“The Real Charlie Chaplin” is an alluring title for a documentary about the man who was arguably the greatest comic artist in the history of the planet. (I could be wrong in that assess…
” is an alluring title for a documentary about the man who was arguably the greatest comic artist in the history of the planet. The title suggests that we’re going to get an unvarnished portrait of the man behind the curtain — the brilliant and complicated human being that Charlie Chaplin was, a charmer and a scoundrel, a sweetheart and a monster, not to mention a celebrity of scandalous appetites. All of that is covered, ingeniously, in “The Real Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplin wasn’t impressed with the films he saw at the nickelodeon — he thought movies were a passing fad — but when Mack Sennett, the head of Keystone Studios, offered him a contract for $150 a week, he came aboard for what he thought would be a year. The movie documents how Chaplin created the character of the Tramp, and it’s a great story because it was all happenstance.
On set, Chaplin is a control freak who would have done every job if he could have. As it is, he writes, directs, produces, edits, and scores. We see footage of him shooting the scene in “City Lights” where the Tramp meets the blind girl played by the incandescent Virginia Cherrill, and Chaplin, who couldn’t figure out how to make the scene work, shot it so many times — hundreds, stretching over a period of months — that he went a step beyond Kubruckian insanity.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
How Real Housewives And Reality TV Saved My LifeAfter a long day in the news mines, I just want Karen Huger to wash the pain away.
Read more »
Morgan Stanley says virtual reality is real this time, picks 5 stocks to cash inNew for subscribers: Morgan Stanley says virtual reality is real this time, picks 5 stocks to cash in. Check out CNBCPro today.
Read more »
Why the real-life Williams family needed to be an 'integral part' of 'King Richard'The stirring new sports drama “King Richard” is a family affair in more ways than one.
Read more »
Opinion | The Real Biden Bill: At Least $4.6 TrillionFrom WSJopinion: Democrats have rigged the budget rules with multiple tricks that disguise the real cost of their tax and entitlement bill by trillions of dollars
Read more »