Sale Lets You Bring a Friend for Free

Riding the rails is the perfect way to follow fall down the Northeast Corridor

Written by Katherine Alex Beaven

Summer may be officially over — R.I.P. — but Amtrak is already giving us reasons to get excited about celebrating fall. This week the national rail service announced a huge buy-one-get-one sale on Acela business class and Northeast Regional coach train fares. This means you can buy a ticket and bring a friend for free — or just split the difference and save 50 percent on ticket prices.

MORE

“Heroes of Our America”: Reading a “Patriotic” History of the United States

By Alan J. Singer

Not long ago, history textbooks were written as patriotic fables. Examining one offers a warning about the cost of putting mythmaking ahead of historical learning

Heroes of Our America (1952) was a history book for fourth graders published by the Iroquois Publishing Company of Syracuse, New York. Its co-authors were Gertrude and John Van Duyn Southworth. John Southworth, with Harvard and Columbia University degrees, taught at a number of schools in the New York metropolitan area and was president of the publishing company. Gertrude Southworth, his frequent co-author, was also his mother.

I picked it off my office shelf after Donald Trump called for teaching “patriotic history” in American schools as a defense against a mythical radical “left” conspiracy and to ensure that  “our youth will be taught to love America.” Heroes of Our America is an example of the kind of “patriotic history” Donald and I were both exposed to as children in the 1950s. I grabbed the book when it was discarded from the Hofstra University Curriculum Materials Center only a couple of years ago.

MORE

The post You Might Be An American Traveling Abroad If… appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Well, it’s been a week. And once again I find myself sitting on the park bench in Vevey, Switzerland next to the statue of Charlie Chaplin, with whom I share the panorama of shimmering Lake Geneva and the pristine snowcapped Alps in the distance. I’ve covered a lot of tracks: indulging in the region’s world-class wines and scrumptious Swiss-French cuisine, wandering Lausanne’s cobblestone streets, and seeing the former home of Audrey Hepburn in Tolochenaz, near Lausanne, and the current home studio of Jean-Luc Godard, also near Lausanne. I tried to make sense of Huguenot, John Calvin’s Gestapo-like control of Geneva, and laid victim to the region’s steep prices. A simple café au lait and a buttery croissant set me back twenty U.S dollars! But it was time to return to the centerpiece of my trip, an exploration of the life of Sir Charles Spencer Chapin. He chose Manoir de Ban, a neoclassical mansion in Corsier-sur-Vevey, to live his remaining 25 years, which, according to his family, constituted his “happy years.” I had reserved my final day to visit the Manoir, now rechristened Chaplin’s World – which has been repurposed and expanded as a museum that showcases Chaplin’s work and life as a family man in Switzerland.

Personal Life

Chaplin enjoyed what had appeared to be a fun-filled period during his time in Hollywood, but privately led a lonely life, filled with scandal and haunted memories of his impoverished youth. His home in the Pickfair neighborhood of Beverly Hills – a neighborhood named after the mansion of married couple, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks – was designed by himself and built by studio carpenters, not known for building structures that lasted.  It began to slowly fall apart, and was affectionately coined, “The Breakaway House.” The guests loved it, and it became a place of merriment and refuge from Hollywood’s bright lights. Chaplin would entertain his guests by playing a pipe organ, inventing new gags, organizing swimming parties and games of tennis, where even the elusive Greta Garbo was a frequent player.

Sadly, defamation was also part of his life. During World War 1, the British press labeled Chaplin as a self-absorbed coward whose loyalty to his home country of England was questioned for never serving in the military, despite aggressively selling war bonds and transferring large amounts of his substantial income to the British government. Nevertheless, cutouts of the Tramp were propped up by British soldiers in the trenches “so the Germans would die laughing” and his movies were projected on the ceilings of military hospitals where wounded warriors could enjoy morale-raising laughs from their beds. Another scandal occurred when Chaplin briefly dated 22-year-old Joan Barry, who later reappeared in his life, claiming that Chaplin was her baby’s father, and filed a paternity suit.

The public trial was so intense that Chaplin’s hair literally turned gray overnight. Blood tests proved that Chaplin was not the father, but, at the time, blood tests were inadmissible evidence and he was ordered to pay $75 a week until the child turned 21. Matrimony was also a problem for Chaplin: marrying three times to younger women with striking resemblances to his mother, Hannah. The wives club included Mildred Harris, age 17; Lita Grey, age 16; and actress Paulette Goddard, age 28, who costarred with Chaplin in Modern Times and The Great Dictator.

I have the good fortune to be married to a wonderful wife. I wish I could write more about this,
but it involves love, and perfect love is the most beautiful of all frustrations
because it is more than one can express.
– Charlie Chaplin

His life took a blissful turnaround upon meeting the luminous Oona O’Neill in 1943, daughter of American playwright Eugene O’Neill. Chaplin had been looking for a lead actress for his next (unrealized) project, and discovered the mesmerizing 17 year old O’Neill. He was overwhelmed by her captivating beauty, and their meeting led to a life-long romance. A month after O’Neill turned 18, they eloped and married in a secret civil service in Carpentaria, California.  Playwright Eugene O’Neill immediately disowned her upon learning of her marriage to Chaplin, who was the same age as him. He refused all future attempts at reconciliation. Chaplin’s final marriage lasted until his death, producing eight children: Geraldine Chaplin, Michael Chaplin, Josephine Chaplin, Victoria Chaplin, Eugene Chaplin, Jane Chaplin, Annette-Emilie Chaplin and Christopher Chaplin. Although Oona stayed in the background, happy to focus on their home and children, she also spent time at the studios when Chaplin was working, offering her opinion about his various projects.

I have no further use for America. I wouldn’t go back there if Jesus Christ was President.
– Charlie Chaplin

During the 1950s, the House Un-American Activities Committee’s witch hunts, a disturbing period in U.S. history where Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread Communist subversion, was in full swing. The committee used various charges of communism, communist sympathies and disloyalty to attack a number of  individuals, which included many left-leaning Hollywood personalities. Chaplin was considered dangerously progressive and amoral. FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover and HUAC mistakenly believed that he was injecting Communist propaganda into his films. It was also revealed that he had never bothered to become a U.S. citizen. When Chaplin and family were departing back by vessel to Hollywood from a European vacation, Chaplin was informed that he would have to submit to an interview concerning his political views and moral behavior in order to re-enter the U.S. Rather than fight a pending investigation by Immigration Services, Chaplin decided not to return to Hollywood at all. The Chaplin family, though, needed a new address in Europe. His older half-brother Sydney Chaplin, suggested they visit Switzerland’s Lake Geneva region. Chaplin set his eyes on the enchanting town of Vevey, nestled along the lake. He was taken by its enticing tranquility, not to mention Switzerland’s attractive tax laws.

You’ll never find rainbows if you’re looking down.
– Charlie Chaplin

Manoir de Ban

He purchased the vacant Manoir de Ban, a neoclassical mansion in Corsier-sur-Vevey, in a resplendent country-like setting near the banks of Lake Geneva. This is where he chose to live his remaining years with his family, from 1952 until his death in 1977. It was the most joyful and contented period of his life, where he would take strolls in the spacious grounds, plant flowers in his radiant gardens, play with his children and host friends from around the globe. He also spent a large percentage of his time working on the screenplays for his films, A King in New York and A Countess from Hong Kong, as well as adding music to his silent feature films, which he composed at the family piano.

Chaplin’s health was in slow decline after suffering a series of minor strokes in the late 1960s. Despite the setbacks, he was soon writing a new film script, The Freak, which he intended as a starring vehicle for his daughter, Victoria. His fragile health prevented the project from being realized.  His speech, hearing and sight began to be impaired, and he later he was confined to a wheelchair.After 10 years of absence, Chaplin returned to the U.S. to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1972 Oscar ceremonies. (The same year, Limelight is finally released in the U.S. and he wins an Oscar for best original score the next year). In this clip, Chaplin is clearly overwhelmed by the audiences’ response as he accepts the Lifetime Achievement Award.  The applause lasts for a record of 12 minutes, still the longest in Academy Award history.

In 1975, Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace as Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin. He was 85 at the time. He commented that he hoped to be called ‘Sir Charles’ (as opposed to ‘Sir Charlie’).

On Christmas Day in 1977, Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin died peacefully in his sleep with most of his family at his bedside.  Lady Chaplin said “All the presents were under the tree. Charlie gave so much happiness and, although he had been ill for a long time, it is so sad that he should have passed away on Christmas Day.” Family doctor, Henri Perrier, ascribed death to old age. Funeral services in Vevey were private and restricted to the immediate family. Sir Charles and Lady Oona are buried side-by-side in a simple gravesite at Corsier-sur-Vevein. When I told son Eugene Chaplin that I visited the gravesite, he smiled briefly with British understatement, and said that James Mason is also buried there, too.

Chaplin’s World – Manoir de Ban

On April 17, 2016, Chaplin’s former home and expansive grounds were officially open for the whole world to see. Rechristened Chaplin’s World – Manoir de Ban, it was repurposed and expanded as a museum that showcases Chaplin’s work and life as a family man in Switzerland. The goal was to allow visitors to discover the man behind the movies. The centerpiece of the museum is the three-story, richly decorated Manoir, and a newly constructed studio.

In  Chaplin’s World – Manoir de Ban, visitors are introduced to the Chaplin family. The home has been restaged with a number of its original furnishings, personal items, photographs and family mementos. Each room focuses on a particular period of Chaplin’s personal life, while the dining room pays homage to the family’s everyday routines as well as the many Hollywood celebrities who visited them. An interactive studio features the work of Chaplin the artist which commences with a montage of clips from his half-century of writing, directing, producing, scoring and acting in movies.

The interactive studio is followed by an exhibition of recreated scenes and sets from many of his most famous films, along with wax figures of Chaplin’s famous co-stars.

It’s almost like a theme park where guests can enter the iconic cabin from The Gold Rush, while in the middle of a simulated blizzard, sit in the famous barber’s chair from The Great Dictator, or negotiate  the cogs of the industrial revolution machine from the madcap scene in Modern Times.

A stroll in the Manoir’s 10 acres of expansive green grounds is mandatory with the reward of stunning views of the Swiss Alps and Lake Geneva. This is where Chaplin lived and what he saw and what he loved.

The world misses you, Sir Charles – but your legacy lives on.

This is the final installment of a three-part series about Charles Chaplin.

In Part 1, the focus is on Chaplin’s early life and the genesis of the Little Tramp, Part 2, Chaplin’s movies.

Special thanks to Chaplin’s World for their assistance in this article, and to My Switzerland for making my journey to Vevey possible.

The post In Search of Charlie Chaplin: His Personal Life, Part 3 appeared first on Traveling Archive.

This is a continuation of a three part series about Charlie Chaplin. For Part 1, visit Charlie Chaplin: The Man and the Genius.

To cineastes, Chaplin is more than the man who created the iconic Little Tramp, but one of the greatest filmmakers of all-time. Legendary film critic and father of American auteurism, Andrew Sarris, places Chaplin in his pantheon of the 14 most influential American film directors in his still ground breaking book, The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968,’ which changed the course of film criticism. As head of his own studio, Chaplin had a unique approach in translating his ideas into visual form, virtually never shooting from a working script. Often times he would simply sit on the set, surrounding by his cast, waiting for an idea to come. Occasionally the idea would not come, and he would dismiss the cast for the day, still with full payment. This resulted in long periods of absence on the silver screen. In his autobiography, the only mention of his shooting style was long-shot for comedy, close-up for tragedy, in which he embraced both in his stylistic signature; the essence of the duality of the Little Tramps films.

(Read more about auteurism, and Richard Brody’s stunning memorial to Andrew Sarris.)

In June 1917, Chaplin signed up with First National Studios, and then built Chaplin Studios in Hollywood.  He formed United Artists in  1919 along with the world’s first movie star, Mary Pickford (often times simply referred to as “Little Mary,” or ‘’America’s Sweetheart”), popular Hollywood swashbuckling actor Douglas Fairbanks (who was married to Pickford), and film director, D.W. Griffith (who created the very visual language of film used today). They were the leading filmmakers of their day and wanted complete freedom in producing and distributing their films. Chaplin worshipped Griffith, later commenting, ‘We owe our very existence to him. ’

(Read more about D.W. Griffith’s innovations here.)

Chaplin’s Films

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.
– Charles Chaplin

Features

1921 The Kid (Feature): The Little Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put that relationship in jeopardy. Chaplin’s first feature at 60 minutes in length, with regular Chaplin player Edna Purviance, star of many of his shorts, and a young, endearing Jackie Coogan, who would grow up to be Uncle Festus in the Adam’s Family TV series. Coogan was discovered in 1919 by Chaplin, and soon after the release of The Kid, Coogan-mania was in full force, spawning a wave of Jackie merchandising. It wasn’t until his 21st birthday, after his father’s death, he found he was virtually broke, with no money left from his work as a child actor. Under California law at the time, the earnings of the minor belonged solely to the parent. Coogan sued his mother and former manager, and, in 1939, the Coogan Law was established to protect future young actors from the same terrible situation.  By modern day stands, the The Kid borders on the maudlin, pulling on all heart strings, but the overall result is remarkably emotionally effecting.

1923 A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate (Feature): A kept woman runs into her former fiancé and finds herself torn between love and comfort. After seventy films in which he had appeared in every scene, Chaplin is unbilled and unrecognizable as a porter at a railroad station. His first break from comedy, the film is a valentine to Edna Purviance, to whom he promised that one day he would make a feature film with her in the lead role. Still ahead of its time, the dark drama with its stark, groundbreaking sexual overtones, flopped with the general audience. It was, however, highly influential for film directors; in particular, the German-Hollywood director, Ernst Lubitsch.  The film initially feels like conventional melodramatic, but with a closer look you see how Chaplin has overturned all the stereotypes of the time. The heroine is a courtesan. The hero is a mother-dominated weakling. And the seductive bad guy is charming, considerate and amusing. After Purviance’s retirement, Chaplin continued paying her salary until her death. Chaplin, at 86, worked on the film again, composing a new musical score. Some critics felt it was a kind of reconciliation with a film which the public had rejected, though he himself remained intensely proud of it.

1925 The Gold Rush (Feature): The Little Tramp is a lonely prospector who ventures to the Klondike looking for gold. He gets mixed up with some burly characters and falls in love with the beautiful Georgia Hale, playing a rather hardened, dance-hall girl. He tries to win her heart with his kindness, but with no success. According to David Robinson, the idea came to him when viewing stereoscope pictures of the 1896 Klondike gold rush, and was struck by the image of an endless line of prospectors snaking up the 2300 feet Chilkoot Pass, the gateway to the gold fields. For two weeks Chaplin and his unit worked on location in the snow country of California’s Sierra Nevada, recreating the historic image of the prospectors struggling up the pass through mountain snow. Six hundred extras were used, with many vagrants and derelicts from Sacramento. The film was an important box office success after A Woman of Paris had bombed with audiences. In a revised version in 1942, Chaplin composed an orchestral score, edited the film a bit and replaced the title cards with a commentary which he spoke himself. In this clip, The Little Tramp has fallen asleep while waiting for the dance-hall girl and her lady friends to arrive for a New Year dinner in his little cabin. The ladies had forgotten about the party and never arrive. The Little Tramp dreams about how the party could have been, and does perhaps his most famous bit: ‘the dance of the rolls,’ with just forks and rolls. Audiences were so thrilled by the scene that often times they demanded theatres to stop the film, roll it back and perform an encore:

1928 The Circus (Feature):  The Little Tramp finds work and the girl of his dreams at a circus. When speaking with Chaplin’s son, the most gracious Eugene Chaplin, I asked him what was his father’s favorite of all his films. Eugene replied, he never really said, but it wouldn’t be The Circus for it’s his only feature that he doesn’t mention in his autobiography. I put on a brave face, as The Circus is one of my favorites of his films. Perhaps sandwiched between the enduring masterpieces, The Gold Rush and 1931’s City Lights, it felt light upon comparison. Nevertheless, it too is a masterpiece which Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, acted in and edited. Later he composed the musical soundtrack, along with an opening song, “Swing little girl” where he actually sings.

The film subsides with the Little Tramp’s trademark closing:

1931 City Lights (Feature): The Little Tramp falls in love with a sightless flower girl and desperately accumulates money to help her medically regain here sight. In the middle of City Lights’ production, the advent of sound recording blew through Hollywood like a storm. Initially this induced a disturbing stylistic turn-around in the medium. The silent film was at its zenith; German director F.W. Murnau, famous for his fluid (‘unchained camera’), had already made The Last Laugh in 1924, a film so visually expressive that there was not one single title card used throughout the entire movie. The new sound equipment was primitive, where the camera was placed by a clunky recording apparatus, leading to many static shots. Broadway actors and stage directors poured into Hollywood for the new opportunity. For many of the silent era stars, though, this proved to be tragic, in particular for foreign language speakers unable to continue with their careers in English.  Plus, the quality of the sound recording was so substandard that the voices of major stars, such as heartthrob John Gilbert, produced laughter from the audience. Gilbert already had a high-pitched voice, in contrast to his leading man image, and the primitive sound recording made his voice seem even higher. Chapin faced a dilemma, should he shut down City Lights’ production or continue making it a silent film? Lucky for us, he chose to march on with the silent film revision. City Lights was a stunning success with both critics and the movie going audience. The flower girl is played by Virginia Cherrill, a Chaplin discovery, who semi-retired from acting when she married Cary Grant; a union that would last for barely a year. The ending close-up, along with the final close-up in Ingmar Bergman’s Wild Strawberries, is among the cinema’s most moving endings:

1936 Modern Times (Feature) The Little Tramp struggles to live in a modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman. Chaplin’s last ‘silent’ film, filled with sound effects, an orchestral music score, and the milestone of the Little Tramp speaking for the first time (actually singing), was made when everyone else was making talkies. The Little Tramp turns against modern society, the machine age and progress. He first appears on the screen, frantically trying to keep up with a production line. He is selected for an experiment with an automatic feeding machine, but various mishaps leads his boss to believe he has gone mad, and Charlie is sent to a mental hospital. When he gets out, he is mistaken for a communist, sent to jail a second time, but foils a jailbreak, and is let out again. Chaplin co-stars with Paulette Goddard, with whom he later secretly married. Controversy struck when Films Sonores Tobis accused Chaplin of stealing the factory scene from French director René Clair‘s À Nous la Liberté, and filed a plagiarism lawsuit. Clair was  against the lawsuit, and mainstream audiences didn’t notice or seem to mind:

Audiences hear Chaplin speak, or sing rather, for the first time in this bit:

The film ends with Chaplin’s classic ending, but with a twist due to being with Goddard:

https://youtu.be/J3aQkfIvx6k

1940 The Great Dictator (Feature) Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel’s regime. Chaplin’s first full “talkie” stirred controversy where he plays a humorous caricature of Adolf Hitler, with many thinking that it was in bad taste. Truth be told, the release of the film was held back by long delays in production (primarily due to building innovative miniature sets), and by completion, Hitler was no longer considered a joking matter. Chaplin played two roles, Hinkel, a parody of Hitler, and the Little Tramp as a Jewish barber. Paulette Goddard is cast again as his co-star, and the underrated Jack Oakie, in a supporting role as Napaloni (a parody of Mussolini). The film was a smash hit. It has been said that Chaplin’s character was ballet, while Buster Keaton’s acrobatic. I regard them equally as the greatest comic silent film directors. In this clip Chaplin’s character performs balletic magic:

1947 Monsieur Verdoux (Feature) A suave Bluebird-like man supports his family by marrying and murdering rich women for their money, but has some occupational hazards when he seduces comedic legend, Martha Raye.  Verdoux  goes to the gallows with a supreme contempt for the laws and norms of the society which he blames drove him to such desperate extremes. Monsieur Verdoux bombed with audiences. According to Richard Brody, ‘Chaplin had lost his popularity, quickly, between 1940, when the “The Great Dictator” was released and ranked among the highest-grossing films ever, and 1947, with the release Monsieur Verdoux.  What had changed were Chaplin and the United States.’ Further controversy was fueled when Chaplin bought the premise of Monsieur Verdoux from Orson Welles.  (The film’s credits list ‘original story written by Charles Chaplin, ‘based on an idea by Orson Welles.’)  Welles was incensed that he did not receive a more prominent credit, and that Chaplin froze him out of the creative process. Sadly, Monsieur Verdoux flopped with the audience, nearly sinking United Artists. Today the film is considered a towering masterpiece.

1952 Limelight (Feature; UK) A fading comedian and a suicidal ballet dancer look to each other to find purpose and hope in their lives. Chaplin cast the unknown Claire Bloom as his leading lady, which propelled her to stardom. He aimed for a more serious tone, regularly using the word “melancholy” when speaking about the film. Stylistically, the final product felt a little dated with facile physiological depth, but today the sentimental drama is considered a major Chaplin film and a great pleasure to watch. Limelight featured a short appearance by Buster Keaton, whom Chaplin cast as his stage partner in the famous dressing room scene. This marked the only time the comedians worked together. Keaton called Chaplin “the greatest silent comedian of all time.” Orson Welles, no stranger to big personalities, commented that for Chaplin to imagine his own death on stage was a supreme act of egotism. Limelight was heavily autobiographical, alluding to Chaplin’s childhood, but also to his loss of popularity in the U.S. It was a family affair which included in the cast his five oldest children and his half-brother, Wheeler Dryden:

1957 A King in New York (Feature; UK) A recently-deposed European monarch seeks shelter in New York City, where he becomes an accidental television celebrity and is later wrongly accused of being a Communist. By this time Chaplin was disappearing from the public eye and A King in New York was not even released in the United States at that time. Those who did eventually see it, dismissed the narrative as preachy and self serving. It’s a movie still worth a look, and a real treat for auteurists.

1959 A Countess from Hong Kong (Feature; UK):  A Russian countess illegally climbs aboard a luxury liner to reach America for a better life. She hides in the cab of a diplomat billionaire. Perhaps the most bizarre threesome to ever work on the same film together: Chaplin, the iron clad director, Marlon Brando,  the temperamental method actor who could improvise on the spot, and Sophia Loren, the world-famous actress, who did not get along with Brando, especially when doing a love scene and commented, “Did you know you have black hairs up your nostrils?” Chaplin’s style was to act out each of the different roles, and then instruct the players with “OK, do this.” Brando bristled and threatened to quit. But he found in the 76 year old Chaplin a man whose ego was actually greater than his own, and eventually succumbed to his will.  “I agreed to be a marionette in his hands. I figured he must know something I didn’t.” Chaplin had written part of the script 34 years earlier, and composed the theme song, ‘This is My Song.” Audiences were disappointed to find that Chaplin only played a cameo role as the ship’s steward. In many respects the buildup to the release of the film was more exciting than the movie itself. See the trailer here.

It was his first and only foray in shooting in color and widescreen. It was also his final film. The reviews ranged from dismissive to savage. Chaplin was happy to return to the harmony of family life in Corsier-sur-Vevey.

Shorts

1921 The Idle Class (Short): Chaplin plays two roles, the little Little Tramp and an upper-class, unrepentant drunk.  In this clip the upper-class drunk forgets to wear his pants and tries not to be seen by any one:

https://youtu.be/zxavuHxun0s

Later, he learns his wife is leaving him due to his drinking; where shot from behind he appears to be sobbing:

1917 The Immigrant (Short): The Little Tramp is an immigrant who endures a challenging voyage and gets into trouble as soon as he arrives in America. Chaplin used the similar shot from the ‘behind gag’ in The Idle Class; this time appearing to be vomiting over the side of the vessel:

Special thanks to Chaplin’s World for their assistance in this article, and to My Switzerland for making my journey to Vevey possible.

Stay tuned for Part 3 where Ed Boitano addresses Chaplin’s private life.

The post In Search of Charlie Chaplin: The Man and His Movies, Part 2 appeared first on Traveling Archive.

A warm wind blows across Lake Geneva, which I find both soothing and invigorating. Soon I’m amidst the steep terraced vineyards in the UNESCO region of Lavaux, the largest contiguous vineyard area in Switzerland. Terrace after terrace of vines surround me. It has been said that the vineyards in Switzerland’s Lake Geneva region are blessed with three forms of sun:  direct sunlight, second-hand sunlight that bounces off Lake Geneva, and the warmth of the sun contained in ancient Roman walls that terrace many of the vineyards. It was the Romans who introduced winegrowing on the shores of Lake Geneva, with Benedictine and Cistercian monks continuing the tradition, dating back to the 11th century. My senses are kicked up a notch higher, with magnificent views of the deep blue lake below and the snowcapped alps in the distance above. Who wouldn’t want to live here? I was in the Lake Geneva Region to explore its seemingly endless wonders. But the centerpiece of my time would be a journey to the neoclassical mansion, Manoir de Ban in Corsier-sur-Vevey, and the final resting place of Sir Charles Chaplin and his wife Oona in a nearby simple grave. In Los Angeles, I once had the pleasure of meeting Chaplin’s middle son, the most gracious Eugene Chaplin. He had informed me that Manoir de Ban had been repurposed as Chaplin’s World by Grévin and expanded as a museum that showcases Chaplin’s work and life as a family man. I was already champing at the bit to see it.

Vevey has long been popular for its sublime tranquility, not to mention its position in a nation which serves as a tax haven for wealthy expats. This is where Chaplin spent the last 25 years of his life, which were his happiest, according to the Chaplin family.  I recall a scratchy home move, where Oona, his wife of 36 years and daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill, pushed the elderly wheelchair-bound Chaplin along Vevey’s lakefront path, stopping to gaze at the bronze statue of the diminutive Little Tramp. Despite their differences in age, you could tell they were still happily in love. Upon my arrival at Vevey I too gazed admiringly at the Little Tramp statue. Chaplin’s work as a film director and actor had an immense effect on the world, including my life as well. Now I would walk in his tracks, breathe the same fresh air and experience the same enchanting beauty as I reflected on his life.

The magical name of Charlie Chaplin is known throughout the far corners of the globe. Just saying “Charlie” or “Charlo” (popular in France and Spain) is bound to elicit a smile. The positive act of smiling is something that Chaplin strove for, and the world really did smile along with the most famous actor in film history, not to mention one of its greatest film directors. Despite a horrific childhood right out of Dickens’ bleakest novels, it was his embrace of life that kept him marching onward, taking the world along with him.  His situation, according to his authorized biographer David Robinson, was “the most dramatic of all the rags to riches stories ever told.” Charles Spencer Chaplin was born into immense poverty in the slums of Victorian London. His father (who abandoned the family when Charlie was still an infant) was a successful music hall artist. He died at age 38 as the result of his alcoholism when Charlie was 12 years old. His mother, Hannah, was also a professional musical hall entertainer, whose career was plagued on and off by ill health. She was a loving mother who would perform humorist bits for Charlie and his older half-brother Sydney. Charlie and Sydney’s younger half-brother, Wheeler Dryden, was taken away from Hannah by his father, Leo Dryden, when he was a baby. Hannah instilled confidence in Charlie, frequently telling him he possessed remarkable talent. She was also overtly sensitive with a very fragile grip on life. Her health continued to decline and she found herself making a poor living as a seamstress and was eventually put into a mental hospital.  His mother’s tenure in asylums was a frequent occurrence throughout her life, and the children had no choice but to be placed in a series of bleak workhouses and residential schools during her bouts of ill health and psychosis, believed to stem from syphilis and malnutrition. “There was nothing we could do but accept poor mother’s fate,” Chaplin later wrote, and she remained in my care until her death in 1928.” Critics have noted that many of Chaplin’s waif-like leading ladies and wives often bore a strong resemblance to her.

Mother illuminated to me the kindliest light this world has ever known,
which has endowed literature and the theatre with their greatest and richest themes:
love, pity and humanity.
– Charles Chaplin

The seven year old Chaplin would take to the streets, performing ingenious comedic routines. Little Charlie’s talent was wide-spread throughout his neighborhood, eventually leading to stints in the theatre and on the vaudeville circuit, where, despite his young years, he rose through the ranks to become a lead performer. Thanks to Sydney, also working on the stage, he was recruited by the British music hall’s preeminent impresario, Fred Karno.

His success with the Karno troupe led to two tours of the U.S. Six months into the second American tour, early movie pioneer  Mack Sennett of Keystone Film Company was in the audience. Impressed with Chaplin’s performance, he turned to his business partner sitting beside him, and purportedly said, “If I ever make it in this town I’m gonna hire that guy.” And Sennett’s success was achieved shortly after with the advent of his slapstick Keystone Cops, often spelled “Keystone Kops.” Sennett’s comment became a self fulfilling prophesy, and Chaplin was signed by Keystone Film Company in 1914, with the character The Tramp debuting  in Kid Auto Races at Venice.

All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.
– Charles Chaplin

The Genesis of The Little Tramp

The Little Tramp was a man with the toothbrush mustache, undersized bowler hat, baggy pants, bamboo cane, and a funny walk, who struggled to survive while keeping his dignity in a world with great social injustice. Chaplin created a character with a positive outlook on life, where the human spirit always reigns supreme, despite a cruel and unforgiving social order that still exists in Britain’s class system today. The usual bitter sweet endings in the Little Tramp films are where the character waddles down a dusty road alone; at first dejectedly and then with a familiar spring in his waddled steps. He created comedies with a deep undercurrent of pathos. At the time of Chaplin’s arrival, Hollywood movies portrayed tramps as villains: housebreakers, street muggers and train robbers. It was a remarkable move to present a vagrant as a hero, or even a romantic lead.

A tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow,
always hopeful of romance and adventure.
– Charles Chaplin

According to Chaplin’s much-quoted recollection, he was hanging around the Keystone lot after having finished his first short film for the studio. Mack Sennett complained that the film they were currently shooting was lacking in big laughs, so he ordered Chaplin to go to the wardrobe department and get into comedy make-up, stressing anything will do. He added, then return to the set with some new gags. The image of Little Tramp came to him after only a moment’s thought: “On the way to the wardrobe I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. I wanted everything a contradiction.” A toothbrush mustache was added to age his 24-year-old face without masking his expressions, according to Chaplin’s autobiography. “The clothes and the makeup made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked onto the set he was fully born.” Keystone employees noted that when Chaplin returned back to the set in his Little Tramp costume, he started fooling around, swinging his cane and ad-libbing gags.

My costume helps me to express my conception of the average man, of almost any man,
of myself. The derby, too small, is a striving for dignity. The mustache is vanity.
The tightly buttoned coat and the stick and his whole manner are a gesture toward
gallantry and dash and ‘front.’ He is chasing folly, and he knows it. He is trying to meet the world
bravely, to put up a bluff, and he knows that, too. He knows it so well that
he can laugh at himself and pity himself a little.
– Charles Chaplin

Truth be told, Chaplin had some help along the way in his inspired costume of contrasts: as he charged into the dressing room he found soon-to-be comedy legend, Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle and fellow comedic actor, Chester Conklin, playing pinochle. The extra large baggy pants was borrowed from Arbuckle; the small derby from Arbuckle’s father-in-law; the small cut-away coat from the diminutive Conklin; and the toothbrush mustache made from crepe paper belonging to actor Mack Swain, best remembered for his large supporting role as Big Jim McKay in Chaplin’s third feature film The Gold Rush. To complete the costumes, Chaplin took a pair of size 14 shoes from comedian Ford Sterling of Keystone Cops fame, which were so big on him, he had to wear them on the wrong feet to keep them on.  This resulted in the Little Tramp having to waddle when he walked. The only item that actually belonged to Chaplin was the cheap bamboo cane.

To cinephiles, Chaplin is more than the man who created the iconic Little Tramp, but one of the greatest filmmakers of all-time. Famed film critic, Andrew Sarris places Chaplin in his pantheon of the greatest American film directors in his still ground breaking book, ’The American Cinema: Directors and Directions,’ which changed the course of film criticism. As head of his own studio, Chaplin had an unique approach in translating his ideas into visual form, virtually never shooting from a working script. Often times he would simply sit on the set, surrounding by his cast, waiting for an idea to come. Occasionally the idea would not come, and he would dismiss the cast for the day, still with full payment. This resulted – along with his perfection of never releasing the final cut of his film until 100% satisfied – in long periods of absence on the silver screen. In his autobiography, the only mention of his shooting style was long-shot for comedy, close-up for tragedy, in which he embraced both in his stylistic signature; the essence of the duality of the Little Tramps films.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where Ed Boitano addresses Chaplin’s work as a director.

See teaser below:

1925 The Gold Rush (Feature): The Little Tramp is a lonely prospector who ventures to the Klondike looking for gold. He gets mixed up with some burly characters and falls in love with the beautiful Georgia Hale, playing a rather hardened, dance-hall girl. He tries to win her heart with his kindness, but with no success. According to David Robinson, the idea came to him when viewing stereoscope pictures of the 1896 Klondike gold rush, and was struck by the image of an endless line of prospectors snaking up the Chilkoot Pass, the gateway to the gold fields. For two weeks the unit worked on location in the snow country of California’s Sierra Nevada, recreating the historic image of the prospectors struggling up the 2300 feet Chilkoot Pass through the mountain snow. Six hundred extras were used, with many vagrants and derelicts of Sacramento. The film was an important box office success after A Woman of Paris had bombed with audiences. In a revised version in 1942 Chaplin composed an orchestral score, and replaced the title cards with a commentary which he spoke himself. Chaplin, who was known to have changes in opinion, felt it was the greatest picture he had ever made. In this clip, The Little Tramp has fallen asleep while waiting for the dance-hall girl and her three friends to arrive for a New Year dinner in his little cabin. The ladies had forgotten about the party and never arrive. The Little Tramp dreams about how the party could have been, and does perhaps his most famous bit: ‘the dance of the rolls,’ with just forks and rolls. Audiences were so thrilled by the scene that often times they demanded theatres to stop the film, roll it back and perform an encore.

Special thanks to Chaplin’s World for their assistance in this article, and to My Switzerland for making my journey to Vevey possible.

For news about upcoming events at Chaplin’s World, visit Chaplin’s World’s PRESS RELEASE

The post In Search of Charlie Chaplin: The Man and the Genius appeared first on Traveling Archive.