CHARLIE CHAPLIN

Charlie Chaplin was many things to many people. He was first and foremost a great silent artist. He was a complex individual who delighted and enraged. He moved human beings emotionally one way or the other. I have never encountered anyone who was indifferent about Charlie Chaplin. He lived at the top of the world, and his screen image (instantly recognizable in silhouette) pierced the psyches of people everywhere, from the most cosmopolitan of cities to the remotest places on earth.

Some of the things that Chaplin believed in artistically were criticized profusely. Taking great amounts of time to create his feature films was considered eccentric at the least, and money squandering at the most, to his backers. He preserved every possible scrap of film, which seemed wasteful and expensive (why not just melt the film down for the silver in the nitrate?). Charlie also shot a lot of film. How much room should you make for storage for retake after retake? In 1946, when Chaplin studio manager, Alf Reeves, retired due to poor health, his replacement, John McFadden, no sentimentalist he, issued an order to burn all old footage "to save room." Rollie Totheroh, Chaplin's faithful cameraman since the teens, desperately warned Chaplin not to let that kind of control take place. Thank goodness Chaplin heeded Totheroh's words. Rollie knew any footage of Charlie was precious, and we are grateful for his courage and quick action.

We know that Chaplin rehearsed on film. Previously, his working methods were a mystery until the rediscovered cache of films he had stored away, brought to light after his death. Lady Oona Chaplin, his wife since 1943, consented to provide generously of Charlie's private film legacy. What came out of this combing of the Chaplin personal film vaults was the outstanding three part documentary The Unknown Chaplin (1982), by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill.

Sometimes what is ultimately not used in a film editing is more telling about the creative process than the finished product. The point I am really stressing is that Chaplin's love for the silent art of film making was deep and abiding, that the final judgment of replacing silents with talkies was not going to happen to Chaplin without the good fight.

How I wish that Charlie's determination alone could have preserved more films like his, or better yet, kept the art of the silent producing side by side with the art of sound. Why compete? They are both legitimate forms of art. See again City Lights (United Artists, 1931). Enjoy again Modern Times (United Artists, 1936). This was long after the talkies changed our lives forever. This was when the silent screen art was deader than ancient Greek.

Charlie's deep spark of desire foreshadowed the silent screen renaissance. The rediscovery, the preservation and the appreciation by new generations, and who knows, I wouldn't mind seeing new productions of silent films. One image is worth a million words. Thank Charlie.

If you are interested in reading more about Chaplin, The Silents Majority highly recommends the definitive bio "Chaplin" (1985), by David Robinson. This tome covers Chaplin from derby to slap shoes and everything in between. It includes excellent photos along with a very detailed filmography. Robinson's labor of love (and truth) outshines Chaplin's autobiography and does justice to "The Little Tramp." A must-have volume for any fan of Chaplin.

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