Chaplin in his "Tramp" persona
(Sir)
Charlie Chaplin
(KBE) (1889?1977) was an English internationally renowned
Academy Award
-winning actor, comedian, filmmaker and composer who was best known for his career in
Hollywood
motion pictures from his debut in 1914 until 1952, he however subsequently appeared in two films in his native England. During his early years in the era of
silent film
, he rose to prominence as a worldwide cinematic idol renowned for his
tramp
persona. In the 1910s and 1920s, he was considered the most famous person on the planet.
Chaplin was born in London and began acting on stage at the age of nine.
In 1913, while on tour in the United States with
Fred Karno
's comedy group, he accepted a contract to work for
Keystone Film Company
. During his time at Keystone, he began writing and directing some of the films in which he starred. Chaplin signed with the
Essanay Film Manufacturing Company
in 1915, and the year after with the
Mutual Film Corporation
.
Chaplin by 1918, began producing his own films, initially releasing them through
First National Pictures
and then through
United Artists
, a corporation he co-founded with
Mary Pickford
,
Douglas Fairbanks
, and
D. W. Griffith
.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Chaplin was accused of being a Communist sympathiser, which he denied.
He remained a British subject and, while travelling to England in 1952 to attend the premiere of his film
Limelight
, his American re-entry permit was rescinded.
Chaplin eventually settled in
Switzerland
, where he remained for the rest of his life. He made his last two films in England.
During his lifetime, Chaplin received three awards from the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
. At the first
Academy Awards
ceremony, held on 16 May 1929, he was originally nominated for Best Actor and Best Director for
The Circus
(1928). The Academy dropped his two nominations, and he won an
honorary award
for writing, directing, producing, and acting.
[6]
[7]
In 1972, he returned to the United States after nearly two decades to receive another honorary award, this time for his overall achievements in cinema. The following year, Chaplin's score for
Limelight
received the
Academy Award for Best Music
. Although 20 years old by this time,
Limelight
had not been released in the Los Angeles area until 1972, and had not been eligible for Academy Award consideration before then.
[7]
Chaplin also received Academy Award nominations in 1940 for
Best Actor
and
Best Original Screenplay
for
The Great Dictator
. In 1942, Chaplin released a new version of
The Gold Rush
, taking the original silent 1925 film and composing and recording a musical score.
The Gold Rush
was nominated for Best Music (Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture). Notwithstanding the belated nomination for
Limelight
, his final contemporary nomination was in 1947 for his screenplay of
Monsieur Verdoux
.
[7]
For his work in motion pictures, Chaplin has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
and the
American Film Institute
has listed him among the best actors of the
Classical Hollywood cinema
era
[8]
Seven of the film's in which Chaplin starred have been added to the
Library of Congress
National Film Registry
:
Kid Auto Races at Venice
(1914),
The Immigrant
(1917),
The Kid
(1921),
The Gold Rush
(1925),
City Lights
(1931),
Modern Times
(1936) and
The Great Dictator
(1940). Also selected was
Show People
(1928), which Chaplin featured in a
cameo
[9]
Chaplin filmography
[
edit
]
In 1964, Chaplin established his official
filmography
with the publication of his book,
My Autobiography
. The filmography consisted of 80 motion pictures released since 1914. Further detail was added to it in
David Robinson
's 1985 biography,
Chaplin: His Life and Art
, which included Chaplin's last film,
A Countess from Hong Kong
(1967), as the 81st entry. In 2010 the 82nd film was added with the discovery of
A Thief Catcher
, an early Keystone film hitherto thought lost, with Chaplin's involvement previously unconfirmed.
[10]
All of Chaplin's films up to and including
The Circus
(1928) were
silent
, although many were re-issued with soundtracks.
City Lights
(1931) and
Modern Times
(1936) were essentially silent films, although they were made with soundtracks consisting of music and sound effects, with talking sequences in the latter film. Chaplin's last five films were all talking pictures. Aside from
A Countess From Hong Kong
, all of Chaplin's films were photographed in 35mm
black-and-white
.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Chaplin's film canon substantially survives, with only a handful of his films considered lost (one,
A Woman of the Sea
, due to Chaplin's own actions).
Except where otherwise referenced, the release dates, character names, and annotations presented here are derived from Chaplin's autobiography, Robinson's book, and
The Films of Charlie Chaplin
(1965) by Gerald D. McDonald, Michael Conway, and Mark Ricci.
Keystone
[
edit
]
Chaplin appeared in 36 films for
Keystone Studios
, all produced by
Mack Sennett
. Except where noted, all films were one
reel
in length.
Essanay
[
edit
]
Chaplin wrote, directed, and starred in 15 films for the
Essanay Film Manufacturing Company
, all produced by Jesse T. Robbins. Except where noted all films are
two-reelers
.
Mutual
[
edit
]
Chaplin wrote, produced, directed, and starred in 12 films for the
Mutual Film Corporation
, which formed Lone Star Studios solely for Chaplin's films. All of the Mutual releases are
two reels
in length. In 1932,
Amadee J. Van Beuren
of
Van Beuren Studios
purchased Chaplin's Mutual comedies for $10,000 each, added music by
Gene Rodemich
and
Winston Sharples
and sound effects, and re-released them through
RKO Radio Pictures
.
[13]
First National
[
edit
]
Chaplin wrote, produced, directed, and starred in 9 films for his own production company between 1918 and 1923. These films were distributed by
First National
.
United Artists
[
edit
]
Chaplin began releasing his films through
United Artists
in 1923. From this point on all of his films were of feature length. He produced, directed, and wrote these eight films and starred in all but the first. Beginning with
City Lights
Chaplin wrote the musical scores for his films as well.
British productions
[
edit
]
In 1952, while travelling to England to attend the premiere of his film,
Limelight
, Chaplin learned that his American re-entry permit was rescinded. As a result, his last two films were made in England.
Other film appearances
[
edit
]
In addition to his official 82 films, Chaplin has several unfinished productions in his body of work. He made several cameo appearances as himself and was featured in several compilation films.
Uncompleted and unreleased films
[
edit
]
Compilations
[
edit
]
Many Chaplin-unauthorized compilations of his Keystone, Essanay and Mutual films were released in the years following his departure from those companies. This is not an exhaustive list but does contain the most notable and widely released examples. Eventually Chaplin re-edited and scored his First National shorts for reissue in 1959 and 1975.
Cameos
[
edit
]
In addition to his own productions of
A Woman of Paris
(1923) and
A Countess from Hong Kong
(1967), Chaplin made cameo appearances as himself in the following films:
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"History of the Academy Awards"
. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2009.
Archived
from the original on 1 October 2014
. Retrieved
29 September
2009
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences"
. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2009.
Archived
from the original on 22 January 2009
. Retrieved
25 November
2009
.
- ^
"The Hollywood Walk of Fame"
. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Inc. 2009.
Archived
from the original on 13 February 2018
. Retrieved
18 October
2010
.
Note: Type in "Charlie Chaplin"
- ^
"Films Selected to The National Film Registry, Library of Congress (1989-2008)"
.
Library of Congress
.
Archived
from the original on 19 October 2014
. Retrieved
4 February
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Brunsting, Joshua (8 June 2010).
"Charlie Chaplin Film Found at an Antique Sale, Once Thought Lost"
. The Criterion Cast.
Archived
from the original on 13 June 2010
. Retrieved
9 June
2010
.
- ^
SilentComedians entry
Archived
12 January 2014 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Hooray for Hollywood ? Librarian Names 25 More Films to National Registry"
(Press release).
Library of Congress
. 16 November 1998.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2017
. Retrieved
29 September
2009
.
- ^
"
'Forrest Gump,' 'Bambi' join US film registry ? Classic movies among 25 chosen for preservation by Library of Congress"
.
today.msnbc.msn.com
.
Associated Press
. Archived from
the original
on 8 January 2012
. Retrieved
28 December
2011
– via
MSNBC
.
- ^
"25 American films are added to the National Film Registry"
.
The Prescott Courier
.
Associated Press
. 7 December 1992.
Archived
from the original on 11 May 2020
. Retrieved
29 September
2009
.
- ^
"Preserved Projects"
.
Academy Film Archive
.
Archived
from the original on 6 April 2023
. Retrieved
14 May
2019
.
- ^
Andrews, Roberts M. (11 October 1991).
"25 Films Designated For Preservation"
(Fee required)
.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
.
Archived
from the original on 17 September 2018
. Retrieved
22 July
2009
.
- ^
"Films Selected to The National Film Registry, Library of Congress 1989?2009"
. Library of Congress. 2010.
Archived
from the original on 7 April 2014
. Retrieved
18 October
2010
.
- ^
"Librarian of Congress Names 25 New Films to National Film Registry"
(Press release).
Library of Congress
. 18 November 1997.
Archived
from the original on 11 August 2009
. Retrieved
30 September
2009
.
- ^
"How to Make Movies"
. Charlie Chaplin Encyclopedia. 3 April 2010. Archived from
the original
on 19 September 2010.
- ^
Curran, John (2010).
"Shot by young Alistair Cooke, home movie of Chaplin emerges after discovery"
. The Canadian Press. Archived from
the original
on 15 April 2010
. Retrieved
10 April
2010
.
- ^
Charlotte Higgins (5 November 2009).
"Collector finds unseen Charlie Chaplin film in tin sold for £3.20 on eBay"
.
The Guardian
.
Archived
from the original on 8 July 2018
. Retrieved
10 November
2009
.
- ^
"Charity shop Charlie Chaplin find could earn man £100,000"
.
Shields Gazette
. Archived from
the original
on 4 June 2017
. Retrieved
6 June
2017
.
- ^
"Rare Charlie Chaplin film fails to sell"
.
BBC News
. 30 June 2011.
Archived
from the original on 3 November 2018
. Retrieved
4 August
2011
.
- ^
"Progressive Silent Film List: Hollywood"
.
Silent Era
.
Archived
from the original on 13 March 2019
. Retrieved
23 January
2010
.
- ^
"25 Films Added to National Film Registry"
(Press release).
Library of Congress
. 16 December 2003.
Archived
from the original on 4 March 2016
. Retrieved
30 September
2009
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- McDonald, Gerald D.; Conway, Michael; Ricci, Mark (1974).
The Films of Charlie Chaplin
.
Secaucus, New Jersey
:
Citadel Press
.
ISBN
9780806501970
.
- Robinson, David
(1985).
Chaplin: His Life and Art
. New York,
St. Louis
, San Francisco, Hamburg, Mexico:
McGraw-Hill
.
ISBN
0070531811
.
- Vance, Jeffrey; Maietta, Tony; Cushman, Robert (2008).
Douglas Fairbanks
.
Berkeley
, Los Angeles, London, England:
University of California Press
.
ISBN
9780520256675
.
- Chaplin, Charles
(2003).
My Autobiography
.
Penguin Classics
.
ISBN
9780141011479
.
External links
[
edit
]