October 22, 2014

Charlie Chaplin: Hero


During location filming for The Adventurer, which was released 97 years ago today, Chaplin dove into the rough waters off Topanga Canyon to save a young girl named Mildred Morrison from drowning. The articles below describe Charlie's heroic efforts to save the seven-year-old. Although he is described as diving in with his cane and "ancient derby," he was most likely wearing the prison garb we see at the beginning of the film (and above).

Chicago Tribune, August 12, 1917

Motion Picture News, September 1, 1917
Charlie did not receive a medal.

4 comments:

  1. Nice. I remember coming across one of these (I think the MPN one) at the Library of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center about 45 years ago while sorting through a huge envelope of clippings. I figured I was the only one to know about this for years, but probably wasn't. :)

    Phil

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    1. I'd say you had a heads up on most people! It's mentioned in the Robinson book but you knew about it long before he did.

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  2. You can read more about Chaplin filming The Adeventurer on this post.

    http://silentlocations.wordpress.com/2014/10/17/how-charlie-chaplin-filmed-the-adventurer/

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  3. He was a great actor...

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