Expert novelizations of ten early Chaplin films include The Bank, A Woman, Work, The Champion, His New Job, By the Sea, A Night Out, The Tramp, In the Park, and A Jitney Elopement.
A brief yet definitive new biography of one of film's greatest legends: perfect for readers who want to know more about the iconic star but who don't want to commit to a lengthy work. He was the very first icon of the silver screen and is one of the most recognizable of Hollywood faces, even a hundred years after his first film. But what of the man behind the moustache? Peter Ackroyd's new biography turns the spotlight on Chaplin's life as well as his work, from his humble theatrical beginnings in music halls to winning an honorary Academy Award. Everything is here, from the glamor of his golden age to the murky scandals of the 1940s and eventual exile to Switzerland. There are charming anecdotes along the way: playing the violin in a New York hotel room to mask the sound of Stan Laurel frying pork chops and long Hollywood lunches with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. This masterful brief biography offers fresh revelations about one of the most familiar faces of the last century and brings the Little Tramp vividly to life.
In the world of film collecting, the claim "find of the century" may sound an unpardonable exaggeration. But what discovery can equal it?1 Collectors had hailed the discovery of the occasional lost Keystone comedy in which Chaplin played, but nobody had the slightest idea that somewhere in England, somewhere in France, and somewhere in the United States lay three separate treasure troves of silent film which would, for the first time, reveal the working methods of the greatest single figure of the cinema. It was a treasure hunt involving innocence and guile, accident and coincidence. A treasure hunt which took us to Switzerland, France and the United States. The treasure, when it was uncovered, revealed information as precious as the film itself. From the material, we compiled a television series called Unknown Chaplin, three hour-long documentaries produced for Thames Television. Apart from the experience of making the series, we learned so much about Chaplin we could not squeeze into the commentary we decided to preserve it in the form of a book.
Before making a name for himself as an undisputed master of cinema, Charlie Chaplin first developed his acting, writing, and directing skills at Keystone Studios. This book examines each of these films, assessing the important early work of a comedian who became a timeless icon.
See him? That little tramp twitching a postage stamp of a mustache, politely lifting his bowler hat, and leaning on a bamboo cane with the confidence of a gentleman? A slapstick comedian, he blazed forth as the brightest movie star in the Hollywood heavens. Everyone knew Charlie—Charlie Chaplin. When he was five years old he was pulled onstage for the first time, and he didn't step off again for almost three-quarters of a century. Escaping the London slums of his tragic childhood, he took Hollywood like a conquistador with a Cockney accent. With his gift for pantomime in films that had not yet acquired vocal cords, he was soon rubbing elbows with royalty and dining on gold plates in his own Beverly Hills mansion. He was the most famous man on earth—and he was regarded as the funniest. Still is. . . . He comes to life in these pages. It's an astonishing rags-to-riches saga of an irrepressible kid whose childhood was dealt from the bottom of the deck. Abundantly illustrated.
Many remember Charlie Chaplin's comic masterpiece, The Gold Rush, as the finest blend of comedy and farce ever brought to the screen. Far fewer remember its heroine, Georgia Hale (1900-1985). Seventy years after the film's appearance, Heather Kiernan brings Georgia Hale back to life in this edition of her hitherto unpublished memoirs. Research work embodied in her perceptive introduction clears up many uncertainties about Hale's life and provides an outline of her most significant years. Hale's own chief purpose was to describe her long and close relationship with Chaplin and his dual personality, which made the relationship at times a love-hate one. As Chaplin's constant companion during the years 1928-1931, she became a part of his social circle, meeting people as diverse as Marion Davies, Sergei Eisenstein, Ralph Barton, and Albert Einstein. The memoir effectively ends with Chaplin's marriage in June 1943 to Oona O'Neill. This unique book contains illustrations from the Chaplin archive, most of which are published here for the first time.
Examining the legendary actor's life, art, and controversial politics within the context of their times, Lynn presents a fresh and definitive portrait of Chaplin.