Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) was a British film producer who wrote, acted and directed his films. His "Little Tramp" character remains an iconic comedic creation. He is arguably the most popular performer of the silent film era.
Facts at a glance: Charlie Chaplin
- Full name: Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, Knight of the British Empire
- Occupation: film actor, director, writer
- Born: 16 April 1889 in England
- Died: 25 December 1977, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland
- Parents: Hannah and Charles Chaplin
- Spouse: Mildred Harris (m. 1918; div. 1920）， Lita Grey （m. 1924; div. 1927）， Paulette Goddard （m. 1936; div. 1942）， Oona O'Neill （m. 1943）
- Children: Norman, Susan, Stephen, Geraldine, Michael, Josephine, Victoria, Eugene, Jane, Annette, Christopher
- Selected films: "The Gold Rush" (1925), "City Lights" (1931), "Modern" (1936), "The Great Dictator" (1940)
Early life and stage career
Born into a family of concert hall entertainers, Charlie Chaplin first appeared on stage at the age of five. It was a one-off appearance taken from his mother, Hannah, but by the time he was nine years old, he had caught up in the entertainment mistakes.
Chaplin grew up in poverty. He was sent to a workhouse at the age of seven. When his mother spent two months in a mental hospital, nine-year-old Charlie was sent to his brother Sydney to live with his alcoholic father. When Charlie was 16, his mother was permanently committed to an institution.
At the age of 14, Chaplin began performing plays on stage in London's West End. He soon became a famous comedian. In 1910, Fred Karno's comedy company Chaplin toured the United States for 21 months. The company also includes another famous performer, Stan Laurel.
British comedian Charlie Chaplin (center) with other members of the Cayce Circus Concert Hall Comedy Ensemble, United Kingdom, 1906.
The first film was a great success
On a second vaudeville tour, New York Studios invited Charlie Chaplin to join their Keystone Studios troupe. He began working with Keystone under the leadership of Mack Sennett in January 2014. He first appeared in films in the 1914 short film Making a Living.
Chaplin soon created his legendary "Little Tramp" character. The character was introduced to the audience in February 1914 in "The Venice Children's Car Race" and "The Strange Dilemma of Mabel". These films were so successful in front of audiences that Mike Sennett invited his rising star to direct his own films. The first short film directed by Charlie Chaplin was In the Rain, released in May 1914. For the rest of his career, he will continue to direct most films.
In November 1914, Tilly's Piercing Romance, starring Mary Dresler, included Charlie Chaplin's debut feature film. Success at the box office led Chaplin to ask for a raise. Mack Sennett thought it was too expensive, and his young star moved to Essanay Studios in Chicago.
While working for Essanay, Chaplin recruited Edna Purviance as his co-star. She later appeared in 35 of his films. By the time his one-year contract with Essanay expired, Charlie Chaplin was already one of the biggest movie stars in the world. In December 1915, he signed a contract with the Mutual Film Company, worth $670,000 a year (about $15.4 million today).
Ice rink (1916).
Silent stars
Los Angeles-based Mutual introduced Charlie Chaplin to Hollywood. His star status continued to grow. From 1918 to 1922, he moved to the first national team. Memorable films of his time include his World War I film Shoulder Arms, which placed the little tramp in the trenches. Released in 1921, The Kid is Chaplin's longest film to date, running 68 minutes and including child star Jackie Coogan.
In 1922, Charlie Chaplin became an independent producer at the end of his contract with First National, laying the groundwork for future filmmakers to exercise artistic control over their work. Released in 1925, The Gold Rush was his second independent feature film and became one of the most successful films of his career. It includes key scenes such as the improvisational dance of little tramps, gold diggers, eating boots and dinner rolls with spears on forks. Chaplin thought it was his best work.
Charlie Chaplin released his next film, The Circus, in 1928. It was another success and earned him a special prize at the first Academy Awards. However, personal issues, including divorce disputes, made the filming of The Circus difficult, and Chaplin rarely talked about it, omitting it entirely in his autobiography.
Circus (1928)
Despite the addition of voices to the film, Charlie Chaplin was determined to continue his next film, City Lights, as a silent film. It was released in 1931 and was a great commercial success. Many film historians consider this to be his best achievement and his best use of grief in his work. One concession to sound was the introduction of Music Scores created by Chaplin himself.
Chaplin's last nearly silent film was Modern Times, released in 1936. It includes sound effects and sheet music as well as a song sung in gibberish. Potential political comments about the dangers of workplace automation have sparked criticism from some viewers. While the film was praised for its physical comedy, it was commercially disappointing.
Controversial movies and declining popularity
The 1940s became one of the most controversial decades of Charlie Chaplin's career. It began with his extensive satire of the rise of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Europe before World War II. The Great Dictator is Chaplin's most overt political film. He thought it necessary to laugh at Hitler. Some viewers disagreed that the film was a controversial release. The film includes the first colloquial dialogue in Chaplin's work. The Great Dictator was a huge success among critics, receiving five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor.
The Great Dictator (1940)
Legal difficulties hung over for much of the first half of the 1940s. An affair with aspiring actress Joan Barry led to an FBI investigation and trial based on alleged violations of the Mann Act, which prohibits the transport of women to state boundaries for sexual purposes. The court acquitted Chaplin two weeks after the trial began. Less than a year later, a paternity lawsuit was held that Chaplin was the father of Barry's child, Carol Ann.
In 1945, during a paternity test, Charlie Chaplin announced his marriage to his fourth wife, 18-year-old Oona O'Neill, the daughter of the famous playwright Eugene O'Neill, and personal controversy intensified. Chaplin was 54 at the time, but both seemed to have found their soul mates. The couple remained married until Chaplin's death, and together they had eight children.
Charlie Chaplin finally returned to the film screen in 1947 as "Mr. Verdoux," a noir comedy about an unemployed clerk who marries and murders a widow to support his family. Chaplin suffered from audience reactions to his personal troubles, and he faced the most negative criticism and commercial reactions of his career. After the film's release, he was publicly called a communist because of his political views, and many Americans questioned his reluctance to apply for U.S. citizenship. Today, some observers consider Mr. Vidu to be one of Charlie Chaplin's best films.
Exile in the United States
Chaplin's next film, Spotlight, is an autobiographical work that is more serious than most of his films. It put politics aside, but solved the problem of popularity he had lost in the twilight of his career. It includes legendary silent film comedian Buster Keaton's only on-screen appearance.
Charlie Chaplin's decision to hold the premiere of "Spotlight" in London is the backdrop for the film. When he left, U.S. Attorney General James W. Bush was killed in a letter of absence. James P. McGranery revoked his permit to re-enter the United States. Although the attorney general told the media that he had a "fairly good case" against Chaplin, documents released in the 1980s showed no real evidence to support his rejection.
Spotlight (1952)
Despite Europe's success, the "spotlight" has been met with hostility in the United States, including organized boycotts. Chaplin did not return to the United States for 20 years.
Eventually the film and return to the United States
Charlie Chaplin established permanent residency in Switzerland in 1953. His next film, A King in New York (1957), tells much of his experience by accusing himself of being a communist. It was a sometimes painful political satire that Chaplin refused to release in the United States. Charlie Chaplin's last film, The Countess from Hong Kong, was released in 1967 as a romantic comedy. It co-stars marlon brando and Sophia Rowland, two of the world's largest movie stars, with Chaplin himself appearing only briefly. Unfortunately, it was a business failure and received negative reviews.
In 1972, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited Charlie Chaplin back to the United States to receive a special Academy Award for his life's accomplishments. Reluctantly at first, he decided to return and won a 12-minute standing ovation, the longest at the Oscars.
Famous comedian Charlie Chaplin, winner of the Honorary Academy Award, delivered his acceptance speech at the 44th Academy Awards ceremony at the Los Angeles Music Center.
As he continued to work, Chaplin's health declined. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 1975. He died on Christmas Day, December 25, 1977, after falling asleep.
heritage
Charlie Chaplin remains one of the most successful filmmakers of all time. He transformed the comedic process in the film by introducing elements of sadness and sadness, deepening the emotional impact of his work. His four films, "The Gold Rush," "City Lights," "Modern Times, and The Great Dictator," are regularly included in the list of the best films of all time.
Modern Times (1936)
- Acroyid, Peter. Charlie Chaplin: A short life. Nan A. Talese， 2014.
- Chaplin, Charles. My autobiography. Penguin, 2003.