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Chaplin Collection, Vol. 2 (Part 2), The
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
(continued from Part One of The Chaplin Collection Vol 2)
Monsieur Verdoux
1947 / 1:37 flat full frame / 119 124 min. / 24.98
Starring Chaplin, Mady Correll, Marilyn Nash, Martha Raye
Cinematography Roland Totheroh
Art Direction John Beckman
Film Editor Willard Nico
Written by Charles Chaplin from an idea by Orson Welles
Original Music, Produced and Directed by Charles Chaplin
This is the picture that cooked Chaplin's goose in America. Just as the dogs of McCarthyism, puritanical backlash and Cold War paranoia were being set loose, Charlie made this uncompromising, definitive black comedy. He was attacked for his paternity-suit problems as well as his humanist politics. In response to the horrors of WW2, Chaplin decided to indict mankind by equating the activities of a mass murderer killing for profit ("Business, just business") with the actions of governments and elected officials.
1947 was not a good year to disturb American political waters. Blacklisting was just getting under way, and although Chaplin was far too rich to be subpoenaed directly, he made an excellent target for espousing liberal causes and never taking American citizenship. Not realizing how anxious the media were to attack, he dropped the Tramp character and played an unrepentant atheist who dares turn society's hypocrisy back on itself. It's polite, simple and cold-blooded, the definition of good black comedy.
All in all, it's expertly done, although not a laugh riot. Martha Raye is terrific, and the Girl that Verdoux identifies with contributes some quietly chilling scenes. With all the thugs in the world "getting paid for their killings, with the law's arms around" them (to quote Peckinpah), Chaplin's elegant reasoning cuts deeper than the sentimental polemics of his Modern Times and The Great Dictator. It's the original black comedy that dares to offend, and dares to fling the audience's ignorance back in its face. James Agee still makes the best reading on Monsieur Verdoux. I once saw an LA Times movie section from 1947 to look at what was playing in town then - films like Captain from Castille. But in only a few pages, there must have been three venemous editorials against Chaplin, practically calling him Satan and encouraging his deportation. The same mad dogs screaming for his hide would later call him a paranoid for "imagining" that the U.S. was out to get him.
David Robinson really lays into the U.S. in his brief and effective intro installment. The Chaplin Today by Bernard Eisenschitz uses French director Claude Chabrol to try to make a case of Monsieur Verdoux as a superior thriller, but Chabrol tends to praise relatively generic camera moves and setups as inspired art. He does seem personally convinced, however. Otherwise, there's not much for goodies here - I guess the theatrical boycott and other outrages didn't inspire Chaplin to accumulate a lot of keepsake footage. We make do with some set plans, and the expected excellent selection of photos and trailers.
A King in New York
1957 / 1:37 flat full frame / 78 min. / 29.95 (with A Woman of Paris)
Starring Chaplin, Dawn Addams, Michael Chaplin, Maxine Audley, Oliver Johnson
Cinematography Georges Perinal
Production Designer
Art Direction
Film Editor
Original Music Charles Chaplin
Written by
Produced by
Directed by
This is the newest film in the collection, and Chaplin's second-to-last. His A Countess from Hong Kong is a fossilized curiosity that's painful to watch, but A King in New York shows Chaplin making his satiric points with uncommon accuracy. Previously he dealt with political problems almost abstractly, and here he calls things by their real names. His king is a convenient witness to the madness Chaplin has decided has seized America. The U.S. is a civilization in collapse under the weight of commercial hype and political paranoia.
Most of it works, even through the flat lighting and inadequate London stand-ins for New York, where Chaplin could not return after having his passport revoked by vindictive government officials in 1952. A lot of the English actors, like Sidney James' publicity , do excellent American accents. (James did much the same in the equally subversive Christ in Concrete.) Much of the satire is spot-on, especially Shadov's revulsion at TV commercials and his brilliant parody of theatrical trailers that show America to be psychotically obsessed with violence. He's tricked into performing in front of a hidden camera, thus predicting the future of "reality" programming. He also gets in a few licks on other subjects like progressive schools and intrusive newsmen, and the American lust to commercialize everything in sight.
Chaplin's son does a good job playing a traumatized kid obviously meant to be a stand-in for the children of the Rosenbergs, whose execution for spying Chaplin deplored. In an interesting twist on the Tramp's knack for charming kids, this dark-eyed fellow has his spirit broken by the inquisitors of the McCarthy committees, who trick him into naming the names of his parents' friends, people who in the past had belonged to the Communist party.
The slapstick is what lets the film down the most. The forward motion is constantly interrupted for gag routines, such as a nightclub act modeled after Chaplin silents or tiresome antics with a fire hose in a hotel elevator. These drag down the better material, such as the sublime moment when the visiting King praises American hospitality - while customs officials fingerprint him.
A King in New York looks okay but is presented flat when it was meant to be projected at at least 1:78 (which is how I saw it on its offical U.S. premiere in the early 1970s. It crops off well on a widescreen monitor but is going to have acres of head and footroom on a normal screen.
The Chaplin Today piece goes over the same ground covered by David Robinson's introduction and adds two interviews. Michael Chaplin can't be much older than I am, but looks pretty worn out as he describes working with his father. Director Jim Jarmusch gives his views on Chaplin's politics but isn't very compelling or organized in his thinking.
Several of the deleted scenes I remember seeing theatrically, and they're missed. The peculiar nightclub song shouldn't have been dropped, as it's a great counterpoint to the phony Rock'n Roll number in the movie theater, the one that has the harsh attack of These are the Damned's Black Leather Rock. Mandolin Serenade shows Chaplin conducting a rehearsal of one of his musical compositions for the film (they're not bad at all). Chaplin credits an arranger and a conductor in the film credits themselves.
Charlie - The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
1977 / 1:37 flat full frame / 133 min. / only available in boxed set
Starring Woody Allen, Sydney Pollack, Geraldine Chaplin, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey, Jr, Milos Forman, Norman Lloyd, Marcel Marceau, David Raksin, Martin Scorsese
Film Editor Bryan McKenzie
Original Music Charles Chaplin
Produced by Douglas Freeman, Bryand McKenzie, Richard Schickel
Written and Directed by Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel's lavish docu on Chaplin's life is going to be diminished somewhat by its placement here, even though as a stand alone it would be excellent. Most of the behind-the-scenes footage is the exact same MK2 Chaplin-vault material that is added uncut on the Chaplin collection discs, so if one has just finished watching the set, it's all going to look too familiar. Then again, just seeing Charlie play a ham ruining some film coverage of a soapbox car race from his first film is quite a treat.
Covering all of Charlie's life and films in just over two hours isn't easy, and the analysis also plays like a digest version as well. Some films, like A King in New York and A Countess from Hong Kong are almost ignored, and the cruel baiting of Chaplin by the media is dismissed with a few phrases like "Chaplin lost his audience" and "once in Europe, Chaplin consorted with fellow travellers." The (conservative?) Richard Schickel can certainly call the comedian his own worst enemy with his paternity suit problems, etc., but painting him as somehow guilty as charged by the commie-hunters doesn't go down well. The self-centered Chaplin was as "non-aligned" as a dinner-table politico can be.
Otherwise, Schickel's attention to the comedian's style and genius is rewarded with several moments that might persuade nonbelievers to become Charlie Chaplin fans. The docu is littered with dozens of celebrity interview comments that help sell projects but are less rewarding than they might be. Various actors do little more than gush over their hero (they all watch Chaplin all the time, and have life-changing epiphanies over him!). Woody Allen repeats the same message at least twice, but Martin Scorsese is unusually relaxed and communicative about specific shots in specific films.
The Chaplin family members do well but there are no great surprises in that category. Schickel avoids empty sentimentality, and mostly does the comedian justice.
The docu appears to have been assembled in America on film, which makes me wish I could place the film clips side by side with the other collection discs, to see if they're really running at the proper 24fps speed. The Life and Art may be the only disc here where Charlie Chaplin's work runs at the correct frame rate!
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
The Chaplin Revue (2 discs) rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent with the on-going PAL frame-rate issue
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Introduction by David Robinson, The Visitors Behind-the-scenes footage of visitors to Chaplin's sets Harry Lauder (1918), Footage that Chaplin and the great British Music Hall comedian shot for an uncompleted short, Photo gallery, film posters, How to Make Movies (1918) short film in which Chaplin shows the building of his new studio, The Bond (1918), WWI propaganda film featuring Chaplin, his brother and Edna Purviance, Shoulder Arms deleted scenes, Photo gallery, film posters
The Kid (2 discs) rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent with the on-going PAL frame-rate issue
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin Today: The Kid Documentary by Alain Bergala, How to Make Movies (1918) short film in which Chaplin shows the building of his new studio, and how movies are made there; Jackie Coogan Dances (1920) Jackie Coogan performs impromptu dance at Chaplin studios My Boy (1921), later film starring Coogan Nice and Friendly (1922) home movie with Lord and Lady Mountbatten, Jackie Coogan and Charles Chaplin, Charlie on the Ocean (1921) Newsreel footage of Chaplin's first trip back to Europe Jackie Coogan in Paris footage shot during charity fund-raising trip, Deleted scenes: three scenes deleted by Chaplin for 1971 reissue; Recording the new score footage of Chaplin conducting a section of his new score, Photo gallery, film posters, trailers
A Woman of Paris (1 disc packaged with A King in New York) rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent with the on-going PAL frame-rate issue
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin Today: A Woman in Paris Documentary by Mathias Ledoux, Camille 1926 An amateur movie by Ralph Barton featuring numerous personalities of the time, Paris in the '20s, Images of the city in the Roaring Twenties, United Artists signing the contract creating UA: Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith, Deleted Shots, photo gallery, film posters, trailers
The Circus (2 discs) rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent with the on-going PAL frame-rate issue
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin Today: The Circus documentary by Francois Ede; Deleted 10-minute sequence; October 7-13, 1926 Outtakes from a week of shooting; Three home movies from the archives of Lord Louis Mountbatten; The Hollywood Premiere (1928), Reportage on the L.A. premiere; Camera A, Camera B, shots made simultaneously from the two cameras used; 3-D Test footage by Roland Totheroh; Excerpts from Circus Day with Jackie Coogan -- an adaptation of a favorite children's book; Photo gallery, film posters, trailers
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
City Lights(2 discs) rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent with the on-going PAL frame-rate issue
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin biographer, Chaplin Today: City Lights Documentary by Serge Bromberg; The Champion (1915), excerpt Georgia Hale screen test, Virginia Cherrill rehearsal footage, outtakes, on-set footage of scene being shot; Footage of Chaplin boxing with visiting prizefighters on the set; Historical footage of Winston Churchill visit; Footage shot on trip to Bali with brother Sydney; Chaplin Speaks! Chaplin speaks for the first time on film during a 1931 trip to Vienna Photo gallery, posters, trailers
Monsieur Verdoux (1 disc) rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent with the on-going PAL frame-rate issue
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin Today: Monsieur Verdoux Documentary by Bernard Eisenschitz, Plan drawings and preparatory sketches, Photo gallery, film posters, and trailers
A King in New York (1 disc, packaged with A Woman of Paris) rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent with the on-going PAL frame-rate issue
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin Today: A King in New York Documentary by Jerome de Missolz, Deleted scenes, Mandolin Serenade: Rehearsing one of the film's main musical themes, Photo gallery, film posters, trailers
Charlie - The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin (1 disc) rates:
Movie: Very Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: none
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