Chaplin News and More

April 16 is kind of a comedy holy day ’round here. It’s the anniversary of the release date of Laurel and Hardy’sThe Music Box and Way Out Westand Chaplin’s The Cure, and the birthday of Three Stooges’ foil Christine McIntyre, Ernie Kovacs’ permanent partner Edie Adams, and funny “Frenchwoman” Fifi Dorsay, but best of all it’s also the birthday of Charlie Chaplin. Of the great classic comedians only the Marx Brothers have more posts on Travalanche than Chaplin, and who knows? He may pass them.

Lots of Chaplin news to report this year, recent and upcoming. There’s the new documentary by his granddaughter Carmen just come out, and the recent book about his relationship with Joan Barry by Diane Kiesel. This year marks the centennial of The Gold Rush (the first silent film I ever saw) as well as the 100th birthday of the late Oona O’Neill Chaplin. I’ll be marking these dates here of course, but I believe they’re sure also to be celebrated at the next Charlie Chaplin Days, at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum one month from now (May 16-18). If the creek don’t rise I’ll be contributing a little long-distance thing to that festival as well, along with my friend Kevin Fitzpatrick, Shepherd of the Lambs, concerning a recent Chaplin related acquisition to their archives. Info on Charlie Chaplin Days and the Niles Essanay Silent Museum is here.

In semi-related news Film at Lincoln Center’s annual Chaplin Award Gala is coming up on April 28! They’re honoring Pedro Almovodar this year. This year is the 50th annual iteration of the festival, though their first honoree was Chaplin himself during his triumph return to the U.S. in 1972. (This is distinct from the other Chaplin Awards created by Keira Chaplin in 2018, which honors Asian filmmakers). Tix for the Chaplin Award Gala are available here.

What with April Fools and Eastertide swirling all around us like an oasis in a sea of madness, there couldn’t be a better time to spend some quality time with Charlie Chaplin. There’s the grim relevance of films like The Great Dictator and Modern Times and A King in New York and The Immigrant, of course, but honestly, the humanism in all of his movies, the sympathy for the little guy set adrift in a cruel and heartless world. It makes him a perfect antidote for what’s going on out there. Those people being grabbed off the street by government thugs and sent to concentration camps aren’t abstractions. They’re your brothers and sisters. And someday soon they might be you.

For my finding aid to the Charlie Chaplin section of Travalanche go here. And to browse the section randomly (in order of posting) go here.

For more on classic comedy films, including please check out: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube — now also available on audiobook.