{"id":14823,"date":"2019-12-19T07:45:02","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T15:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/?p=14823"},"modified":"2020-02-14T15:19:19","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T23:19:19","slug":"in-search-of-charlie-chaplin-his-movies-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/in-search-of-charlie-chaplin-his-movies-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"In Search of Charlie Chaplin: The Man and His Movies, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Manoir
Sir Charles Chaplin spent his last 25 years at the neoclassical Manoir de Ban in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland; playing with his children, gardening, writing screenplays, including an unrealized project intended as a starring vehicle for his daughter, Victoria, and composing music to his most famous silent films.<\/span> Photo courtesy of Chaplin\u2019s World\u2122 \u00a9 Bubbles Incorporated.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is a continuation of a three part series about Charlie Chaplin. For Part 1, visit Charlie Chaplin: The Man and the Genius<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"violinist\"
Chaplin was a self-taught multi-instrumentalist who composed the orchestral soundtrack to all his feature length films, along with the songs, “Swing little girl,” (in which he sings) the Oscar winning “Smile” and “This is My Song.” He loved music so much he spent his first hard-earned pay on a violin.<\/span> \u00a9 Roy Export Co Est.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To cineastes<\/em>, 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<\/a>, Andrew Sarris<\/a>, 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\u20131968<\/em>,\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

(Read more about auteurism<\/a>, and Richard Brody\u2019s stunning memorial to Andrew Sarris<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

\"Fairbanks,
Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplin and D.W. Griffith after creating United Artists; the first major production company to be controlled by its artists rather than by businessmen.<\/span> Photo \u00a9 Roy Export Co Ltd.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"D.W.
Griffith (right) and his renowned cameraman, ‘Billy’ Bitzer.<\/span> Photo \u00a9 Roy Export Co Ltd.<\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In June 1917, Chaplin signed up with First National Studios, and then built Chaplin Studios in Hollywood.\u00a0 He formed United Artists in \u00a01919 along with the world\u2019s first movie star, Mary Pickford<\/a><\/strong> (often times simply referred to as \u201cLittle Mary,\u201d<\/em> or \u2018\u2019America\u2019s Sweetheart<\/em>\u201d), popular Hollywood swashbuckling actor Douglas Fairbanks<\/a><\/strong> (who was married to Pickford<\/a><\/strong>), and film director, D.W. Griffith<\/a><\/strong> (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, \u2018We owe our very existence to him. \u2019<\/p>\n

(Read more about D.W. Griffith’s innovations here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

<\/h2>\n

Chaplin’s Films<\/h2>\n
\"final
The final close-up in Chaplin\u2019s \u2018City Lights.\u2019<\/span> Copyright \u00a9 Roy Export S.A.S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.
\n<\/em>\u2013 Charles Chaplin<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Features<\/h3>\n

1921 The Kid<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Feature): The Little Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put that relationship in jeopardy. Chaplin\u2019s 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\u2019s Family <\/em>TV series.<\/em> Coogan was discovered in 1919 by Chaplin, and soon after the release of The Kid<\/em>, Coogan-mania was in full force, spawning a wave of Jackie<\/em> merchandising. It wasn\u2019t until his 21st birthday, after his father\u2019s 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<\/em> was established to protect future young actors from the same terrible situation. \u00a0By modern day stands, the The Kid<\/em> borders on the maudlin, pulling on all heart strings, but the overall result is remarkably emotionally effecting.<\/p>\n

1923 A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Feature): A kept woman runs into her former fianc\u00e9 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<\/a>.\u00a0 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\u2019s retirement, Chaplin continued paying her salary until her death. Chaplin, at 86, worked on the film again, composing a new musical score.\u00a0Some critics felt it was a kind of reconciliation with a film which the public had rejected, though he himself remained intensely proud of it.<\/p>\n

1925 The Gold Rush<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (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\u2019s 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\u00a0A Woman of Paris<\/em> 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: \u2018the dance of the rolls,\u2019 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:<\/p>\n