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On the set of SHOULDER ARMS, 1918
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Random quote
“When I was young, the idea of an orgy was tremendously exciting. Charlie Chaplin once organized one in Hollywood for me and two Spanish friends, but when the three ravishing young women arrived from Pasadena, they immediately got into a tremendous argument over which one was going to get Chaplin, and in the end all three left in a huff.”
— Luis Buñuel, My Last Breath, 1983. The bungled orgy took place during the summer of 1930 while Buñuel was visiting Chaplin.
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| L-R: Eduardo Ugarte, Luis Buñuel, Jose Lopez Rubio, Eleanor & Antonio de Lara by the pool at Chaplin's Hollywood home, 1930. source |
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Close Up
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With Margaret Rutherford on the set of A COUNTESS FROM HONG KONG
Margaret had a cameo role as the seasick elderly woman, Miss Gaulswallow. It was producer Jerry Epstein who recommended Rutherford for the role but Charlie was hesitant and accused Epstein of only wanting "stars." But Epstein thought Rutherford would be perfect. Charlie finally gave in and agreed to meet with her:
Charlie, at his most charming, greeted her with open arms. "How nice of you to come. Would you consider playing such a small part for me? It would be such a privilege to have you." Rutherford was completely bowled over: 'It would be a privilege for me to work with you," she said.
....
It was now time to shoot Margaret Rutherford's scene. Charlie was embarrassed that her part as a seasick passenger was so small, so he improvised more business. He placed a multitude of colored ribbons on her bed, and every time she looked at the yellow or green ribbons, she'd feel faint and want to retch. She was so funny, she had the whole crew laughing. Poor thing, she was ill at the time, and was delighted that the scene required her to be in bed.
Oona was always present when we ran Margaret Rutherford's rushes. No matter how often she saw them, she always laughed hysterically. The scene brought the house down in the movie theaters too. And Charlie was most pleased.(Photo and excerpt from Remembering Charlie by Jerry Epstein)
You can watch Margaret's scene here:
http://youtu.be/SiD_12kkn4s?t=13m51s
...and here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xhjn50CxzEs
You can also watch the entire film on youtube. It's not Charlie's best by any stretch but it's worth viewing, if anything, for the music (composed by Charlie), Patrick Cargill (who is great as Hudson), and to see Charlie's brief cameo as a seasick steward.
Extra note: At the beginning of Miss Gaulswallow's scene, she tells the nurse to take the flowers out of the room because they "take up all the oxygen." Evidently Charlie himself felt the same way about flowers, according to his son, Charlie, Jr. Although he loved them, Charlie never wanted them in his bedroom because he felt they absorbed oxygen.
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Outtake from THE COUNT (1916)
In the final film, Eric Campbell is seated in John Rand’s place, so Charlie doesn’t have to lean across Edna Purviance:
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Happy birthday, Charles Chaplin, Jr. (May 5, 1925 - March 20, 1968)
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| Charlie, Jr. with his father... |
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| ...and with his mother, Lita Grey Chaplin. |
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Charlie Chaplin, Jr. in FANGS OF THE WILD (1954)
Here is a link to watch this film online:
http://viooz.co/movies/17173-fangs-of-the-wild-1954.html
I had never heard Charlie, Jr.'s voice before. He sounds a little like his brother, Sydney. This was his second film (the first was his father's film, Limelight). Charlie plays a man named Roger Wharton, who is accused of killing his best friend.
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http://viooz.co/movies/17173-fangs-of-the-wild-1954.html
I had never heard Charlie, Jr.'s voice before. He sounds a little like his brother, Sydney. This was his second film (the first was his father's film, Limelight). Charlie plays a man named Roger Wharton, who is accused of killing his best friend.
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Charlie at Santa Anita Racetrack, 1935
The footage of Charlie begins around the :36 mark & lasts about 22 seconds. A large group of Canadian Rotarians were also at the park that day and Charlie is seen in the clip wearing one of their hats.
A caption in the video says Charlie is "Age 44." The date of this video is given as "Spring 1935," so Charlie would have been 46, or close to it. His hair also appears to be dyed for the filming of Modern Times.
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With Marion Davies, June 4th, 1930
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Paulette Goddard greets Charlie at his Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in New York City, April 4th, 1972
The story goes that Paulette approached Charlie & said, “Hello, baby." Whereupon he turned, eyes filled with tears, and said, “Oh, oh! My little baby." And she said, "Yes, your only little baby." (Gilbert, Opposite Attraction)
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Random Excerpt
He was always fond of people who were not carried away by his name. During my stay with him he had a young lady friend whom he called Hotsy Totsy. It was the only name I had ever heard him give her.
One night he called at her humble home to take her to dinner. As he rang the bell a voice came from upstairs.
"Let him in, Mother."
"Be down in a minute, Charlie," called the girl.
The mother returned to the kitchen, where Chaplin overheard her talking to a man. He remained alone in the "front parlor."
Presently Hotsy Totsy came downstairs.
"Well, I'm all ready for the eats, Kiddo," she said.
After riding for several blocks Chaplin asked, "Did your mother know who I was?"
"Sure, Kiddo," I told her your'd be calling and to let you in. She hardly ever comes in the front room--sits back there and talks to dad. They should worry a lot and build a house about who calls on me! I got 'em trained different."
Hotsy Totsy was long a favorite with the comedian.
— Jim Tully, "The Real Life-Story Of Charlie Chaplin, Part Four," Pictorial Review, April 1927
One night he called at her humble home to take her to dinner. As he rang the bell a voice came from upstairs.
"Let him in, Mother."
"Be down in a minute, Charlie," called the girl.
The mother returned to the kitchen, where Chaplin overheard her talking to a man. He remained alone in the "front parlor."
Presently Hotsy Totsy came downstairs.
"Well, I'm all ready for the eats, Kiddo," she said.
After riding for several blocks Chaplin asked, "Did your mother know who I was?"
"Sure, Kiddo," I told her your'd be calling and to let you in. She hardly ever comes in the front room--sits back there and talks to dad. They should worry a lot and build a house about who calls on me! I got 'em trained different."
Hotsy Totsy was long a favorite with the comedian.
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| Tully, right, worked for Chaplin as his publicist in the mid-1920s. |
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World Tour Revisited: Juan-les-Pins
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| Charlie & May sunbathing in Juan-les-Pins. The spot on May's arm looks like armpit hair, although it's a little high up. |
Sometime in early May, Charlie & his traveling companion, May Reeves, arrived in Juan-les-Pins, France, where they would remain for most of the summer. At one point, Charlie even considered building a home & a movie studio there.
Not long after he arrived, it was reported in the press that Charlie refused to participate in a command vaudeville performance for the King of England. He immediately denied the allegations saying he had not received a command from the King but a request from a music hall manager asking him to appear in a charity show. He refused, stating it would be in "bad taste" for him to appear on stage & that he had made it a principle not to do so since he became associated with films. Instead he sent a donation of $1,000 ("about as much as I earned in my last two years on the English stage.")
Charlie was irritated by the incident and poured out his feelings to a young man he met on the tennis court in Juan, unaware that he was a reporter:
Europe has misunderstood me, bullied me & misrepresented me to such an extent that, being a moderately rich man, I don't care a hang whether I ever make another film.
They say I have a duty to England. But I wonder what duty? I sometimes think my countrymen are the world's greatest hypocrites. Nobody wanted or cared for me in England 17 years ago. I was just as good an artist then and I slaved and starved for a few shillings weekly. I had to go to America for my chance and I got it. Only then did England take the slightest interest in me.
Why are people bothering their heads about me? I am only a movie comedian. They made a politician out of me, a material sort of fellow which I am not.Charlie went on to vent his feelings on patriotism:
I have been all over Europe in the past few months & patriotism is rampant everywhere. The result is going to be another war. I hope they send the old men to the front the next time because the old men are the real criminals of Europe today.*Thirty-three years later in his autobiography, Charlie's views on patriotism remained unchanged:
How can one tolerate patriotism when six million Jews were murdered in its name?
Sources:
*Chicago Tribune& The Washington Post, May 11th, 1931
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Cigarette smoke gag, 1926
This footage can be found on the documentary, Unknown Chaplin. I believe it is an outtake from Ralph Barton's home movie, Camille, from 1926. You can watch the film in its entirety here. If you haven't seen it before, you should check it out--lots of rare footage of Charlie (aka "Mike")-- including the Dance of The Rolls (out of costume).
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Charles/Charlie
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Charlie during the filming of SUNNYSIDE (1918)
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A Tony nod for "Chaplin: The Musical"
Rob McClure was nominated for a Tony for his performance as Charlie in Chaplin: The Musical. It was the show's only nomination. I had a chance to watch the musical not too long ago (I won't say how, but it wasn't in person.) I thought the show as a whole was disappointing but I was very impressed with McClure's performance. I'm usually very critical of any Chaplin impersonation but he was able to replicate Charlie's walk and certain mannerisms really well. You can tell he did his homework. Best of luck to him. The awards ceremony is June 9th.
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Charlie & his mother, Hannah
“In spite of the squalor in which we were forced to live, she had kept Sydney and me off the streets and made us feel we were not the ordinary product of poverty, but unique and distinguished.”
—My Autobiography (1964)
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Charlie at the makeup mirror during the filming of LIMELIGHT
Photos by W. Eugene Smith
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Happy Birthday, Oona Chaplin (May 14th, 1925 - September 27th, 1991)
The following is from a 1960 interview with Oona by Frederick Sands:
We met when I was 16, a mere child at the time, and I have been in love with him ever since. He is my world. I've never seen or lived with anything else...It started when I was recommended to him for the part of Bridget in a film Charlie planned to make, based on the play Shadow & Substance. I clutched to the substance and ran away with Charlie to get married instead. He never made the film after that. That was the beginning and the end of my film career...without a second's regret.
Laughter is one of Charlie's great gifts to me. I hadn't known it before. My childhood was not very happy. Today I am perhaps the only member of the family who thinks him really funny. The children are too intent on being funny themselves.
There is certainly no father fixation about my feeling for him. He has made me mature and I keep him young. When you are happy, you don't go in for self-analysis. He has given me a great sense of security and stability, which has nothing to do with his wealth. I could be happy in any other environment.
My security and stability with Charlie stem much for from the difference in years between us. Other young women who have married mature men will understand what I mean. Provided that the partners are suited, such a marriage is founded on a rock. Solid, and with no unpleasant surprises ahead. The man's character is formed, his life shaped. He has learned a sense of responsibility and tolerance.
I never consciously think of Charlie’s age for 364 days of the year. Only his birthday is the annual shock for me.
I consider Charlie young. I also find it most vexing to be called a schoolgirl wife. Maybe I'll be spared that remark now that I am getting some gray streaks in my hair.
Chaplin, whose rages are notorious, has never lost his temper with his wife.
Not once in all our years of marriage. I have learned to keep silent and let him charge ahead. Unless he asks me for a criticism I never venture an opinion. He respects my judgement, and jokes about my always being right in the long run when I disagree with him on some point. In all this I try not to get on his nerves.
Like every couple, the Chaplins take a special delight in occasionally spending a day alone. Then Oona cooks the meal while he prepares drinks for them both and offers "awkward assistance, and flirts with me as though we had just met.
Then with their heads bent close to each other, they toast their life together. And he makes the woman who never laughed as a child laugh again.
That is when I know there is no difference in our ages.
— "Charlie Chaplin's Wife (35) Describes Her Life With A Legend (71)" by Frederick Sands, Washington Post, June 19th, 1960
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THE FLOORWALKER, released May 15th, 1916
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