CHARLIE CHAPLIN CONTEXT

THE BEGINNING OF THE BEGINNING Born: 16th April, 1889, Walworth, London.- Childhood one of poverty and hardship. Sent to the workhouse

twice before the age of 9. Incredibly close to brother, Sydney. Theatrical family: -Father: Charles Chaplin Sr Alcoholic Music hall Performer Abandoned his family Died 9th May 1901-Mother: Hannah Chaplin. Suffered from a mental illness most of her adult life. Unsuccessful music-hall performer When Chaplin was 14, she was committed to a mental Asylum. Did what she could for her sons; Chaplin dedicated to her. Remained one of Chaplin’s biggest influences. Died 28th August 1928

THE PROCESSION OF THE BEGINNING Chaplin started to get involved in performing, with his

mother’s encouragement, between the work houses and looking after his mother.

Professional debut in 1898 with the ‘The Eight Lancashire Lads’.

Picked up new skills from every new production: from music hall sketches he learned about character development; from pantomime he learned clowning; from circus he learned acrobatics.

Growing success brought him the attention of Fred Karno, which earned Chaplin a role in a production called ‘Jimmy the Fearless’, in 1910. This was significant as it served as a forerunner to ‘The Tramp’ and resulted in Chaplin receiving an extent of press coverage.

Under the employment of Karno, Chaplin travelled to the USA, where he attracted the attention of Mack Sennett, producer of the first slapstick comedies.

1913- KEYSTONE PRODUCTIONS AND BEYOND Six months in to his second American tour, Chaplin was invited to join

Keystone Productions. Chaplin thought Sennett’s work was "a crude mélange of rough and rumble“, but liked the idea of motion pictures. Contracted on $150 a week.

Chaplin’s first film appearance: ‘Making a living’. Chaplin disliked it, but was noticed by critics.

Tramp: First appeared in Chaplin’s third Keystone production: ‘Mabel’s

strange Predicament’ Character found its roots in English music-hall traditions. 1915- Chaplin- Developed his own on-screen persona, but never content until he

directed his own films. Nearly lost his contract with Keystone productions after severely

clashing with director, Mabel Normand. After making almost 40 films in his association with Sennett, Chaplin

had a brief contract with Essanay in Chicago, $1,250 a week with signing bonus of $10,000, he moved to California to a new studio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bagmkDtqOk

DEVELOPING THE BEGINNING 1915-1923- Worked with Essanay,

Mutual and Associated First National- companies prior to the formation of United Artist with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D. W. Griffith.

In eight years, he made seventy films, which were also of good quality. Labelled as a ‘workaholic’.

Relied heavily on improvisation, but had extensive rehearsals and countless retakes to achieve perfection.

NOT ALL GLORY Tarnished image, especially in Britain,

due to Chaplin not enlisting during the war. This wasn’t helped by his apparent interest in girls of a much younger age.

Mildred Harris- only 16 when her and Chaplin married in 1918. Divorced in 1920. Married due to false claim of pregnancy

Death of their son in 1919 heavily influenced Chaplin’s direction of ‘the Kid’, which was in production for 9 months.

UA BEGINS ‘A woman of Paris’, 1922- first film for United Artists

where Chaplin had full control over all phases of production. Only had a cameo an directed his cast to have restrained performances to give a realistic feel. This subtle appraoch was considered a new innovation of film.

All four creative co-founders could personally fund and control their productions.

Altered his filmmaking method to give greater attention to shooting scripts rather than on-set improvisation.

Shift from quality to quantity with more time being spent on productions.

‘The Gold Rush’ was made in response to disappointed response to ‘A woman in Paris’ as it did not feature Chaplin and wasn’t funny.

CAREER DEFINING MOMENTS THE GOLD RUSH: "an epic comedy out of grim subject matter.“- Geoffrey Macnab Almost $1 million budget. Took 15 months to film Opened in August, 1925 and made a profit of $5 million- one of

the highest profits of the silent era of film. Chaplin considered it his film to that point.

Chaplin deeply effected by a scandal concerning the divorce of his second wife, Lita Grey, at the time of production, where she accused him of infidelity, abuse and having ‘perverted sexual desires’.

‘THE CIRCUS’: Trouble-ridden production Released in 1928 to a positive reception Omitted it from his auto-biography, however.Both of the above involved the iconic ‘Tramp’ character.

1930’S- POLITICAL TURN CITY LIGHTS: Released when ‘talkies’ were trending.

Chaplin feared using dialogue would limit his international appeal. However, did utilise sound in recording his own musical score.

Production lasted 21 months. Success despite going against the

power of sound- eventually grossed $3 million.

Chaplin’s personal favourite film. Started to partially delve into social

issues, but not to the extent of Modern Times.

MODERN TIMES-1936 Last appearance of ‘the tramp’. Did not fair too well in the box office as some

were against the politicising of comedy and film. Release coincided with the Rural Electrification

Act- revolutionised rural America and brought it into the modern world

Chaplin pre-occupied with the social and economic problems of the new age- highlighted to him on his World tour, 1931-32. Witnessed the rise of nationalism and the degrading social effects of the Depression.

Similar to the Tramp’s purpose in WW1, Chaplin aimed to transform society’s anxieties into comedy.

CHAPLIN’S ECONOMIC SOULTION “Unemployment is the vital question . . .

Machinery should benefit mankind. It should not spell tragedy and throw it out of work.” -1931

Solution based on sharing out an equal amount of wealth and work.

Very similar to Communist ideals Reason why he was accused of being a

communist- especially during the RED scare of the 1920’s

MODERN TIMES AND TALKING PICTURES Chaplin resisted the trend of dialogue in films. His comedy and its universal understanding

depended on silent pantomime. Only voices heard, apart from Chaplin’s, are

conditioned through a technological filter, which suggests humanity has been usurped by machinery.

Considered one of Chaplin’s greatest today.

Relationship with Paulette Goddard developed during this period. Another failed marriage was the outcome

BEGINNINGS OF THE GREAT DICTATOR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNZo9lUdTvo Half-brother, Sydney, was a Jew. Chaplin exploits his physical resemblance to Hitler to

send a message in the film. Deeply disturbed by the surge in militaristic nationalism-

shown by Italy, Germany and Japan. Spent two years creating the script. Succumbed to using

dialogue as he felt he had no choice and it was better at delivering a political message.

Very controversial at the time, but Chaplin believed he had to take the risk.

Vast amount of publicity for its release in 1940 and one of the highest grossing of its era.

Ending was criticised, however. Received 5 academy awards.

SLIPPERY SLOPE Continued scandalous affairs. Tax problems with the Internal Revenue Service. Edgar hounded him for apparent affiliations with

communist beliefs. Resulted in him being banned from the USA in 1952

Sordid Paternity suit initiated by Joan Barry added to his political problems.

Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight both highlighted Chaplin’s decline as his political activism overtook his artistic creativity.

Married Oona O’neil and spent the rest of his life with her.

Lost the support of the public. Final films were neither financially or critically

successful.

GOOD END TO AN EVENTFUL LIFE Kinghted by Queen Elizabeth and

received several film awards in the 1970s’.

Late 1950’s and 1960’s only consisted of him revisiting old productions.

Died in his sleep on the 25th December 1977.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Pl-qvA1X8