This is the chair that Marie (Edna Purviance) is sitting in in the film when she reads about Pierre's engagement.
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On the set of A WOMAN OF PARIS (1923)
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Day By Day: 1936
Friday, May 22nd: Charlie & Co. set sail for America
After a four-month tour of Asia, Chaplin, Paulette, her mother, Alta, and valet Frank, began their journey back to California.
In his memoir, Round the World Again in 80 Days, fellow passenger Jean Cocteau described their departure at Yokohama:
The Coolidge will make one brief stop in Honolulu on the 29th before arriving in San Francisco on June 3rd.
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Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life.
After a four-month tour of Asia, Chaplin, Paulette, her mother, Alta, and valet Frank, began their journey back to California.
In his memoir, Round the World Again in 80 Days, fellow passenger Jean Cocteau described their departure at Yokohama:
The President Coolidge was due out of Yokohama at 6 a.m. At ten minutes to the hour I went on board, preceded by photographers backing up the gangway with their cameras pointed at us. At five to six I was still dispensing autographs. The ship's band, which consisted of a saxophone, a trombone, a cornet and a big drum, broke into an agonized recessional. A flurry of paper streamers, flapping, bellying, breaking in the breeze, linked our bulwarks with the wharf. Our new friends on shore began to wave their handkerchiefs. Clocks were striking the hour. Suddenly a little car pushed its way through a little crowd. From it stepped a little Charlie Chaplin, a little Paulette Goddard. The sirens boomed a final warning. Chaplin broke away from the pressmen. With his hat astride his forehead in the Napoleonic manner one hand tucked into his waistcoat, the other held behind his back, the lonely wanderer who is so much at home in every land that he is homeless everywhere, mounted the gangway and turned the issue with a caper. Propellers churned; at last we were off. The wharf drew back, the island stood aloof. Our friends on shore dwindled and faded out, still waving invisible farewells.This clip is from 1933 (Hollywood On Parade), but just to give you an idea of Charlie's antics boarding the ship:
The Coolidge will make one brief stop in Honolulu on the 29th before arriving in San Francisco on June 3rd.
***
Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life.
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Chaplin entertains tennis players, Sept. 1929
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| Chaplin & his guests on his Summit Drive tennis court, which had just been built earlier that year. L-R: Edith Cross, Phoebe Watson, Betty Nuthall, CC, ?, ? Dorothy Shepherd-Barron, Ambassador Moore. |
Read about it here:
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| Los Angeles Times, Oct. 1, 1929 |
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| The doubles team mentioned at the end of the article: L-R: "Mr. Brennon," Dorothy Shepherd-Barron, Betty Nuthall, & Chaplin |
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| With Nuthall and Ambassador Moore |
More photos here.
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With theatrical producer Morris Gest, April 1926
Gest had recently signed with United Artists.
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POLICE, released May 27, 1916
This was Chaplin's final film for Essanay (or the last one he personally supervised) and was released after Chaplin had already joined the Mutual Film Corporation.
There's also some mystery behind the film. Some scenes for Police had originally been intended for a never-made feature-length film called Life and discarded footage from one or both were used to make Triple Trouble. Then there are those who believe that Life (the film) never existed and was an Essanay publicity stunt. Nevertheless, Police, to me, was one of Chaplin's best films to date.
(These screenshots are from the old Image "Short Comedy Classics" set. I haven't yet purchased the new Flicker Alley Essanays.)
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There's also some mystery behind the film. Some scenes for Police had originally been intended for a never-made feature-length film called Life and discarded footage from one or both were used to make Triple Trouble. Then there are those who believe that Life (the film) never existed and was an Essanay publicity stunt. Nevertheless, Police, to me, was one of Chaplin's best films to date.
(These screenshots are from the old Image "Short Comedy Classics" set. I haven't yet purchased the new Flicker Alley Essanays.)
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Chaplin in SHOW PEOPLE (1928)
Here's Chaplin's cameo in King Vidor's Show People, starring Marion Davies and William Haines.
I think that's Harry Crocker walking with Chaplin at the beginning.
Notice Marion doesn't exactly say "Who is that little guy?" when Charlie walks away at the end.
I think that's Harry Crocker walking with Chaplin at the beginning.
Notice Marion doesn't exactly say "Who is that little guy?" when Charlie walks away at the end.
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DAY BY DAY: 1936
Friday, May 29th: The Coolidge, en route to San Francisco, makes a brief stop in Honolulu
Sailing from Yokohama, the President Coolidge, carrying Charlie, Paulette, her mother, Alta, and valet Frank Yonemori, docked for only a few hours in Hawaii before sailing again at ten that evening. Fellow passenger, Jean Cocteau, recalled that the ship was met with a native band and singers upon its arrival. When Charlie and Paulette disembarked they were "waylaid by the American colony, led off on a leash of flowers."1 The couple were here once before back in February, at the beginning of their tour.
Below are photos aboard the Coolidge, between Yokohama and San Francisco.
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More photos here.
Coming up on June 3rd: Arrival in San Francisco.
1 Cocteau, Round The World Again In 80 Days
***
Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life.
Sailing from Yokohama, the President Coolidge, carrying Charlie, Paulette, her mother, Alta, and valet Frank Yonemori, docked for only a few hours in Hawaii before sailing again at ten that evening. Fellow passenger, Jean Cocteau, recalled that the ship was met with a native band and singers upon its arrival. When Charlie and Paulette disembarked they were "waylaid by the American colony, led off on a leash of flowers."1 The couple were here once before back in February, at the beginning of their tour.
Below are photos aboard the Coolidge, between Yokohama and San Francisco.
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| Alta and Paulette |
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| L-R: Geoffrey Rootes, William Rootes (British car manufacturers), Lady Furness, Paulette, Charlie. Back row: Jean Cocteau, Alta, Victor Sassoon (with mustache), and Water Lang, the director. |
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| Chaplin with Frank Murphy, U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippines. |
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| Alta, Mr. Murphy, and Paulette In a photo album, Paulette describes her sleeping mother in this photo as "the perfect chaperone." |
Coming up on June 3rd: Arrival in San Francisco.
1 Cocteau, Round The World Again In 80 Days
***
Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life.
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"It might be the head of a criminal, mightn't it?"
In early November 1921, shortly after his return from Europe, British writer and sculptor, Clare Sheridan, a cousin of Winston Churchill, spent three days creating a bust of Chaplin at his home.
Sheridan was on a tour of America with her young son, Dickie. She met Chaplin the evening of his return to Los Angeles (October 31st) at a small dinner party at the home of Goldwyn studio vice president, Abraham Lehr. They struck up an instant friendship. The next day, she and her son were invited to the Chaplin Studio where he screened for them his most recent film, The Kid.
But it was during the dinner party at the Lehrs that they discussed Sheridan's work and the idea of her creating a bust of Chaplin. In her memoir, My American Diary, she described their conversation:
When he asked me about my work in this country, I explained that the United States had made of me a writer instead of a sculptor, and I told him my view of the American man who is so modest that he thinks it is a vanity to have his bust done.
"He does not mind having his portrait painted" I said, "he has grown accustomed to the idea. But he exaggerates the importance of a portrait bust. In fact he is quite un-simple, in his point of view, almost self-conscious—" and Charlie, looking at me half shyly, half humorously, as he sat tucked away in the sofa corner, under the light of the lamp: "I'm vain!" he said. "Thank goodness!" I said. And so we fixed it right away--that I will linger here until his bust is done.So on the morning of November 3rd, Clare arrived at Chaplin's home to begin work. At this time, he was living in a rented house on Temple Hill Drive, which she remembered as being "moorish and fantastic in design, the tortuous unsimplicity of which disturbs Charlie. But he loves the quiet of it and the isolation on a hill top with the panorama of the town extending for miles below to the sea."
She recalled her first day working on the bust and how Chaplin's moods changed depending on the color of his dressing gown:1
I have worked the whole day on Charlie's head, worked at his house. Today is Thursday and it has to be finished on Saturday because he wants to go to Catalina and fish.
It was a very peaceful day, and though the lovely Claire Windsor2 was there when I arrived, no one disturbed us during the remainder of the day. His moods varied with the hours. He started the morning in a brown silk dressing gown, and was serious. After having sat pretty quiet for some time, he jumped off the revolving stand and walked round the room playing the violin. Having thus dispelled his sober mood he went upstairs, changed his dressing-gown and reappeared in an orange and primrose one, and we went on with the work. He is perfectly right, one's desire for color depends entirely on one's mood.
Now and then we stopped for a cup of tea, for a tune on the piano, for a breath of air, on the sunbathed balcony and Charlie with his wild hair standing on end, and his orange gown dazzling against the white wall of his moorish house, would either philosophise or impersonate. He told me that when he was a young man in London, he longed to know people, but that now he knew so many and he felt lonelier than ever, and it is no use, he said, for artists to hope to be anything else. He then put on a gramophone record and conducted an imaginary band. It was a very entertaining day, and the work got on awfully well.
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| Sheridan snaps Charlie in his dressing gown. |
After three days, the bust was finished and Sheridan felt the "elation of a girl out of school." Friends were amazed that Chaplin stayed still for so long for they knew his "restless and capricious nature." But Sheridan had a plan...
I was fortunate of course in meeting him immediately in his return, before he was re-engulfed in work. Moreover, with some perception, I planted myself with my materials in his house, and as I wanted him bare throated I begged him not to dress. A man in pajamas and dressing-gown does not suddenly get a notion to order his motor and go off to some place. I had him fairly anchored. Nevertheless he has been difficult to do. There is so much subtlety in the face, and sensitiveness, and all his varying personalities arrayed themselves before me, and had to be embodied into one interpretation.
Sheridan remembered that "Charlie was pleased" with the bust.
[He] would get down from the model stand and observe the progress through half closed eyes. Once he said: "I wish this was not me, so that I could admire it as I please. I find him very interesting, this fellow you have made!" and then, after a close examination from all angles he added:
"It might be the head of a criminal, mightn't it — ?" and proceeded to elaborate a sudden born theory that criminals and artists were psychologically akin. On reflection we all have a flame. A burning flame of impulse, a vision, a side tracked mind, a deep sense of unlawfulness.
Later, as I was finishing, the Comte de Limur 3 arrived. He is a young Frenchman who is studying the moving picture work, for France. He looked at the bust, and then at Charlie, and then slyly at me: "I see, it is Pan..." and added with a chuckle: "one can never deceive a woman!"
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| Sheridan's bust is now on display at the Chaplin's World museum in Switzerland. www.charliechaplin.com |
2Windsor was one of Charlie's girlfriends at the time.
3de Limur was a collaborator on A Woman Of Paris (1923)
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Ad for POLICE, June 1st, 1916
I don't recall seeing this pose before.
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| Oakland Tribune, 6/1/1916 |
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Day By Day: 1936
Wednesday, June 3rd: Charlie and Paulette arrive in San Francisco following their four-month tour of the Far East.
It was also Paulette's 26th birthday.
From the sun deck of the SS Coolidge, Chaplin told reporters they'd had a "delightful" trip. "Glorious, just glorious," he said. But they were "terribly anxious" to return to Hollywood & get back to work. He was forthcoming about future film projects but dodged questions regarding his marital status. "We never discuss our personal affairs," he said, smiling broadly. "Anything on that matter would come from Miss Goddard." However Paulette's reply was the same as Charlie's: "I never discuss my personal affairs with the press."
As for his film plans. Chaplin said he had already written 10,000 words for a "romantic adventure" set in the South Seas and starring Paulette has a native girl. He would direct the film but not appear in it. As for the Tramp. Chaplin couldn't say whether the character would ever appear onscreen again. If he did, he would be silent. "I could never talk in that role. He will always be the way he has been. I can't tell whether he has finished his journey, whether he will ever return. You know, he has had some rather good innings, hasn't he?"
From San Francisco, the couple (along with Alta Goddard and Frank Yonemori who are still with them)* drove to the famous Del Monte resort in Pebble Beach. Perhaps to celebrate Paulette's birthday. They will return to L.A. on the 5th.
The couple at Del Monte:
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*Cocteau, who had been traveling on the same ship as the Chaplin party since Hong Kong, departed separately for L.A.
Sources:
Los Angeles Times, June 4th, 1936
San Mateo Times, June 4th, 1936
San Bernardino Press, June 4th, 1936
Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life.
It was also Paulette's 26th birthday.
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| Charlie & Paulette with fellow passenger Jean Cocteau. |
From the sun deck of the SS Coolidge, Chaplin told reporters they'd had a "delightful" trip. "Glorious, just glorious," he said. But they were "terribly anxious" to return to Hollywood & get back to work. He was forthcoming about future film projects but dodged questions regarding his marital status. "We never discuss our personal affairs," he said, smiling broadly. "Anything on that matter would come from Miss Goddard." However Paulette's reply was the same as Charlie's: "I never discuss my personal affairs with the press."
Newsreel footage of Charlie and Paulette in San Francisco. Jean Cocteau appears briefly at the end.
As for his film plans. Chaplin said he had already written 10,000 words for a "romantic adventure" set in the South Seas and starring Paulette has a native girl. He would direct the film but not appear in it. As for the Tramp. Chaplin couldn't say whether the character would ever appear onscreen again. If he did, he would be silent. "I could never talk in that role. He will always be the way he has been. I can't tell whether he has finished his journey, whether he will ever return. You know, he has had some rather good innings, hasn't he?"
From San Francisco, the couple (along with Alta Goddard and Frank Yonemori who are still with them)* drove to the famous Del Monte resort in Pebble Beach. Perhaps to celebrate Paulette's birthday. They will return to L.A. on the 5th.
The couple at Del Monte:
*Cocteau, who had been traveling on the same ship as the Chaplin party since Hong Kong, departed separately for L.A.
Sources:
Los Angeles Times, June 4th, 1936
San Mateo Times, June 4th, 1936
San Bernardino Press, June 4th, 1936
Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life.
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Day By Day: 1936
Friday, June 5th: Charlie and Paulette return to Los Angeles
They arrived home by car, having driven down from Pebble Beach that morning.
Shortly afterward, Chaplin contacted his sons, Charlie, Jr. (11) and Sydney (10), who had not heard from their father since he left in February.
Coming up: Charlie and Paulette are involved in an accident.
***
Day By Day: 1936: A chronicle of year of Chaplin's life
They arrived home by car, having driven down from Pebble Beach that morning.
Shortly afterward, Chaplin contacted his sons, Charlie, Jr. (11) and Sydney (10), who had not heard from their father since he left in February.
I remember the day in early June when Dad phoned the school and said he was back and would like to see us. Syd and I were jubilant. On Friday, just as though no months had intervened, a smiling Frank showed up in the car to take us to the house on the hill.
"Your fathah," Frank told us on the way home, "he got married down at Hong Kong on the boat."
When we asked for details, he shook his head.
"I didn't see 'em get married," he said with a laugh. "I don't hang around them all the time. They have their things to do. I have mine. But they tell me so."
At last we were back in our father's home again. Dad and Paulette were waiting for us. They looked happy--Dad especially. He always enjoyed his excursions abroad, but each time he was thoroughly glad to get home. He really wasn't much of a traveler, and the feeling of being rooted had become so strong in him by this time that he was to stay in the United States for sixteen years after this trip.
Syd and I ran up and kissed first Dad and then Paulette. Paulette stooped and hugged us both while Dad laughingly confirmed Frank's piece of information. But though Dad told us flatly that he had married Paulette, it was to remain a family secret for years, because neither of them bothered to tip off the reporters. Throughout the long period they were together the newspapers continued to speculate as to "when" and "if" and "where." --Charlie Chaplin, Jr, My Father Charlie Chaplin, 1960
Coming up: Charlie and Paulette are involved in an accident.
***
Day By Day: 1936: A chronicle of year of Chaplin's life
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Drawing by Ralph Barton
"Charlie Chaplin watching himself in the movies: The little fellow's okay."
--illus. for Delineator, December 1930
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--illus. for Delineator, December 1930
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Chaplin boxes Benny Leonard, 1918
This was posted by the Chaplin Official Facebook page today. Most of us have seen this footage before but the part at the beginning (around the :30 mark) where they are all standing around and saluting was new to me. You'll recognize Syd Chaplin in the background.
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Day By Day: 1936
Monday, June 8th: Chaplin's car is rear-ended on Hollywood Blvd.
The Rootes had traveled alongside Charlie and Paulette on the President Coolidge between Yokohama and San Francisco earlier in the month. In the photo below, taken on the ship, they are at far left.
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Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life.
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| San Bernardino Sun, June 9th, 1936 |
The Rootes had traveled alongside Charlie and Paulette on the President Coolidge between Yokohama and San Francisco earlier in the month. In the photo below, taken on the ship, they are at far left.
Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life.
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Chaplin at the Hotel Miramar in Biarritz, 1931
Photos by Boris Lipnitzki
I'm not sure of the identity of the others in the photos.
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I'm not sure of the identity of the others in the photos.
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Day By Day: 1936
A letter from Sydney
In this letter to Charlie, dated June 4th, 1936, Sydney gives a critical analysis of his younger brother's latest film, Modern Times, and suggests ideas for future projects, including a proposal to transform the Tramp into an animated character.
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1Wheeler Dryden, Charlie and Sydney's half-brother, was in Java making a film with James A Fitzpatrick (better known as the narrater for Traveltalks)
2This was possibly a reaction to Chaplin's portrayal in Disney's Mickey's Polo Team.
3Minnie Chaplin died of breast cancer in September 1936.
Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life
In this letter to Charlie, dated June 4th, 1936, Sydney gives a critical analysis of his younger brother's latest film, Modern Times, and suggests ideas for future projects, including a proposal to transform the Tramp into an animated character.
1Wheeler Dryden, Charlie and Sydney's half-brother, was in Java making a film with James A Fitzpatrick (better known as the narrater for Traveltalks)
2This was possibly a reaction to Chaplin's portrayal in Disney's Mickey's Polo Team.
3Minnie Chaplin died of breast cancer in September 1936.
Day By Day: 1936: A document of one year of Chaplin's life
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New York, 1923
Chaplin, in his favorite Napoleonic pose, reading telegrams in his suite at the Ritz following the NYC premiere of A Woman Of Paris.
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See same photo from different angles here.
See same photo from different angles here.
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New footage
I came across these video clips on Getty Images recently. Although Charlie appears for only a few seconds in both, the footage was unfamiliar to me.
This first clip is from a luncheon for George Bernard Shaw in 1933. You can see Charlie walking behind Marion Davies smoking a cigarette.
This clip is from the funeral for Will Rogers in 1935. Charlie appears around :44. Mary Pickford can be seen about ten seconds later.
This first clip is from a luncheon for George Bernard Shaw in 1933. You can see Charlie walking behind Marion Davies smoking a cigarette.
This clip is from the funeral for Will Rogers in 1935. Charlie appears around :44. Mary Pickford can be seen about ten seconds later.
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SUNNYSIDE "Compressed" from FILM FUN magazine
Chaplin's third "Million Dollar Comedy" for First National was released 97 years ago today.
(Note: Tom Wood did not play a sheriff.)
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| Film Fun, August 1919 (Click to Enlarge) |
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Charlie & Oona attend a campaign rally for presidential candidate Henry Wallace, October 1948
Henry Wallace had been FDR's Secretary of Agriculture, and later was vice president during Roosevelt's third term (1940-1944). When Roosevelt ran for his fourth term, Wallace was replaced by Harry Truman, who became president when Roosevelt died in 1945
In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace left the Democratic Party to run (unsuccessfully) as the nominee of the Progressive Party against Truman. Chaplin was an enthusiastic supporter. Wallace was a champion for the common man and many of his ideas are still relevant today--universal healthcare, income and wealth inequality, racial discrimination, and women's rights.
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In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace left the Democratic Party to run (unsuccessfully) as the nominee of the Progressive Party against Truman. Chaplin was an enthusiastic supporter. Wallace was a champion for the common man and many of his ideas are still relevant today--universal healthcare, income and wealth inequality, racial discrimination, and women's rights.
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| Over 20,000 people attended the rally at Gilmore Stadium. |
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| Charlie, Oona, and the other supporters wave dollar bills during the rally. |
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