Charlie Chaplin

[€uroMeinke]

I was chatting with a fellow poster who's a big Charlie Chaplin fan, but didn't want to start a thread about it - So I thought I would instead.

I'll start with my confessional, that while I've enjoyed all the Chaplin I've seen - it seems I'm always seeing the same clips ovr and over again - it makes me wonder about what I'm missing. One film I've always wanted to see was the Great Dictator - if nothing else to see Chaplin make fun of the man who stole his moustasche.

So is anyone else out there a Chaplin fan? and if so, what you're favorite Chaplin movie or moment?

[Boingonut]

I am not a huge Chaplin fan since I have always been more of a Buster Keaton fan myself. But I know a bit about Chaplin. My favorite film of his is "The Kid" it has the normal slapstick in it but the end will bring you to tears, it was one of the first if not the first film to be able to incorarate high drama and comedy and still work. The Great Dictator is a good choice as well, it is the first the the "Tramp" speaks, and what he says is relevent even today in his speach at the end, if not a little wishful. Of couse since he used the term "Comrade" everyone thought that Chaplin was red and it was the begining of the end for him in the U.S.A.. I am not to big of a fan of "Modern Times", although last year I wrote a report about the breakfast macine used in the film which is really great but the film has some problems. "The Gold Rush" is an earlier Chaplin film to take a look at that is really great. You will find that a lot of sight gags that are very familar to us today and even trendy to the point of being unusable today are in these films but you have to remember that these are things that were never seen when the films were made.

Chaplin was amazing though he would direct write produce act edit and sometimes even write the music, and yes silent films had music that would be put onto sheet music for the band or the piano player to play along to the film. To do all these things was not rare in the early days of cinema but Chaplin was making films in a much the same was as we do today which is much more complex then what even D.W. Giffith was doing. People like to downplay Chaplin's contabution to the cinema of today but without him movies may have been very different. He made a movie into a narritive not just a series of events.

I suggest that if you want to check out Chaplin then you should check out Buster Keaton as well. A good place to start with him is "Sherlock Jr." and "Steamboat Bill" which is the film that Walt Disney used for inspertation for Steamboat Willie. Keaton did not really have films that had the kind of depth that Chaplin was known for but he is far more entertaining to watch. He was the Jackie Chan of his day doing huge stunts from riding on the fronts of movieng trains to sets fall on him to falling 2 or 3 stories all without ever changing the expresion on his face. And he was a snapy dresser too!

Although "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator" have diolog and music to a degree since they we produced into the talkie era when it comes to looking for silent films on DVD or VHS you have to be carefull to get a version of the film that has a score that was written for the film when it first came out, if you see a silent film with the wrong music it can really change the feel of the film. You will also find that you will hear dialog in your head which can be kind of strange. If the music is wrong then you might get the wrong idea about what the film is trying to say to you as the viewer. Good Luck!

[mousepod]

Great post, Boingonut! I really dig Chaplin, but I got into his work "backwards". Like everyone in my generation (i.e. born in the '60s), I was originally exposed to his work through clips on "comedy cavalcade"-type shows on TV and silent shorts - there wasn't really much of an opportunity to see full-length silent movies when I was an adolescent. I knew who Chaplin was, as I knew who Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton were and though I understood that they were geniuses and innovators, I preferred Laurel & Hardy and Abbott and Costello.
Then, when I was a college freshman, I was exposed to the film 'Monsieur Verdoux'. Holy crap. I knew about mainstream black comedies (like Arsenic and Old Lace), but this one had bite. I was stunned. I decided to give Chaplin another chance, and I was glad that I did. Clearly, some of his work need context to be fully appreciated. I might even suggest checking the out the biopic starring Robert Downey, Jr - hell, it was directed by the guy who made 'Gandhi'.
Anyway, I know I'm being long-winded here, but I guess my point is that there's nothing wrong with introducing Chaplin into your world through his later talkies and working backward to his "classic" silents. Understanding who he was and what he was trying to say with his work will make you appreciate his films even more.
Oh, and Keaton is fantastic, too. And I'll even throw in a plug for the much underappreciated Wheeler and Woolsey.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Excellent post, Boingonut!

I just wanted to second Mousepod's suggestion for checking out "Chaplin" with Robert Downey Jr. Not only does he do a wonderful job but it provides a lot of insight that might be helpful in appreciating Chaplin's work.

One of my personal favorites is "City Lights".

[Boss Radio]

His inflence is felt across all forms of animation - he perfected certain gags and routines and elevated them to a higher level, almost like ballet.

He was able to blend physical comedy with pathos, and, in my opinion, peaked creatively with City Lights.

[Kevy Baby]

...is dead

[Tref]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

...is dead

So is Walt. You, too, one day.

Not me though. I am not going anywhere.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Long live the long-lifed Tref, via the immortal inexplicable inexoribility of Trefology.

[Tref]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Long live the long-lifed Tref, via the immortal inexplicable inexoribility of Trefology.

Hehe. You funny, CP.



Sweet Charlie ... Long live the Little Tramp! I raise my glass to Chaplin (clink!)

Charlie was the moon and the stars. He was the sun and the ocean. He had the strength of ten men! The way I figure it, Chaplin was an old, old soul (dating back as far as, maybe, Sophocles!) who cashed in all his chips for one last fling on earth. How else could you explain Chaplin's life?

I wish I could see the city as he saw it, but it seems to be all gone now. Except ... sometimes, late at night, when I am driving home from a friends house, I swear I can almost see Hollywood as it once was. I can see all the ghosts ... all the history and achitecture. I can feel it inside me.

It's true what they say -- giants once walked this earth! And in this very city, too!

On occasion, when my mood is low, I have been known to raise my clenched fist in the air and curse the God that would have me born 81 years too late. It depresses me. I was so close, so very close (especially when you look at time in relationship to the Universe) ... but ahh, not close enough.

But what can I do?

So, again, I raise my coffee cup to you Chap (clink!)

You had one hell of a ride.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Yeah, but at least he is up in heaven jammin' with Jimi Hendrix.