We will explore the unique artistic elements that make silent films appreciated by audiences young and old and get to know the life and work of Charlie Chaplin, including his role in founding United Artists with Mary Pickford and others as well as the circumstances surrounding his exile from the United States for nearly 20 years.
Key Lecture Points The silent film era spanned over three decades from the s to the s. Over that time period, movies evolved from a novelty to an art form.
In addition, silent film also became a big business in this era. Silent movies provided cheap entertainment that overcame the language barrier for the millions of immigrants coming to America in the early 20th century.
The Silent Film era was characterized by significant power struggles, as individuals and corporations fought to capitalize on the burgeoning industry.. Additionally, the era was shaped by innovative actors and directors, including D.
Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and others. Most famous of all was Charlie Chaplin. An accomplished vaudeville performer, Chaplin made his first film in and later that year created his signature character, The Tramp.
However, for most viewers it is still considered a silent film -- and the end of an era. Although " talkies " became the dominant mode of movie making soon after they were introduced in , Chaplin resisted making such a film all through the s. He considered cinema was essentially a pantomimic art. He said: "Action is more generally understood than words. Like Chinese symbolism, it will mean different things according to its scenic connotation. Listen to a description of some unfamiliar object -- an African wart hog, for example; then look at a picture of the animal and see how surprised you are Time Magazine, February 9, It is a tribute to Chaplin's versatility that he also has one film credit for choreography for the film Limelight , and another as a singer for the title music of The Circus The best known of several songs he composed are " Smile ", composed for the film "Modern Times" and given lyrics to help promote a s revival of the film, famously covered by Nat King Cole.
His first dialogue picture, The Great Dictator , was an act of defiance against German dictator Adolf Hitler and Nazism , filmed and released in the United States one year before it abandoned its policy of isolationism to enter World War II. Chaplin played the role of a Nazi-like dictator "Adenoid Hynkel", [5] Dictator of Tomainia, clearly modeled on Hitler.
Paulette Goddard filmed with Chaplin again, depicting a woman in the ghetto. The film was seen as an act of courage in the political environment of the time, both for its ridicule of Nazism and for the portrayal of overt Jewish characters and the depiction of their persecution.
Chaplin played both the role of Adenoid Hynkel and also that of a look-alike Jewish barber cruelly persecuted by the Nazis.
The barber physically resembles Chaplin's Tramp character, but is not considered to be the Tramp. At the conclusion, the two characters Chaplin portrayed swapped positions through a complex plot, and he dropped out of his comic character to address the audience directly in a speech.
Chaplin's political sympathies always lay with the left. His politics seem tame by modern standards, but in the s his views in conjunction with his influence, fame, and status in the United States as a resident foreigner were seen by many as communistic. His silent films made prior to the Great Depression typically did not contain overt political themes or messages, apart from the Tramp's plight in poverty and his run-ins with the law, but his s films were more openly political.
Modern Times depicts workers and poor people in dismal conditions. The final dramatic speech in The Great Dictator , which was critical of following patriotic nationalism without question, and his vocal public support for the opening of a second European front in to assist the Soviet Union in World War II were controversial.
In at least one of those speeches, according to a contemporary account in the Daily Worker , he intimated that Communism might sweep the world after World War II and equated it with human progress.
Apart from the controversial speeches, Chaplin declined to support the war effort as he had done for the First World War which led to public anger, although his two sons saw service in the Army in Europe. For most of WWII he was fighting serious criminal and civil charges related to his involvement with actress Joan Barry see below. After the war, the critical view towards what he regarded as capitalism in his black comedy, Monsieur Verdoux led to increased hostility, with the film being the subject of protests in many US cities.
As a result, Chaplin's final American film, Limelight , was less political and more autobiographical in nature. His following European-made film, A King in New York , satirized the political persecution and paranoia that had forced him to leave the US five years earlier.
After this film, Chaplin lost interest in making overt political statements, later saying that comedians and clowns should be "above politics". Although Chaplin had his major successes in the United States and was a resident from to , he always retained his British nationality.
During the era of McCarthyism , Chaplin was accused of " un-American activities " as a suspected communist sympathizer and J. Edgar Hoover , who had instructed the FBI to keep extensive secret files on him, tried to end his United States residency. FBI pressure on Chaplin grew after his campaign for a second European front in the war and reached a critical level in the late s, when Congressional figures threatened to call him as a witness in hearings.
This was never done, probably from fear of Chaplin's ability to lampoon the investigators. Hoover learned of the trip and negotiated with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to revoke Chaplin's re-entry permit. Chaplin decided not to re-enter the United States, writing; " Since the end of the last world war, I have been the object of lies and propaganda by powerful reactionary groups who, by their influence and by the aid of America's yellow press , have created an unhealthy atmosphere in which liberal-minded individuals can be singled out and persecuted.
Under these conditions I find it virtually impossible to continue my motion-picture work, and I have therefore given up my residence in the United States. Chaplin then made his home in Vevey , Switzerland.
He briefly and triumphantly returned to the United States in April , with his wife, to receive an Honorary Oscar , and was welcomed warmly. Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid Chaplin won one Oscar in a competitive category, and was given two honorary Academy Awards. The film also features an appearance with Buster Keaton , which was the only time the two great comedians ever appeared together.
Due to Chaplin's political difficulties, the film did not play a one-week theatrical engagement in Los Angeles when it was first produced.
This criterion for nomination was unfulfilled until During his active years as a filmmaker, Chaplin expressed disdain for the Academy Awards; his son Charles Jr wrote that Chaplin invoked the ire of the Academy in the s by jokingly using his Oscar as a doorstop.
This may help explain why City Lights and Modern Times , considered by several polls to be two of the greatest of all motion pictures, [8] [9] [10] were not nominated for a single Academy Award.
When the first Oscars were awarded on May 16 , the voting audit procedures that now exist had not yet been put into place, and the categories were still very fluid.
Chaplin had originally been nominated for both Best Actor and Best Comedy Directing for his movie The Circus , but his name was withdrawn and the Academy decided to give him a special award "for versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus " instead.
The other film to receive a special award that year was The Jazz Singer. Chaplin's second honorary award came forty-four years later in , and was for "the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century". He came out of his exile to accept his award, and received the longest standing ovation in Academy Award history, lasting a full five minutes. Statue of Chaplin in Leicester Square , London. Chaplin's two final films were made in London: A King in New York in which he had starred, written, directed and produced; and A Countess from Hong Kong , starring Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando , in which Chaplin had made his final on-screen appearance in a brief cameo role as a seasick steward, and in which he had directed, produced, and written.
In his second autobiography My Life In Pictures , published in , Chaplin indicated that he had written a screenplay for his youngest daughter, Victoria; entitled The Freak , the film would have cast her as an angel. According to Chaplin, a script was completed and pre-production rehearsals had begun on the film the book includes a photograph of Victoria in costume , but were halted when Victoria married.
In the s, Chaplin wrote original music compositions and scores for his silent pictures and re-released them. One of Chaplin's last completed works, the score for his film A Woman of Paris , was finished in Hetty Kelly was Chaplin's 'true' first love, a dancer with whom he "instantly" fell in love when she was fifteen and almost married when she was nineteen.
At the time Kelly was performing before him in a London music hall and Chaplin asked if she would meet him the following weekend; she agreed. Template:Fact It is said Chaplin fell madly in love with her and asked her to marry him. When she refused, Chaplin suggested it would be best if they did not see each other again; he was reportedly crushed when she agreed. Years later, her memory would remain a ' fetish ' with Chaplin. He was devastated in when he learned that she had died of influenza during the Great Flu Pandemic of There is a slight controversy over whether or not Chaplin and Kelly had a child; if so, the child has yet to be brought to light.
Chaplin and his first major leading lady, Edna Purviance , were involved in a close romantic relationship during the production of his Essanay and Mutual films in — The romance seems to have ended by , and Chaplin's marriage to Mildred Harris in late ended any possibility of reconciliation. Purviance would continue as leading lady in Chaplin's films until , and would remain on Chaplin's payroll until her death in She and Chaplin spoke warmly of one another for the rest of their lives.
Mildred Harris ca - On October 23 , , Chaplin, age twenty-nine, married the popular child-actress, Mildred Harris , age sixteen. The couple divorced on April 4, Template:Fact Chaplin admitted that he "was not in love, now that [he] was married [he] wanted to be and wanted the marriage to be a success. Harris in turn claimed Chaplin was a sexual addict.
Chaplin was involved in a very public relationship and engagement to the Polish actress Pola Negri in —23, after she arrived in Hollywood to star in films. The stormy on-off engagement was halted after about nine months, but in many ways it foreshadowed the modern stereotypes of Hollywood star relationships. Chaplin's public involvement with Negri was unique in his public life. By comparison he strove to keep his other romances and relationships very discreet and private usually without success.
However, it is known that he almost never worked from a finished script, improving jokes and dialogue once the set had been constructed. Chaplin is often compared to the other great silent comedian - Buster Keaton - however, fans have noted that while Keaton is more cynical in his act, Chaplin had a love for sentimentality and pathos. The actor also composed the music for many of his films, most notably the song 'Smile', which he wrote for 'Modern Times' and was later covered by Nat King Cole, reaching number two in the UK charts.
When sound films appeared, Chaplin's natural terrain of silent film was eclipsed by the novelty and realism of this new technology. Chaplin was accused of being a communist by senator McCarthy, and a file was produced that supposedly detailed his subversive political activities since His first 'talkie' 'The Great Dictator' in added heat to this accusation and caused a stir.
The film saw Chaplin play a caricature version of Adolf Hitler, which was seen as being in bad taste. His support in aiding the Russian struggle against the invading Nazis was also scrutinized, leading the House of Un-American Activities Council issuing a subpoena against him in but later decided he didn't need to testify.
In , Chaplin visited Europe for the premiere of his film 'Limelight' and was not allowed to return to the US; he settled in Switzerland. In , he released his first autobiography called 'My Autobiography', which was followed by 'My Life in Pictures' in He was allowed to return to the US in to receive an Oscar for his services to film. Chaplin was then given a Knighthood of the British Order by the Queen in By the time of his death, Chaplin had fathered 12 children, eight of those with his last wife Oona O'Neill, the daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill, whom he had married in Charlie Chaplin.
He died in Switzerland aged 88 from natural causes in
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