CHARLIE CHAPLIN 1889-1977

              Charlie Chaplin became one of the most fa­mous stars in motion-picture history. Dur­ing the era of silent comedies, he was of­ten called “the funniest man in the world” or the most creative individual in the film history. Chaplin also gained complete con­trol over production of his films. He wrote and directed nearly all his films, and he composed the music scores for all his sound pictures.

             Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in Lon­don on April 16, 1889. Chaplin’s father died when he was a child, leaving the family in the straitened circumstances, and Chaplin’s first regular education was in the school at Hanwell poor law institution. These hard times are often mirrored in the poignant contrasts of humour and sadness, which are feature of his early films. He appeared as a child in music halls. In 1910, he toured the United States with a pantomime com­pany and decided to remain. Chaplin first appeared on the screen in 1913 with the Keystone Film Company. In Kid Auto Rac­es at Venice (1914), wearing baggy pants, enormous shoes, and a bowler hat and car­rying a bamboo canes, he originated his world-famous “little tramp”.

              Chaplin walked in a snuffing manner that suggested he had never worn a pair of shoes his own size. But the figure of poverty also wore gloves and carried a bamboo cane that seemed to reflect a spirit that bounced back from the most crushing defeats. The last shot in many of Chaplin’s early silent films shows him walking down a road into the distance. The Tramp was homeless and pen­niless once more, but with the hat titled and cane flourishing, he again was ready for whatever adventure lay around the cor­ner. During these years Chaplin gradually developed the tramp character from a joint­ly, slapstick stereotype into the compassion­ate human figure beloved by audiences throughout the world.

             Charlie Chaplin played the classic roles in more than seventy films during his career.

             His success with the public was truly unique. This fact opened great opportunities for him to start his own business. He showed rare versatility in acting as the producer-director-script writer-musician-leading actor of his own comedies. Cinema with its world wide distribution led to the development of the greatest comedian of the 1920s.

             In 1919, Chaplin formed the United Art­ists film corporation with actor Douglas Fairbanks, actress Mary Pickford, and di­rector D. W. Griffith*.

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Fairbanks, Douglas Elton (original surname Ulman) (1883- 1939)—American actor; one of the first and greatest of screen heroes.

Pickford Mary (professional name of Gladys Mary Smith) (1893-1979) — American actress and motion picture producer.

Griffith D(avid) W(arl) (1875-1948) — American film director, who established a new standard for motion picture production.

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           He made fewer pic­tures, and those he made were longer and more serious. He continued to create laugh­ter, but also seemed to be commenting on why the world of respectability and author­ity offered so little to the human soul. His films dating this time include The Kid (1920) and The Gold Rush (1925). Chaplin played the tramp in these films and in his first two sound films, City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936). In The Great Dictator (1940), he played two roles, a bum­ble Jewish barber and a tyrant based on the German dictator Adolph Hitler. Chap­lin played a murderer in Monsieur Verdoux (1942) and an elderly music hall comedian in Limelight (1942).

         Charlie Chaplin lived in the USA for more than forty years but he never became the citizen.

         In the 1940s and early 1950s, Chaplin was a centre of controversy. Some people criticized Chaplin’s personal life as immoral and accused him of supporting Communism. In 1952, Chaplin travelled to Europe. The gov­ernment of the United States announced that Chaplin could not reenter the United States unless hearings were held on his personal life and political views. Chaplin decided not to return, and he and his family settled in Switzerland.

         In 1972, Chaplin took part in ceremonies in his honour in New York City and Los Angeles. Chaplin received an honorary Oscar* at the annual Academy Award ceremonies in April.

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*Oscar — the best-known American movie awards which are made each spring by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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          The award praised Chaplin “for the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century”. In 1975, Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He died in Vevey near Lake Geneva in 1977.

           Chaplin perfected an individual style of performing derived from the circus clown and the mime, combining acrobatic elegance, expressive gesture, facial eloquence, and impeccable timing. His portrayal of the lit­tle tramp, a universally recognized symbol of indestructible individuality triumphing over adversity and persecution, both hu­man and mechanical, won him critical re­nown as a tragicomedian.

           Chaplin’s treatment of his subjects com­pounds satire and pathos, revealing a love of humanity and individual freedom. He wrote Mу Autobiography (1964) and My Life in Movies (1975).