Charlie Chaplin

January 6, 1997

Chaplin, in less than a few short years, became one of the pioneers of cinema and comedy in films, as well as one of the world's most beloved legends. Born on April 16, 1889 in London, Chaplin spent much of his childhood in poverty. His father was an alcoholic and his mother went insane when Charlie was very young. He was known to have been a natural talent for tricky acrobatics and pantomime, which he'd use in his later films. At age 16, he became (through the urging of his brother Sydney) part of Fred Karno's music hall revue. Playing a drunk in the sketch A Night in the English Music Hall, he gained the attention of American filmaker Mack Sennett, the renowned "King of Comedy" at the time. Chaplin went to work in Hollywood for Sennett in 1914. His first film with Sennett was Making a Living (1914).

Many of Sennett's comedies involved generic use of slapstick, much of which quickly got boring. Chaplin thought so too and in his first year of filmaking, he invented one of the world's most well known film characters: The Little Tramp. Much of Chaplin's physical humor was taken out of some pantomime traditions from the British and French music halls. In Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914), the first introduction of the Tramp, Chaplin displayed his brilliant knack of communicating with his audience, a gift he would never lose. After 13 films with Sennett, Chaplin eventually turned to directing them himself. One of the reasons was that Sennett's comic styles and Chaplin's were widely different from each other. Where as Sennett had made knock-about farces, Chaplin made comedies that emphasized characterization and the use of mimicry, that have influenced countless comedians from the silent era (including Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd) to the 1990's (Jim Carrey and Robin Williams).

As the years went by, Chaplin's films grew more and more impressive as he continued to revolutionize comedy. In 1919, he formed (with Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks) United Artists, in the hopes of giving filmakers a chance to bring their artistic vesions to the screen, as Chaplin and Griffith had done. In 1921, after several years of short films, Chaplin made his first feature-length film The Kid, a touching comic-tragedy involving the Little Tramp's relationship with a young toddler (child star, Jackie Coogan). Many of Chaplin's later feature-length films would eventually become part of film history, with many thanks to the amazing stunts and sight gags. Sentimental themes of love and loyalty also worked their way into Chaplin's work.

The Gold Rush (1925) is considered by some to be one of the last great comedies of the silent era. City Lights (1931), a story that walks the thin line between comedy and tragedy, was Chaplin's attempt to buck the trend of talkies. It is now regarded as Chaplin's masterpiece. He made his last silent film (and cinema's last as well) Modern Times (1936), nearly a decade after cinema started talking. The Great Dictator (1940), was Chaplin's first talkie and a brilliant satire of Hitler's Third Reich. The times after 1940 were trying ones for Chaplin, with some ups to go along with the downs. After three failed marriages, he met and married Oona O'Neill in 1942. They would stay together for the next 35 years until Chaplin's death in 1977. But despite the fact that he had found "true happiness" with Oona (as he claimed personally), he had his fans turn against him after Monsieur Verdoux (1947), which showed a startling transformat ion from Chaplin's years as the Little Tramp, to the murderous title character.

In 1952, in the midst of anti-communist hysteria, Chaplin (who never became an American citizen) found his re-entry permit into the US revoked. The paranoia against Chaplin ran so deep that his films Limelight (1952) and A King in New York (1957) were banned from the U.S. until nearly 20 years after they were made. Chaplin made only one other film in his 20-year period (1952-1972) of exile from the US, and that was the lifeless farce, A Countess in Hong Kong (1967). Most of this period was spent in retirement with Oona, their children and grandchildren. Then in 1972, at the age of 83, Chaplin was asked back to Hollywood to receive a Special Academy Award for his lifetime achievement in cinema. It was a long overdue, thank you, from a world that had nearly forgotten him. In 1975, he was knighted and became Sir Charles Chaplin. He died at 88 in his home in Switzerland on Christmas Day, 1977, surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren. He left a memorable legacy behind him when he died. Over the course of his 90 years, Chaplin's life seemed to be full of ups and downs, which he reflected back into his films. But by the time he received his award in 1972, he was honored and loved by the world. His films are still considered some of the greatest works of cinema in history, and Chaplin the most brilliant filmaker of all time. He had indeed come a long way from the Londan slums of his youth.

My rating on a scale of 1 to 10: 10

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