Photo by Homer Peyton, 1929

Keaton & Chaplin Celebration planned for 2013

The following was posted on Chaplin scholar Lisa Stein Haven's Facebook page today.  Lisa just attended the annual Buster Keaton Celebration in Iola, KS this weekend: 

"Next year's Buster Keaton Celebration, held the last weekend in September in Iola, Kansas, just five miles from Buster's birthplace, will have the theme: "Keaton and Chaplin," with Kate Guyonvarch as one of our guests of honor. This two-day event is FREE and Iola is a very modest and inexpensive venue...Frank Scheide, Hooman Mehran, Keith Goering and I are all on the organizing committee. "

Sounds exciting. I'm hoping to be able to attend and it would be great to meet some fellow fans and friends there as well. 
For updates on the event, please check out the following websites:
http://www.iolakeatoncelebration.org/ & https://www.facebook.com/pages/Buster-Keaton-Celebration/265925989299

A song from CITY LIGHTS

This romantic tune accompanies the scene in which Charlie purchases flowers from the blind girl (after asking the millionaire for money) and then gives her a ride home in the Rolls Royce the millionaire has just given him.

The music, written by Chaplin, is from the original score for the film, which I prefer. Not the Carl Davis re-recording. To me, there is a difference.

Charlie's cameo in SOULS FOR SALE (1923)

Some believe Charlie is directing a scene from his 1923 film A Woman Of Paris here, but he is actually pretending to direct the main character, Mem, in a horse riding scene.

With May Reeves in Cannes on the Promenade de la Croisette, 1931

Charlie, c. 1924

Publicity photo for MODERN TIMES

Photos from the 2012 Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival

My friend Meg sent me some wonderful photos from last month's Charlie Chaplin Film Festival in Waterville, Ireland. Meg was lucky enough to be a volunteer at the festival and I thank her for allowing me to share these photos with you.

Click here to see this year's festival program.

Original poster from the collection of Paddy MacDonald

Impersonator  Diego Spano from Buenos Aires

"Panacea in every sense of the word"1

Charlie, Paulette, & Charlie, Jr. aboard the Panacea, 1940.  Chaplin purchased the Chris Craft 38-foot cruiser in the spring of 1933 as a surprise for Paulette. He had previously owned a yacht called the Edna P. (after Edna Purviance) and had considered naming his new yacht the Edna P. II but decided upon Panacea, a name he thought every boat should be called. When Charlie and Paulette split in 1942, she was given the yacht as part of her settlement.

¹Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964

Catalina Island, 1922

William Wrigley, owner of the island, is on the right. Charlie was accompanied on this visit by Peggy Hopkins Joyce, who is not pictured.

Cover of PARIS MATCH, September 27, 1952

The magazine's feature story is about Charlie's return to Europe in 1952. The photo below, from the same issue, shows him playing piano on the ship after its arrival at Cherbourg.

Woodbury Soap ad featuring New York's #1 deb, Oona, 1943

From Life magazine, March 8th, 1943

This is Oona before she was Mrs. Chaplin, but not long before.

Oona with 3 of her granddaughters, c. 1989

Shown here are Michael's daughters, Dolores (top) & Carmen (lower right) & Victoria's daughter, Aurelia (lower left).

Oona O'Neill Chaplin (May 14, 1925 - September 27, 1991)

Charlie is reflected in Oona's sunglasses

Photo by Jerry Epstein.

Charlie with Sir Albert and Lady Naylor-Leyland, 1923

A trick film sequence that Charlie shot with the couple is in the documentary The Gentleman Tramp.

Igor Stravinsky takes a spin on Charlie's hoop

Charlie kept this contraption in his backyard during the late 1920s-1930s.

Charlie's "latest portrait"

Photoplay, April 1919

Hey folks,

I'm taking a bit of a break due to illness. I hope to be up and posting again soon.

Jess

Syd in PHOTOPLAY, 1925

On the set of MODERN TIMES

The factory set was actually made of wood and painted to look like steel. Chaplin also used miniatures for certain factory scenes as well.

Charlie with Hal Roach, Thelma Todd, & Mervyn Leroy

Below is a non-watermarked version of this photo, but it just doesn't do Charlie's bathing suit justice. It appears that his "bulge" has been airbrushed out.

With Jarwaharlal Nehru, Switzerland, 1953.

Charlie with Paulette, & her mother, Alta, 1936

Directing SUNNYSIDE, 1919

Charlie is directing Tom Wilson, who plays his boss in the film. Rollie Totheroh is behind the camera.

Charlie meets Gandhi in London, September 22nd, 1931

The Mahatma had never heard of Charlie Chaplin before this meeting. The two icons discussed the impact of the machine age before Gandhi invited his guest to stay for evening prayers. Charlie left with the impression of a "realistic, virile-minded visionary with a will of iron."

Charlie mugs for newsreel cameras aboard the Mauretania in Plymouth, England, 1931

Mann Act trial, 1944

In February 1944, a federal case was brought against Charlie for violation of the Mann Act, a law which prohibited the transfer of a woman across state lines for sexual intentions (Chaplin had purchased round-trip train tickets from Los Angeles to New York for Joan Barry & her mother). The charges were ridiculous. As Chaplin's lawyer pointed out, Joan would have willingly had sex with Charlie at any time without having to schlep her to New York to do it. Following a humiliating trial, he was eventually cleared of the charges, but his public image in America was severely damaged.

Title list for the unreleased 1918 film HOW MOVING PICTURES ARE MADE (aka "How To Make Movies")

Chaplin & The Circle

In the late 1940s, Chaplin directed a series of plays for the Circle Theater in Los Angeles. The theater was founded by a group of students from UCLA including Charlie’s son Sydney, Jerry Epstein, & actor William Schallert (Charlie Chaplin, Jr. was also a Circle player for a short time).

Chaplin's contributions to Circle productions were uncredited. He never wanted any publicity, although it was hard to keep the secret because so many actors and friends saw him at rehearsals.  He spent countless hours with the actors, rehearsing them until the wee hours of the morning, when finally his wife, Oona, would call to summon him home. Then he would take the tired actors out for wheat cakes and maple syrup. "My fee for directing," Charlie would tell Jerry Epstein, "is thirty-five cents and a cup of black coffee!"

The Circle must have been a haven for Charlie at this time, a place where he could temporarily forget his problems & all the bad publicity he was receiving from the F.B.I. & the House Un-American Activities Committee.  Epstein said that Charlie never mentioned his problems, and they never asked about them. They were just "grateful that he was so generous with his time and talent."

The following photos are from Remembering Charlie by Jerry Epstein:

Charlie directing the first rehearsal of Rain (a play by Somerset Maugham).
Sydney Chaplin is at right wearing a black shirt.

Directing the Albert Camus play, Caligula, Charlie shows the actors how to shake their tablets.
The pillar int he background is from The Great Dictator. According to Epstein, Chaplin was generous with props
from his movies. 

Charlie and Oona congratulate Sydney after a performance at The Circle.

Cover of ILLUSTRATED magazine, September 20th, 1952

The cover photo was taken inside Charlie's Beverly Hills home.

Posed still from A DOG'S LIFE (1918)

Photo by Lord Snowdon, 1964

Lobby card for THE GOLD RUSH (1942 reissue)

1918

Sam Goldwyn entertains visiting New York Mayor Jimmy Walker, c. 1928

Charlie is standing fourth from left, Sam Goldwyn second from left. Walker is in the middle & Ernst Lubitsch third from right. Douglas Fairbanks is in the foreground. Behind him, left to right: Lupe Velez, Dolores Del Rio, Louella Parsons & Marion Davies (except for Louella, Charlie has been linked romantically with all of these women. There are photos of him taking Lupe to a premiere around this time, he was involved in a long, sporadic affair with Marion, & may have had a sexual relationship with Dolores when she first came to Hollywood).

Orly airport in Paris, 1971

At Douglas Fairbanks' studio, 1919

Charlie and the other guests were at the studio to watch a rodeo.

Charlie & Paulette at the Pacific Southwest Tennis Tournament, September 1934

Charlie is in a deep conversation up by Rupert Hughes.

Boar hunting with the Duke

A page from the November 1933 issue of A Woman’s Home Companion which features the third installment of Charlie’s memoir “A Comedian Sees The World”. These illustrations depict his boar hunting adventure with the Duke of Westminster. Top left: Charlie ducks behind a car "in a jiffy" when his horse, Flossie, rears its hind legs (he was eventually given another horse). Middle: Charlie hangs on to the horse's neck for dear life when it takes off running at the sound of a bugle. Bottom: Sitting on the running board of his limo, exhausted and suffering from back pain. Right: Charlie sports his oversized gloves and jacket, which were loaned to him by the Duke because he forgot to bring his own.