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Even George Bernard Shaw recognized that here was a true genius. Possibly, the term is maybe just a little too freely bandied around these days, especially in motion pictures. But in this case, what is there but to agree: Chaplin was a genius, and so was Akira Kurosawa. With the Golden Age of Motion Pictures definitely over, those two would be it for this weird branch of industry, as far as I'm concerned. Unless you'd insist on including people like Saul Bass or Duke Ellington—well, both did work for the movies, but neither was restricted to them.
If you don't want any of my theories, just skip 'em. But they are like this, such as they are: Chaplin used movie techniques as a way to present what, ultimately, are stage productions. Only, because he was so good at it, such a production on stage is unconceivable. In the process, he carefully followed all movie laws. For example, you will never catch Chaplin going over the optical axis in a cut. Kurosawa, on the other hand, was so good at making movies that he often just didn't bother with movie laws. He will go over the axis like nobody's business and doesn't give a damn - as long as the movement continues. His movies are as much of a ballet as Chaplin's - who wrote his music himself: real, pure, no-holds-barred vaudeville music. Both were able to set the motion pictures medium completely to their hands, making it sit up and snap sugar of its nose. Nobody else has been able to equal their achievements, which veritably makes them the True Masters of the Silver Screen.
The cinema is little more than a fad. It's canned drama. Charlie Chaplin, 1916. |
Congratulations, you and me!
There are more movies by Chaplin around now than there have been in a long time, and on good quality DVD too.
As far as I know, recorded at the correct screen aspect ratio.
I will add more comments about Chaplin as I see fit, when I'm fit.
complete list of
Chaplin Movies
one of my notorious ones, with dates and everything.
P.G. Wodehouse - Erich Kästner - MAD magazine - Lucky Luke
Tom and Jerry - Kurosawa Akira - Saul Bass
the Kinks - Jan de Hartog
| Chaplin: The Collection Mack Sennett, he of the Keystone productions and not a comedian to be sneezed at himself, was also known for his Bathing Beauties and the Keystone Cops. He was the one to get Chaplin his first movie contract, and to keep him busy like a beaver for a year. Chaplin then moved on to Essanay This collection contains Volume 1 - 5, details below. |
| Cruel, Cruel Love - A Film Johnny - Triple Trouble - Good for Nothing - Charlie's Recreation - Work - Kid Auto Races in Venice - Rival Mashers - A Night Out - The Knockout - Between Showers - A Day's Pleasure - Sunnyside - Hot Finish 251 minutes total - 5 discs. All these are Mack Sennett Keystone productions. |
Chaplin, Vol. 1   |
| Cruel, Cruel Love (1914) - A Film Johnny (1914) - Triple Trouble (1918) Soundtrack: English Dolby stereo; video clip; scene index; biography; trivia. |
Chaplin, Vol. 2  |
| The Good for Nothing (1914) - Charlie's Recreation (1914) - Work (1915) Soundtrack: English Dolby mono; video clip; scene index; biography; trivia. |
| Chaplin, Vol. 3 |
| Kid Auto Races in Venice (1914) - Rival Mashers (1914) - A Night Out (1915) Soundtrack: English Dolby mono; video clip; scene index; biography; trivia. |
| Chaplin, Vol. 4 |
| The Knockout (1914) - Between Showers (1914) - A Day's Pleasure (1919) Soundtrack: English Dolby stereo; video clip; scene index; biography; trivia. |
| Chaplin, Vol. 5 |
| Sunnyside (1919) - Hot Finish (1914)
Soundtrack: English Dolby stereo; video clip; scene index; biography; trivia. |
| Tillie's Punctured Romance - Mabel's Married Life Mack Sennett's slapstick melodrama, considered by many to be the first feature-length comedy, stars Marie Dressler as the simple country gal wooed away to the city by fortune-hungry gigolo Charlie Chaplin (before he developed his tramp persona). With Mabel Normand, the Keystone Kops. |
| 73 min. Standard; Soundtrack: mono music score; scene access. |
| Charlie Chaplin: Short Comedy Classics complete, restored works with Essanay and Mutual Studios |
| Includes "His New Job," "The Tramp," "Triple Trouble," "Easy Street," "The Vagabond," "The Rink" and more. Bonus feature "Chaplin's Goliath: In Search of Scotland's Forgotten Star" (1996), about noted silent heavy Eric Campbell. Seven-disc set. 12 hrs. total. Silent with music score. Soundtrack: Dolby Digital stereo |
| Chaplin's Essanay Comedies, Vol. 1 His New Job - A Night Out - The Champion - In the Park - A Jitney Elopement |
| Chaplin's Essanay Comedies, Vol. 2 The Tramp - By the Sea - Work - A Woman - The Bank - His Regeneration |
| Chaplin's Essanay Comedies, Vol. 3 |
| First, Charlie's "Shanghaied" (1915) onto a boat that's about to be wrecked for the insurance money; he plays a pair of vaudeville attendees, the drunken Mr. Pest and dissolute Mr. Rowdy, in "A Night in the Show" (1915); the Little Tramp is freed from jail but still runs afoul of "Police" (1915); Charlie spoofs opera in a "Burlesque of `Carmen'" (1915); finally, unused footage from "Police" and "Work," along with clips from the uncompleted "Life," were combined by Essanay after Chaplin left the studio for "Triple Trouble" (1918).
131 min. Silent with music score. Standard; Soundtrack: Dolby Digital stereo. |
| The Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 1 After leaving Essanay Studios, Charlie Chaplin made 12 short films for the Mutual Film Corporation during the years 1917 and 1918. Featured here are Chaplin finding love in the New World as "The Immigrant" (1917); as an escaped con crashing a society party in "The Adventurer" (1917); as a tipsy socialite who arrives at a sanitarium to take "The Cure" (1917); and as a slum neighborhood's new cop in "Easy Street" (1917). 101 min. Silent with music score. Standard; Soundtrack: Dolby stereo; audio essay; recorded at correct projection speed. |
The Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 2 The Count - The Vagabond - The Fireman - Behind the Screen. |
| The Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. 3 |
| Whether he's roller skating in "The Rink" (1916), causing pandemonium in "The Pawnshop" (1916) and as a department store clerk in "The Floorwalker" (1916), or just trying to get into his house for some sleep in "One A.M." (1916), Chaplin is sure to amuse in these classic shorts.
97 min. Silent with music score. Soundtrack: Dolby stereo; audio essay; recorded at correct projection speed. |
| The Chaplin Revue Compiled by Chaplin himself in 1958 and featuring a musical score he composed, this rib-tickling collection features three of his finest short films. The Little Tramp befriends a mutt in "A Dog's Life" (1918), goes "over the top" in the WWI comedy "Shoulder Arms" (1918), and is an ex-con posing as a preacher in a Texas frontier town in "The Pilgrim" (1923). Also includes "The Idle Class" (1921), "A Day's Pleasure" (1919), "Sunnyside" (1919), and "Pay Day" (1922). 214 min. total. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, French; behind-the-scenes footage; photo gallery; poster gallery; deleted scenes; theatrical trailer. Two-disc set. |
| The Kid This, Chaplin's first feature-length film, has Chaplin's Little Tramp finding an abandoned baby in an alleyway trashcan. Five years later, Chaplin becomes a glazier, and the kid (now played by Jackie Coogan) helps him get work by breaking windows. But when Edna Purviance, the youngster's opera singer mother, wants him back, Charlie fights the authorities to keep him. 50 min. Silent with music score. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, French; deleted scenes; home movie; photo gallery; poster gallery; theatrical trailers. Two-disc set. |
| The Pilgrim (included on The Chaplin Revue) |
| A Woman Of Paris/A King In New York Chaplin wrote and directed this melodrama of a country French girl whose search for love leads to heartbreak. Edna Purviance and Adolphe Menjou star. 178 min. total. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital mono, French Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, French; deleted scenes; photo gallery; poster gallery; theatrical trailers. Two-disc set. |
| The Gold Rush |
| Considered by many to be Chaplin's masterpiece and perhaps the finest comedy ever made, this original version of the immortal silent classic finds the Little Tramp caught under an avalanche of hilarious mishaps while in gold rush Yukon, including run-ins with a bear, a starving prospector, a cliff-hanging cabin and a meal as tough as boot leather. Co-stars Mack Swain, Georgia Hale. Special edition includes both the restored original 1925 version and the 1942 re-release version featuring an all-new music score and narration by Chaplin, with title cards deleted.
69 min. Silent with music score. Soundtrack: Dolby Digital 5.1; documentary; theatrical trailers. Two-disc set. |
| The Circus The Little Tramp raises havoc under the big top in a three-ring comedic romp that earned Chaplin a special Academy Award as the film's director/writer/star. 69 min. Silent with music score. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, French; documentary; deleted scenes; home movies; premiere footage; photo gallery; poster gallery; theatrical trailers. |
| City Lights The Tramp falls in love with a blind girl in this, what would have been Chaplin's last fully silent film if he had not been forced to add sound - with hilarious results. Charlie befriends a millionaire drunk in order to get money for his sweetheart's operation. A charming and hilarious film that includes an unforgettable ending. 86 min. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, French; screen test; short excerpt; behind-the-scenes footage; photo gallery; poster gallery; theatrical trailers. |
| Modern Times |
| Timeless Charlie Chaplin satire savagely critiques the industrial age and its dehumanizing effects on the working class. After his monotonous assembly line job leads to a stay in a mental asylum, Chaplin is released and encounters lovely hobo Paulette Goddard. Soon, his desire to make a better life for his new love leads to a side-splitting series of failed jobs and prison stays. Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford co-star.
83 min. Silent with music score. Soundtracks: Dolby Digital 5.1, French; Subtitles: English, Spanish, French; documentary; alternate scene; more. Two-disc set. |
 |
| The Great Dictator |
| In his first full talking film, Chaplin plays two roles, ruthless dictator Adenoid Hynkel of Tomania and a meek Jewish barber. An outlandish and poignant satire of Europe just before WWII, the film co-stars Paulette Goddard and Jack Oakie in his best role, as a Mussolini caricature.
1940 Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital mono, French Dolby Digital mono, Spanish Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, Korean; deleted scene; documentary; poster gallery; bonus short "Charlie the Barber" (1919) |
| Limelight |
| A bittersweet semi-autobiography stars Chaplin as an aging vaudevillian who finds reason to live when he takes in dancer Claire Bloom. The couple inspire one another to continue in their careers. Chaplin's stage return is highlighted by a hilarious piano skit with Buster Keaton, their only appearance together.
131 min. Soundtracks: English, French; Subtitles: English, Spanish, French; isolated music score; documentary; featurette; home movies; deleted scenes; theatrical trailers. Two-disc set. |
| Monsieur Verdoux Chaplin's most out-of-character role was as a wife murderer in this outrageous black comedy. Martha Raye co-stars as his final and most difficult "conquest." Chaplin co-wrote the story with help from Orson Welles. 119 min. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital mono, French Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Thai; documentary; photo gallery; poster gallery; theatrical trailers. |
| A King In New York/A Woman Of Paris Chaplin's satiric look at American culture and politics of the '50s was banned throughout most of the country when first released, yet seems tame by today's standards. A deposed monarch, played by Chaplin, finds the Big Apple very unfriendly. Co-stars Maxine Audley, Dawn Addams, Jerry Desmonde. 178 min. total. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital mono, French Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, French; deleted scenes; photo gallery; poster gallery; theatrical trailers. Two-disc set. | A Countess From Hong Kong |
| Charlie Chaplin's final directorial effort stars Marlon Brando as a wealthy American diplomat, en route to New York from the Far East on an ocean liner, who falls in love with beautiful Russian countess stowaway Sophia Loren. Romantic comedy features Sydney Chaplin, Tippi Hedren, Margaret Rutherford and, in a cameo playing an elderly steward, Charlie himself.
1967 108 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: French, Spanish; theatrical trailer. |
The collections below are interesting enough but contain titles that are included in the DVDs listed above |
| The Chaplin Collection, Vol. 2 Twelve-disc set includes "The Chaplin Revue," "The Circus," "City Lights," "The Kid," "A King in New York/A Woman of Paris," and "Monsieur Verdoux." |
| The Charlie Chaplin Marathon |
| The Rink - The Immigrant - Tillie's Punctured Romance - The Vagabond
133 min. total, with an introduction by Tony Curtis. |
| Chaplin: The Artist In His Prime: Complete Set Shoulder Arms (1918) - Sunny Side (1919) - A Day's Pleasure (1919) - The Cure (1920) - Tillie's Punctured Romance (1921) - The Kid (1921) - Idle Class (1922) - Pay Day (1922) - The Gold Rush (1923) 362 min. total on three discs. Silent with new music score; biography. |
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The Picture History of Charlie Chaplin by Gerald McDonald
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