Charlie Chaplin
Birthday: Born in 1889-04-16 in Walworth, London, England, UK
Deathday: 1977-12-25
Charles “Charlie” Chaplin (April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977) was an English comic actor, film director and composer best-known for his work during the silent film era. He used mime, slapstick and other visual comedy routines, and continued well into the era of the talkies, though his films decreased in frequency by the end of the 1920s. His most famous role was that of The Tramp, which he first played in Kid Auto Races (1914). From 1914 onwards he was writing and directing most of his films, by 1916 he was producing them, and by 1918 he was also composing the music for them. In 1919 he co-founded United Artists. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Chaplin the 10th greatest male screen legend of all time.
TV Credits
The DuPont Show of the Week
Character: Self (archive footage)
The DuPont Show of the Week is an American anthology drama series which aired for three seasons on NBC from September 17, 1961 to August 30, 1964....
The Oscars
Character:
An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar....
Unknown Chaplin
Character: Self & in Out-Takes
A documentary series examining the film making methods and techniques of Charles Chaplin. Featuring previously unseen footage from Chaplin's private film archive....
American Experience
Character: Self
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today....
Spécial cinéma
Character: Self (archive footage)
...
Le Siècle des icônes
Character: Self (archive footage)
...
Movie Credits
City Lights
Character: A Tramp
A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor....
The Great Dictator
Character: Adenoid Hynkel, Dictator of Tomania / A Jewish Barber
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime....
The Gold Rush
Character: The Lone Prospector
A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl....
The Rink
Character: A Waiter
After amusements working in a restaurant, a waiter uses his lunch break to go roller skating....
The Pawnshop
Character: Pawnbroker's Assistant
A pawnbroker's assistant deals with his grumpy boss, his annoying co-worker and some eccentric customers as he flirts with the pawnbroker's daughter, until a perfidious crook with bad intentions arrives at the pawnshop....
The Count
Character: Tailor's Apprentice
A tailor's apprentice burns Count Broko's clothes while ironing them and the tailor fires him. Later, the tailor discovers a note explaining that the count cannot attend a dance party, so he dresses as such to take his place; but the apprentice has also gone to the mansion where the party is celebrated and bumps into the tailor in disguise…...
Modern Times
Character: The Tramp (A Factory Worker)
A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.....
The Kid
Character: A Tramp
A tramp cares for a boy after he's abandoned as a newborn by his mother. Later the mother has a change of heart and aches to be reunited with her son....
A Countess from Hong Kong
Character: An Old Steward
A Russian countess stows away in the stateroom of a married U.S. diplomat bound for New York....
The Tramp
Character: The Tramp
The Little Fellow finds the girl of his dreams and work on a family farm. He helps defend the farm against criminals, and all seems well, until he discovers the girl of his dreams already has someone in her life. Unwilling to be a problem in their lives, he takes to the road, though he is seen skipping and swinging his cane as if happy to be back on the road where he knows he belongs....
Between Showers
Character: The Tramp, a Second Gallant
Mr. Snookie steals an umbrella and then, while trying to help a woman to cross a puddle, the Tramp appears and intervenes....
Cruel, Cruel Love
Character: Mr. Dovey
This early Chaplin film has him playing a character quite different from the Tramp for which he would become famous. He is a rich, upper-class gentleman whose romance is endangered when his girlfriend oversees him being embraced by a maid. Chaplin's romantic interest in this film, Minta Durfee, was the wife of fellow Keystone actor, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle....
Dough and Dynamite
Character: Pierre
Pierre and Jacques are working as waiters at a restaurant where the cooks go on strike. When the two are forced to work as bakers, the striking cooks put dynamite in the dough, with explosive results....
Kid Auto Races at Venice
Character: The Tramp
The Tramp interferes with the celebration of several kid auto races in Venice, California (Junior Vanderbilt Cup Race, January 10 and 11, 1914), standing himself in the way of the cameraman who is filming the event....
Laughing Gas
Character: Dentist's assistant
Although only a dental assistant, Charlie pretends to be the dentist. After receiving too much anesthesia, a patient can't stop laughing, so Charlie knocks him out with a club....
Mabel's Busy Day
Character: Tipsy Nuisance
Mabel tries to sell hot dogs at a car race, but isn't doing a very good job at it. She sets down the box of hot dogs and leaves them for a moment. Charlie finds them and gives them away to the hungry spectators at the track as Mabel frantically tries to find her lost box of hot dogs. Mabel finds out that Charlie has stolen them and sends the police after him. Chaos ensues....
Mabel's Strange Predicament
Character: The Tramp (uncredited)
A tramp gets drunk in a hotel lobby and, upstairs, causes some misunderstandings between Mabel, two hotel guests across the hall from her room, and Mabel's visiting sweetheart....
The Fatal Mallet
Character: Suitor aka The Tramp (uncredited)
Three men compete for the attentions of a pretty girl. One of them, a little tramp, plays dirty....
The Masquerader
Character: Film actor
Charlie plays an actor who bungles several scenes and is kicked out. He returns convincingly dressed as a lady and charms the director, but Charlie never makes it into the film....
The New Janitor
Character: The Janitor
The hero, a janitor played by Chaplin, is fired from work for accidentally knocking his bucket of water out the window and onto his boss the chief banker (Tandy). Meanwhile, one of the junior managers (Dillon) is being threatened with exposure by his bookie for gambling debts unpaid. Thus the manager decides to steal from the company....
Tillie's Punctured Romance
Character: The City Guy
A womanizing city man meets Tillie in the country. When he sees that her father has a very large bankroll for his workers, he persuades her to elope with him....
Monsieur Verdoux
Character: Henri Verdoux
The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine....
The Adventurer
Character: The Eel / Commodore Slick
The daring convict no. 23, known as The Eel, escapes from prison and, after mocking his inept persecutors, saves the lives of three people in peril: a beautiful girl, her mother and an annoying suitor, only to get exhausted and almost drowned. Once he regains his strength at Judge Brown's home, he participates on an upper-class social party where he competes with the suitor for the favors of the charming Miss Brown. But prison guards are still after him…...
The Real Charlie Chaplin
Character: Self (archive footage)
A look at the life and work of Charlie Chaplin in his own words featuring an in-depth interview he gave to Life magazine in 1966....
Caught in a Cabaret
Character: Waiter
Charlie is a clumsy waiter in a cheap cabaret, suffering the strict orders from his boss. He meets a pretty girl in the park and tries to impress her by pretending to be an ambassador. Unfortunately she has a jealous fiancé....
Chaplin Today: 'A Woman of Paris'
Character: Self (archive footage)
"A Woman of Paris" (1923) was the first film Chaplin made for United Artists Film Corporation, which he founded with his friends Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith. Chaplin had long considered making a dramatic feature. For the first time, he decided to direct. Actress and filmmaker Liv Ullmann analyses the film. She talks about the acting, the originality of the characterizations, as well as the "feminine" viewpoint Chaplin adopted for the first time in his films....
Sophia Loren, a special destiny
Character: Self (archive footage)
With a maddening sensuality, the unforgettable actress of the film "A Special Day" embodies the golden age of Italian cinema. From the suburbs of Naples to Hollywood, this biographical documentary looks back at the flamboyant career and destiny of Sophia Loren....
Hollywood
Character: Charles Chaplin
Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtime boyfriend back in Centerville. Despite seeing major movie stars around every corner, and knocking on every casting office door in town, at the end of her first day she is still unemployed. To her horror, when she arrives back at their hotel, she finds that Grandpa has been cast in a movie by William DeMille and quickly becomes a star during the e...
The Hollywood Clowns
Character: (archive footage)
Glenn Ford narrates this hilarious look back at the greatest comedians in movie history....
The Vagabond
Character: The Saloon Violinist
A tramp tries to earn money by playing the violin, but he’s soon facing off against the jealous competition....
Limelight
Character: Calvero
A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life....
A King in New York
Character: King Shahdov
A recently-deposed "Estrovian" monarch seeks shelter in New York City, where he becomes an accidental television celebrity. Later, he's wrongly accused of being a Communist and gets caught up in subsequent HUAC hearings....
The Circus
Character: A Tramp
Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman - soon the star of the show - and falls in love with the circus owner's stepdaughter....
A Dog's Life
Character: Tramp
The Tramp and his dog companion struggle to survive in the inner city....
Chaplin at Keystone
Character: Self (archive footage)
Charles Chaplin came to Mack Sennett’s Keystone Studios late in 1913 as a little-known British vaudevillian, and after a year, had not only established his Tramp character, learned to write and direct his own films, and also achieved public recognition as a star comedian. Although Keystone did not publicize its performers by name, standees of Chaplin's likeness outside theaters sufficed to attract audiences. Some of the films, especially TILLIE’S PUNCTURED ROMANCE (1914), remained in theatrical ...
The Idle Class
Character: Tramp / Husband
At an upper class golf resort, a tramp discovers he's the lookalike of a rich man with a beautiful, unhappy wife....
The Champion
Character: Challenger
Walking along with his bulldog, Charlie finds a "good luck" horseshoe just as he passes a training camp advertising for a boxing partner "who can take a beating." After watching others lose, Charlie puts the horseshoe in his glove and wins. The trainer prepares Charlie to fight the world champion. A gambler wants Charlie to throw the fight. He and the trainer's daughter fall in love....
Yesterday and Today
Character: (archive footage)
A compilation of early-day silent films that serves as a glimpse back to the formative days of the movie industry as a salute to Hollywood's Golden Year, so proclaimed by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce as 1953....
Easy Street
Character: The Derelict
A derelict, huddled under the steps of a missionary church, feels enlightened by the sermon of a passionate preacher and infatuated by the beauty of the congregation's pianist, in such a way that he tries to improve his life of poverty by becoming a policeman. His first assignment will be to patrol along Easy Street, the turf of a vicious bully and his criminal gang....
The Immigrant
Character: Immigrant
An European immigrant endures a challenging voyage only to get into trouble as soon as he arrives in New York....
Hitler: The Comedy Years
Character: Adenoid Hynkel (archive footage) (uncredited)
A documentary about the portrayal of Adolf Hitler in popular culture....
A Jitney Elopement
Character: Suitor, the Fake Count
Edna's father wants her to marry wealthy Count He-Ha. Charlie, Edna's true love, impersonates the Count at dinner, but the real Count shows up and Charlie is thrown out. Later on Charlie and Edna are chased by her father, The Count, and three policeman. The pursuers drive off a pier....
Making a Living
Character: The Swindler (uncredited)
A swindler scams a newspaper reporter-photographer and then, not realizing where the man is employed, applies for a job at his newspaper....
A Film Johnnie
Character: The Film Johnnie aka The Tramp (uncredited)
The Tramp, a film Johnnie (someone who loiters near theaters or studios to meet stars or get a job), attempts to meet his favorite movie actress at the Keystone Studio, but does not win friends there....
Tango Tangles
Character: Tipsy Dancer
In a dance hall, two members of the orchestra and a tipsy dancer fight over the hat check girl....
His Favorite Pastime
Character: Drunken Masher
A very plastered fella follows a pretty woman home, and proceeds to make a nuisance of himself....
The Star Boarder
Character: The Star Boarder aka The Tramp (uncredited)
A fun-loving little boy's magic lantern show exposes some indiscreet moments between his landlady mother and her star boarder....
Mabel at the Wheel
Character: Villain (uncredited)
A villain, competing with his rival's race car, kidnaps the rival before the race. Mabel decides to take the wheel in his place....
Twenty Minutes of Love
Character: Pickpocket
Charlie is hanging around in the park, finding problems with a jealous suitor, a man who thinks that Charlie has robbed him a watch, a policeman and even a little boy, all because our friend can't stop snooping....
Caught in the Rain
Character: Tipsy Hotel Guest aka The Tramp (uncredited)
When a married couple become separated in the park, a tramp sits with the lady and is beat up when her husband rejoins her. He takes a room in their hotel, and chaos ensues....
A Busy Day
Character: Wife
A jealous wife is chasing her unfaithful husband during a parade, after he starts to flirt with a pretty woman....
The Knockout
Character: Referee (uncredited)
To show his girl how brave he is, Pug challenges the champion to a fight. Charlie referees, trying to avoid contact with the two monsters....
Mabel's Married Life
Character: Mabel's Husband
Mabel goes home after being humiliated by a masher whom her husband won't fight. The husband goes off to a bar and gets drunk....
The Property Man
Character: Property Man (uncredited)
Charlie is in charge of stage props and has trouble with actors' luggage and conflicts over who gets the star's dressing room. Once all that is resolved the next issue is getting everyone on stage with the correct backdrop....
The Face on the Barroom Floor
Character: Artist
A painter turned tramp (Chaplin), devastated by losing the woman he was courting as a wealthy man, finds himself drunk and getting drunker by the minute with some sailors at a bar until he's literally falling down. He keeps futilely trying to draw the woman's picture on the floor with a piece of chalk until he finally passes out cold (or perhaps dies, as in the poem) at the end of the film....
Recreation
Character: Tramp
Charlie begins to woo a woman on a bench, only to have her seaman boyfriend object. After a brick fight between the two men that eventually involves two police officers, all five people end up in the local pond to cool off....
His New Profession
Character: Charlie
Charlie takes care of a man in a wheelchair....
The Rounders
Character: Mr. Full
Two drunks fight with their wives and then go out and get even drunker....
Those Love Pangs
Character: Masher
Charlie and a rival vie for the favor of their landlady....
Gentlemen of Nerve
Character: Mr. Wow-Woe, Track Fanatic
Mabel and her beau go to an auto race and are joined by Charlie and his friend. As Charlie's friend is attempting to enter the raceway through a hole, the friend gets stuck and a policeman shows up....
His Musical Career
Character: Charlie, Piano Mover
Charlie and his partner are to deliver a piano to 666 Prospect St. and repossess one from 999 Prospect St....
His Trysting Places
Character: Clarence, the Husband
On his way to a restaurant, Ambrose, a happily married man, obliges to mail a letter for a woman in the apartment lobby. Unbeknownst to him, the letter is about a rendezvous with her own lover at their "trysting place". Elsewhere, after some domestic frustration, Charlie runs an errand to buy a baby bottle before stopping at the same restaurant. After a confrontation there, they both inadvertently leave with each other's coats. Later, their wives independently discover what appears to be incrim...
Getting Acquainted
Character: Mr. Sniffels
Charlie and his wife are in the park when he encounters Ambrose and his wife. Each man is attracted to and shows unwanted attention to the other man's wife. A policeman becomes involved....
His Prehistoric Past
Character: Weakchin
Set mostly in the Stone Age, a prehistoric king, with a harem of wives, rules a beach. Charlie arrives and falls for the king's favorite wife. In the end, it turns out to have been a dream; Charlie was asleep in the park....
His New Job
Character: Film Extra
When one of the actors on a movie set doesn't show up, Charlie gets his chance to be on camera and replaces the actor. While waiting, he plays in a dice game and gets on many people's nerves. When he finally gets to act, he ruins his scene, accidentally destroys the set, and tears the skirt of the star of the movie....
A Night Out
Character: Reveller
After a visit to a pub, Charlie and Ben cause a ruckus at a posh restaurant. Charlie later finds himself in a compromising position at a hotel with the head waiter's wife....
In the Park
Character: Charlie
A tramp steals a girl's handbag, but when he tries to pick Charlie's pocket loses his cigarettes and matches. He rescues a hot dog man from a thug, but takes a few with his walking stick. When the thief tries to take some of Charlie's sausages, Charlie gets the handbag. The handbag makes its way from person to person to its owner, who is angry with her boyfriend who didn't protect her in the first place. The boyfriend decides to throw himself in the lake in despair, so Charlie helps him out....
By the Sea
Character: Stroller
It is windy at a bathing resort. After fighting with one of the two husbands, Charlie approaches Edna while the two husbands themselves fight over ice cream. Driven away by her husband, Charlie turns to the other's wife....
His Regeneration
Character: A Customer
A rough criminal gets a second chance at life thanks to a kindly (and wealthy) lady saloon patron. But he hasn't gone straight yet, as he and a partner attempt to rob the home of a rich homeowner-- whose wife is asleep in the next room....
Work
Character: Izzy A. Wake's assistant
Charlie and his boss have difficulties just getting to the house they are going to wallpaper. The householder is angry because he can't get breakfast and his wife is screaming at the maid as they arrive. The kitchen gas stove explodes, and Charlie offers to fix it. The wife's secret lover arrives and is passed off as the workers' supervisor, but the husband doesn't buy this and fires shots. The stove explodes violently, destroying the house....
A Woman
Character: Gentleman / 'Nora Nettlerash'
Mother, father and daughter go to the park. The women doze off on a bench while the father plays a hide-and-seek game with a girl, blindfolded. Charlie leads him into a lake. Both dozing ladies on the bench fall for Charlie and invite him for dinner. The father returns home with a friend. Charlie rushes upstairs and dresses like a woman, shaving his mustache. Both men fall for Charlie....
The Bank
Character: Janitor
A janitor at a bank is in love with a secretary and dreams that she has fallen in love with him too....
Shanghaied
Character: Tramp
A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale....
A Night in the Show
Character: Mr. Pest and Mr. Rowdy
Mr. Pest tries several theatre seats before winding up in front in a fight with the conductor. He is thrown out. In the lobby he pushes a fat lady into a fountain and returns to sit down by Edna. Mr. Rowdy, in the gallery, pours beer down on Mr. Pest and Edna. He attacks patrons, a harem dancer, the singers Dot and Dash, and a fire-eater....
Police
Character: Charlie, Convict 999
Charlie is released from prison and immediately swindled by a fake parson. A fellow ex-convict convinces Charlie to help burglarize a house....
A Burlesque on Carmen
Character: Darn Hosiery
A gypsy seductress is sent to sway a goofy officer to allow a smuggling run....
The Floorwalker
Character: Impecunious Customer
An impecunious customer creates chaos in a department store while the manager and his assistant plot to steal the money kept in the establishment's safe....
The Fireman
Character: Fireman
Firefighter Charlie Chaplin is tricked into letting a house burn by an owner who wants to collect on the insurance....
One A.M.
Character: Le bourgeois alcoolisé
A drunken homeowner has a difficult time getting about in his home after arriving home late at night....
Behind the Screen
Character: David - Property Man's Assistant
During the troubled shooting of several movies, David, the prop man's assistant, meets an aspiring actress who tries to find work in the studio. Things get messy when the stagehands decide to go on strike....
The Cure
Character: The Inebriate
An alcoholic checks into a health spa and his antics promptly throw the establishment into chaos....
Triple Trouble
Character: The Janitor
As Colonel Nutt is experimenting with explosives, a new janitor is joining his household. The inept janitor proceeds to make life difficult for the rest of staff....
The Bond
Character: Charlie
A propaganda film created by Charlie Chaplin at his own expense for the Liberty Load Committee to help sell U.S. Liberty Bonds during World War I. The story is a series of sketches humorously illustrating various bonds like the bond of friendship and of marriage and, most important, the Liberty Bond, to K.O. the Kaiser which Charlie does literally....
Shoulder Arms
Character: Doughboy
An American doughboy, stationed in France during the Great War, goes on a daring mission behind enemy lines and becomes a hero....
Sunnyside
Character: Farm Handyman
An overworked farmhand who works also at the adjacent hotel dreams of marrying the village belle....
A Day's Pleasure
Character: Father
A father takes his family for an outing, which turns out to be a ridiculous trial....
Nice and Friendly
Character: Tramp
This short was made as a wedding present for Lord and Lady Mountbatten. In it, Lady Mountbatten has a valuable pearl necklace, which a very large number of crooks wants to steal....
Pay Day
Character: Laborer
A bricklayer and his wife clash over his end-of-the-week partying....
The Pilgrim
Character: The Pilgrim / Lefty Lombard
The Tramp is an escaped convict who is mistaken as a pastor in a small town church....
Camille: The Fate of a Coquette
Character: Mike
A home movie version of the Dumas play. A young woman becomes a courtesan and tragedy befalls her. Appearances are made by many socialites of 1920s Paris and New York....
A Thief Catcher
Character: Cop (uncredited)
Two criminals chase a plainclothes policeman who, while taking out his dog, witnesses their crime....
Her Friend the Bandit
Character: Bandit
A comedy made by Keystone Studios starring Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand, both of whom co-directed the movie. This is Chaplin's only lost film as no copy is known to exist....
Chaplin's Limelight: Its Evolution and Intimacy
Character: Self (archive footage)
A video essay on Charlie Chaplin's film "Limelight" (1952)....
The Professor
Character: Professor Bosco
Professor Bosco, a poor flea trainer, rents a bed in a flophouse. Before going to bed, he rallies his troops and once he has made sure his beloved fleas are settled for the night, the professor prepares to sleep the sleep of the just man. Unfortunately he accidentally knocks the box off his bed and the fleas have the time of their lives pestering Bosco's neighbors. To get the escapees back in their box again, the trainer resorts to... his whip! All is back to normal one more time. But not for lo...
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
Character: Self (archive footage)
A documentary of Hollywood's first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life, and his premature death....
The Spanish Flu: The Invisible Enemy
Character: Self (archive footage)
In April 1918, a disease of unknown origin swept across the five continents. In 18 months, millions of lives that had not been taken by the war were swept away by a virus that would cause the worst pandemic in history: the Spanish flu....
Smash His Camera
Character: Self (archive footage)
A film centering on the life and work of Ron Galella that examines the nature and effect of paparazzi....
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
Character: (archive footage)
A film where anything can happen - the hero and the heroine changes their faces, age, look, names, and so on. The only same thing: The love between man and woman... in an archetypical love story cut from 500 classics from all around the world....
Life Begins Tomorrow
Character: Self (archive footage)
Documentary filmmaker Védrès' first semi-fictional feature was released in France in 1949 as La Vie Commence Demain. The film made it to the U.S. in 1952 as Life Begins Tomorrow. Made in cooperation with UNESCO, the film speculates on the future of mankind after the advent of Atomic Energy. Many prominent French artists and intellects contribute to the narration: Jean-Pierre Aumont plays The Man of Today, Andre Labarthe is the Man of Tomorrow, and Jean-Paul Sartre, Daniel Agache, Jean Rostand, L...
When Comedy Was King
Character: edited from 'His Trysting Place, ' 'The Masqurader, ' and 'Kid Auto at Venice.' (archive footage)
A compilation featuring comedic stars of the silent era including Fatty Arbuckle, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Charley Chase, and Laurel and Hardy....
The Gentleman Tramp
Character: Self
A film about the life and work of the master comedy filmmaker, Charles Chaplin....
How to Make Movies
Character: Self (uncredited)
This film was never released for the general public. It was hidden in Chaplin's private vaults for forty years until he included some parts of it in his compilation 'The Chaplin Revue' in 1959....
All at Sea
Character: Self
"All at Sea" is a short documentary of Cooke, Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard all on Chaplin's yacht on an afternoon sail....
Crazy Days
Character: Various (archive footage) (uncredited)
Narrator Hughie Green tells "jokes" over clips of old silent films. Including greats such as Fatty Arbuckle, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, the Keystone Cops and more....
Seeing Stars
Character: Self
First National gala celebrity banquet with stars....
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50....
Hitler: A Career
Character: Self (archive footage)
A keen chronicle of the unlikely rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and a dissection of the Third Reich (1933-1945), but also an analysis of mass psychology and how the desperate crowd can be deceived and shepherded to the slaughterhouse....
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Character: Self (archive footage)
Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually getting ready for another World War....
Le Baron et l'Empereur : Japon, la voie de la guerre
Character: Self (archive footage)
...
A Night at the Cinema in 1914
Character: (archive footage)
Cinema a century ago was a new, exciting and highly democratic form of entertainment. Picture houses nationwide offered a sociable, lively environment in which to relax and escape from the daily grind. With feature films still rare, the programme was an entertaining, ever-changing roster of short items with live musical accompaniment. 100 years on, this special compilation from the BFI National Archive recreates the glorious miscellany of comedies, dramas, travelogues and newsreels which would h...
The Circus: Premiere
Character: Self
Footage from the premiere of Charlie Chaplin's 1928 film 'The Circus'....
A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate
Character: Station Porter (uncredited)
When Marie St. Clair believes she has been jilted by her artist fiance Jean, she decides to leave for Paris on her own. After spending a year in the city as a mistress of the wealthy Pierre Revel, she is reunited with Jean by chance. This leaves her with the choice between a glamorous life in Paris, and the true love she left behind....
Chaplin Today: 'The Gold Rush'
Character: Self (archive footage)
African filmmaker Idrissa Ouedraogo (YAABA) discusses the influence that Charlie Chaplin has been on his work, along with archival footage of interviews with several of Chaplin's co-stars....
Hollywood on Parade No. B-5
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Comedian Lloyd Hamilton escorts a group of beauty contest winners to various Hollywood night spots....
The Golden Twenties
Character: (archive footage)
Feature-length compilation of 1920s newsreel footage, with commentary about news, sports, lifestyles, and historical figures....
Souls for Sale
Character: Self - Celebrity Director
A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star....
German Giants
Character: Self
At the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, we see the red-hot favourites Hungary, led by the legendary Ferenc Puskás eventually beaten by West Germany 3-2 in a classic final....
Chaplin's Goliath
Character: Self (archive footage)
A film about the tall actor who was most famous for playing the quintessential villain for Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character....
Birth of the Tramp
Character: Self (archive footage)
A look back at Charlie Chaplin's early life and career, from his rough childhood and music hall success in England to his early Hollywood days and the development of his enormously popular character, the Little Tramp, also called Charlot....
The Chaplin Puzzle
Character: Self / The Tramp (archive footage)
This rare two part documentary focuses on Charlie Chaplin's development at Keystone and Essanay. It concludes with a director's cut of the film Police (1916). The series is narrated by none other than Burgess Meredith....
Hollywood's Second World War
Character: Adenoid Hynkel (archive footage)
For the USA, World War 2 was an all-out war - to mobilize the masses, the US government launched a huge propaganda campaign and cinema, the medium of the masses, was quite simply their most important weapon. Government authorities monitored the production of feature films and the military itself produced documentaries aimed at rallying the American people to support the troops. This film tells the story of four Hollywood directors of European origin, who returned to the "Old World" during the Se...
Life and Deaths of Max Linder
Character: Self (archive footage)
Searching for documentation about Max Linder, we found in an abandoned house a trunk sealed for 100 years, with a film from 1926 by an unknown filmmaker. The film depicts Max Linder, the first international screen star who was once revered in France, throughout Europe and in Hollywood. This pioneer of early silent film comedy was a mentor to Charlie Chaplin. Max miraculously avoided death five times. And finally, at the height of his artistic powers, he and his adored wife committed a double sui...
Days of Thrills and Laughter
Character: Self (archive footage)
An appreciative, uncritical look at silent film comedies and thrillers from early in the century through the 1920s....
Chaplin Today: 'Monsieur Verdoux'
Character: Self (archive footage)
A short documentary in the Chaplin Today series about Chaplin's "Monsieur Verdoux." Includes an interview with Claude Chabrol, whose 1963 film "Landru" concerns the same serial killer that inspired Chaplin's film....
Chaplin Today: 'Limelight'
Character: Self (archive footage)
A short documentary about the making of Chaplin's "Limelight."...
Chaplin Today: 'Modern Times'
Character: Self (archive footage)
Award-winning filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne profess their love for the classic "Modern Times." The directors expose their views on the many aspects of the film, Chaplin's brilliancy and they also provide interesting details about the making of Chaplin's masterpiece....
Chaplin Today: 'The Great Dictator'
Character: Self (archive footage)
A short documentary about the making of "The Great Dictator."...
Chaplin Today: 'A King in New York'
Character: Self (archive footage)
An examination of Charles Chaplin's final starring film....
Chaplin Carnival
Character: Various Roles (archive footage)
Four Chaplin shorts from 1916: Behind the Screen, The Count, The Fireman, and The Vagabond, presented with music and sound effects....
Mary Pickford a Blessing and a Curse
Character: Self
Mary Pickford's name remains inseparable from the legend of American cinema. She invented the star system at the beginning of the 20th century, and was the biggest star ever known, not just in Hollywood, but worldwide, at a time when actors didn't even have their names on movie posters. She was more than a pioneer, she was a jack-of-all-trades: world-famous star, producer and formidable businesswoman, screenwriter and director in the shadows, studio boss, Mary Pickford alone embodied the entire ...
Trip to Bali
Character: Self (archive footage)
A document of Charlie Chaplin's trip to Bali in 1932....
The Habit Breakers
Character: Himself (Archive Footage)
A vibrant and bold reality show crew dives into the life of a man whose attempt to preserve his father's legacy through Charlie Chaplin memorabilia spirals into a chaotic and troubling journey, capturing the raw and untamed edges of a passion turned dark....
Smile!
Character: Archive footage
A docudrama presenting the events which explain how and why Charles Spencer Chaplin made alterations to his original ending of the famous movie “Modern Times” following his encounter with the Soviet director Fridrikh Ermler....
The Eternal Jew
Character: Self (1931) (archive footage)
A Nazi propaganda film made to promote anti-Semitism among the German people. Newly-shot footage of Jewish neighborhoods in recently-conquered Poland is combined with preexisting film clips and stills to defame the religion and advance Hitler's slurs that its adherents were plotting to undermine European civilization....
Chaplin Today: 'City Lights'
Character: Self (archive footage)
In 1928, as the talkies threw the film industry and film language into turmoil, Chaplin decided that his Tramp character would not be heard. City Lights would not be a talking picture, but it would have a soundtrack. Chaplin personally composed a musical score and sound effects for the picture. With Peter Lord, the famous co-creator of Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit, we see how Chaplin became the king of slapstick comedy and the superstar of the movies....
Charlie Butts In
Character:
A tramp heads home drunk on a Saturday night, finding it hard to make it to his room. When he finally does, he cannot make it to his bed....
Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies
Character: Self (archive footage)
This documentary traces the life and work of the legendary "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford, silent film star, movie pioneer and keen businesswoman. Pickford's life also parallels an even larger story, telling of the birth of the cinema itself....
Looking for Charlie: Or, the Day the Clown Died
Character: Self (archive footage)
A documentary which explores the lives and tragic deaths of Marceline Orbes and Francis "Slivers" Oakley, the suicidal clowns who inspired Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton....
Charlie Chaplin: The Little Tramp
Character: Self (archive footage)
Joel Grey dresses up as Charlie Chaplin to tell the story of his movie career, and show many of his clips....
All in Good Fun
Character: (archive footage)
Bob Monkhouse introduces the golden age of slapstick comedy....
Lifetime of Comedy
Character: (archive footage)
Compilation of comedy sketches from the comedy kings Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Danny Kaye & Bing Crosby....
Show People
Character: Self (uncredited)
Hollywood hopeful Peggy Pepper arrives at a major studio, from Georgia, to become a great dramatic star. Things don't go entirely according to plan....
Charlie Chaplin: A Tramp's Life
Character: Self (archive footage)
A biographical documentary about the great British actor and director Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), from rags to riches, from the slums of London to glory....
Chaplin in Bali
Character: Self (archive footage)
In 1932, Chaplin, in full midlife crisis, escapes to Bali in search of himself to find the artistic rejuvenation and inspiration to do his difficult transition to sound film....
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Character: Self (archive footage)
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression....
The Tramp and the Dictator
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
A look at the parallel lives of Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler and how they crossed with the creation of the film “The Great Dictator,” released in 1940....
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Character: Self - In Clip with Paulette Goddard (archive footage)
This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage....
Dancing Chaplin
Character: Self (archive footage)
The celebrated French choreographer Roland Petit had always had his eye on a film presentation of his ballet "Chaplin Dances", which premiered in 1991 and has been touring the world since, and he assigned this project to his trusted friend, Masayuki Suo, pioneer of the current revival of Japanese cinema. Drawing upon a wealth of worldwide ballet talent, Petit's ballet and Chaplin's films, Suo reinvented the work and has given it a new lease of life. The resulting piece is not simply a filmed rec...
The Film Parade
Character: (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pioneer filmmaker J. Stuart Blackton was intrigued by the idea of a film about the history of the movies as early as 1915. He finally released a 52-minute feature called The Film Parade that was shown in New York and favorably reviewed by "Variety" in 1933. He continued tinkering with the film for the rest of the decade, and later filmmakers and distributors used Blackton's footage for stock or to produce their own variously titled and truncated versions. -UCLA Film & Television Archive...
Warner at War
Character: (archive footage)
Warner Bros. uses the movies to prepare the US for war and keep up morale on the home front during World War II....
The Chaplin Revue
Character: Narrator / Various (archive footage)
Three Chaplin silent comedies "A Dog's Life", "Shoulder Arms", and "The Pilgrim" are strung together to form a single feature length film. Chaplin provides new music, narration, and a small amount of new connecting material. "Shoulder Arms" is now described as taking place in a time before "the atom bomb"....
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
Character: Self / Various roles (archive footage)
The careers of D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin are chronicled culminating in the formation of United Artists and 1919....
Looking for Mabel Normand
Character: Self (archive footage)
A documentary on the life and career of silent film star Mabel Normand....
Sigrid Holmquist
Character: Himself (archive footage)
The story of Swedish silent film actress Sigrid Holmquist's life (1899-1970), by using the silent film medium. It consists of already existing film clips from the 1910s and 20s. Sigrid is played by eight different stars from her era, and she also plays herself. Sigrid Holmquist was born in Borås, Sweden and her stubborn spirit led her to become a movie star in Scandinavia and Hollywood before retiring from the movies in 1926. An experimental film project....
The Charlie Chaplin Festival
Character: Various Roles (archive footage)
Four Chaplin shorts from 1917: The Immigrant, The Adventurer, The Cure, and Easy Street, presented with music and sound effects....
Winston Churchill: A Giant in the Century
Character: Self (archive footage)
A new look at the public and private life of one of the most important statesmen in the history of Europe: Winston Churchill (1874-1965), soldier, politician, writer, painter, leader of his country in the darkest hours, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, a myth, a giant of the 20th century....
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Character: Self (archive footage)
Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well, nothing. This eye-opening documentary examines the rampant sexuality of early Hollywood through movie clips and reminiscences by stars of the era. Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlene Dietrich and others relate tales of the artistic freedom that led to the draconian Production Code, which governed content from 1934 to 1968. Diane Lane narrates....
The Big Parade of Comedy
Character: Actor in Theater Lobby (archive footage) (uncredited)
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history....
Hollywood, la vie rêvée de Lana Turner
Character: Self (archive footage)
Portrait of Julia Jean Turner, from her childhood to her rise of fame as Lana Turner, to her last role....
And the Oscar Goes To...
Character: Self (archive footage)
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement....
Propaganda: Engineering Consent
Character: Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
How can the masses be controlled? Apparently, the American publicist Edward L. Bernays (1891-1995), a pioneer in the field of propaganda and public relations, knew the answer to such a key question. The amazing story of the master of manipulation and the creation of the engineering of consent; a frightening true story about advertising, lies and charlatans....
It's Showtime
Character: Self (archive footage)
A collection of film clips profiling animal actors....
The Chaplin Cavalcade
Character: Various Roles (archive footage)
Four Chaplin shorts from 1916: One A.M., The Rink, The Pawnshop, and The Floorwalker, presented with music and sound effects....
Max Linder Visits Charlie Chaplin
Character: Self
Renowned French comedian and filmmaker Max Linder visits Charlie Chaplin in 1917....
Chaplin Today: 'The Kid'
Character: Self (archive footage)
This documentary is featured on the two-disc Chaplin Collection DVD for "The Kid" (1921), released in 2004....
Chaplin vs the FBI
Character: Self (archive footage)
How FBI followed Charles Chaplin for 50 years. Hoover was convinced that Chaplin is a communist or communist supporter....
Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
Character: Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The story of Italian cinema under Fascism, a sophisticated film industry built around the founding of the Cinecittà studios and the successful birth of a domestic star system, populated by very peculiar artists among whom stood out several beautiful, magnetic, special actresses; a dark story of war, drugs, sex, censorship and tragedy....
Chaplin/Keaton: Duel of Legends
Character: (archive footage)
Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were two incredibly talented artists who enjoyed enormous worldwide success at a very young age. The two giants of the golden age of silent cinema were perceived to be constantly competing with each other for the crown of the king of laughter....
Charlie Chaplin at Mutual Studios I
Character: (archive footage)
Includes: "The Count" (1916), "The Vagabond" (1916), The Fireman" (1916), "Behind the Screen" (1916)....
Visite de Charlie Chaplin à la Cinémathèque française
Character: Self
...
Hollywood’s Children
Character: Self (archive footage)
A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy McDowell)....
Bravo Charlot!
Character: Various characters (archive footage)
...
30 Years of Fun
Character: (archive footage)
Three decades of fun packed into one convenient package with this compilation of classic black-and-white comedy clips featuring Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy....
Chase Me Charlie
Character: Charlie
Chase Me Charlie was an anthology consisting of excerpts from several of Chaplin's short films made for the Essanay Company, including The Tramp, Shanghaied, In the Park and The Bank. The 1918 film-- fourteen years later-- was re released, this time with music and narration. The score was written by Elias Breeskin and the narration was spoken by Teddy Bergman who later changed his name to Alan Reed...
Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty
Character: Self (archive footage)
The whole world knows him. Burlesque comedy genius, popular actor, author, director, producer, composer, choreographer, Charlie Chaplin (1899-1977) used his talent to serve an ideal of justice and freedom. But his best scenario was his own destiny, a story written into the political and artistic history of the 20th century....
Charlie Chaplin Meets Harry Lauder
Character: A Tramp
This is an incomplete, then unreleased, and untitled charity film featuring Charlie Chaplin and Harry Lauder. Wikipedia and IMDb lists the film's year as 1918. http://www.jimvallance.com/02-family-folder/harry-lauder-folder/lauder-pages/harry-lauder-films/pg-lauder-films.html lists the filming date as January 22, 1917. That is the date used here. IMDb lists the writer and director as Harry Lauder....
The Great Dictator: The Clown Turns Prophet
Character: Self (archive footage)
In this visual essay, Charles Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance, author of "Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema", draws upon a wealth of photography as well as a wide range of interviews (Paulette Goddard, Sydney Chaplin, Chuck Jones, Leni Riefenstahl, Mel Brooks, Joan Collins et al.) to examine the production history of "The Great Dictator", the film's importance as a satire, and legacy....
Jackie Coogan: The First Child Star
Character: Self (archive footage)
Documentary taking a look at the career of Jackie Coogan who was considered the first child star....
Charlie Chaplin: His Life & Work
Character: (archive footage)
Charlie Chaplin's rise to fame in the pioneering days of the film industry is one of the most dramatic rags to riches stories ever told. Follow his success in detail with clips from his movies providing a backdrop to this ‚'Intimate Biography'....
ViennaFilm 1896-1976
Character: Self (archive footage)
This film is a kind of anthology about Vienna, from the invention of film to the present day. The aim is to break down the usual clichéd "image of Vienna" such as that found in the traditional "Vienna Film" by juxtaposing documentary footage, newly shot material and subjective sequences created by various artists. Individual, self-contained sections of the film gain new meaning within the context of historical material. Familiar sites appear estranged when edited together with historical scenes....
A Burlesque on the Opera Carmen
Character: Darn Hosiery
Peter Sellers makes funny voice narration over the Chaplin film A Burlesque on Carmen (1915)....
Charlie Chaplin: The Long Year at Essanay
Character: Self (archive footage)
Short documentary about Chaplin's year at Essanay. Clips from Chaplin films but also from other Essanay films....
Douglas Fairbanks: The Great Swashbuckler
Character: Self (archive footage)
Douglas Fairbanks, the screen's great swashbuckler, charmed millions with his energetic athleticism, his boyishly handsome good looks, and his sparkling charisma. Whether it was fighting off tyrannical land-owners in "The Mark of Zorro," slashing the king's guards in "The Three Musketeers," sliding down sails in "The Black Pirate," springing in leaps and bounds in "Robin Hood," or riding a winged horse across the night sky in "The Thief of Bagdad," Douglas Fairbanks was in his element as an acti...
Chaplin Today: 'The Circus'
Character: Self (archive footage)
This documentary is featured on the Warner Bros. Chaplin Collection DVD for "The Circus," released in 2004....
Buñuel in Hollywood
Character: Self (archive footage)
This documentary traces the relationship of Buñuel with American culture and Hollywood. The program proposes a chronological journey through the Aragonese filmmaker stays in the U.S., the characters he met, the films he made and he could never do. The program also includes new material-unpublished until 2012 - the Aragonese director filmed in the U.S. in the early 1940s and where he can be seen playing one of their children or enjoying a short holiday in a cottage....
Gene Kelly - An American in Hollywood
Character: Self (archive footage)
Gene Kelly is a legend of the heyday of the Hollywood musical. His name stands for masterpieces such as "Singin' in the Rain" and "An American in Paris". As a singer, dancer, actor, choreographer and director, he was a true all-round artist who revolutionized the world of dance in particular. Kelly, who loved to experiment, explored new forms of dance expression and helped a whole generation of young talents to fame. From his beginnings in cabarets and on Broadway to his recognition as a choreog...