The Kid

Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid (1921).

In 1914, Charlie Chaplin stepped in front of the camera wearing a bowler hat, ill-fitted suit, and small moustache, and carrying a cane. The short was Kid Auto Races at Venice and the world was introduced to the Little Tramp for the first time.

For this centennial year of the Little Tramp’s birth, Chaplin tributes are being held all over the world. Film Forum started things off on New Year’s Day with a marathon screening of Chaplin’s major features. Being a good film nerd, I was there and watched Kid Auto Races at Venice (very funny) and Chaplin’s first feature film The Kid (1921).

The Kid opens with a distraught woman (Edna Purviance) leaving a charity hospital with her newborn baby. A quick shot of a handsome artist with a copy of her photo (which ends up in the fireplace) lets the viewers know that this is the father who is not going to be marrying the mother. Out of desperation, she leaves the baby in the backseat of a car in front of large home with a note that reads, “Please love and care for this orphan child.” She soon has a change of heart but when she returns to the scene discovers that the car has been stolen and her baby is gone, forever.

Upon discovery of the baby, the car thieves dump him in the garbage where the Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) stumbles upon him. After a comic scene in which he tries to leave the baby in a woman’s stroller he decides to keep the boy and names him John. Five years later we find the two are a happy family living in a rundown, one-room apartment. The Tramp takes care of his adoptive son (Jackie Coogan), making sure his hands and ears are clean. Meanwhile the Kid helps earn his keep: he shares in the cooking and more importantly, throws rocks through the windows of houses that the Tramp can then conveniently repair.

Meanwhile, the Kid’s mother has become a famous opera singer and spends her free time doing charity work. One day while bringing toys to the poor she runs into the Kid and gives him a stuffed animal, not realizing he’s her boy. Soon after he falls sick and a doctor is called. Learning that the Tramp is not the Kid’s biological father, the doctor takes the note left by the Kid’s mother and notifies the authorities who arrive and take the Kid away. The Tramp manages to free him, and they hide out at a flophouse until the manager recognizes their description from a newspaper ad and takes the Kid to the police where his mother, who was shown her note by the doctor, is waiting to be reunited with her lost son.

The Tramp, after a frantic search for the Kid, returns to their old home and falls asleep on the doorstep and enters “Dreamland” where he and his neighbours, all wearing wings (including the dogs), live together in harmony until they are interrupted by a group of devils. Woken by a policeman, the Tramp is put in a car and driven to the woman’s house where he is reunited with the Kid.

The Kid may not be Chaplin’s greatest film but it is one of my favourites mainly because it is a story about love. Regardless of the circumstances of the Kid’s birth, there is no doubt that the Tramp and the Kid love each other like a father and son. The Tramp expresses his pride for the Kid when he accomplishes something and the Kid looks to the Tramp for approval. They may be poor but they have each other and when people try to separate them, the Tramp goes to any lengths to get his boy back.

There is a reason why the Little Tramp—a tragic clown with a huge heart—is one of the best-loved characters in film history. Chaplin brilliantly portrayed him with a wonderful mix of slapstick and sentiment that created a bond with moviegoers that continues to this day. There may have been other great silent screen clowns but none of them, including the amazing Buster Keaton, affected an audience's emotions like Chaplin.

As for the Kid himself, no one could have played the part better than Jackie Coogan. A skilled mimic blessed with comic timing, he was the perfect companion to Chaplin’s Tramp, able to make the viewers laugh at his antics one moment while causing them to cry the next. Chaplin thought so highly of Coogan that when filming of The Kid had to be put on hiatus so he could make a short, “A Day’s Pleasure” (1919), he cast his young co-star to play his son. It goes without saying that Coogan was also absolutely adorable, which is a bit strange when you think that he grew up to become Uncle Fester.

The most famous scene in the film is when men arrive to take the Kid away. After a big struggle, the Tramp is restrained, his eyes filled with tears while the Kid stands in the back of the orphanage wagon, his arms outstretched, crying out for his father. It’s utterly heartbreaking and never fails to make me well-up. Chaplin was inspired to write The Kid after suffering the loss of his first born, a son, and one can only imagine the personal anguish that he drew upon for this scene.

Though set in contemporary times, there are Dickensesque overtones to the film reminiscent of Chaplin’s own haphazard childhood in London. Again, love not money seems to be the answer in this film. The poverty that surrounds the Tramp and Kid are seen as livable as long as they are together. Therefore it’s not strange that when the Tramp enters “Dreamland” his heaven is not a golden palace but his own beloved poor neighbourhood.

At the beginning of The Kid there is a title card that states “A picture with a smile—and perhaps, a tear.” No better description could sum up this film.

Pardon Our Appearance

Tales of a Madcap Heiress is currently undergoing some tweaks (basically, I want to be able to run larger photos), which means the pages are going to look a bit wonky for the next few days. So please stay tuned for a, hopefully, nicer looking blog coming soon.

Photo of Charles Chaplin in Modern Times.

The Gold Rush

In recent years, I've found myself spending Christmas afternoon at the movies. This time round, I went to Film Forum to see Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush (1925). Chaplin passed away on Christmas day in 1977 so it only seemed fitting that they chose to show the film for which he wished to be remembered.

The film takes place in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. Chaplin’s Tramp (introduced as the lone prospector) is looking for gold when he runs into Big Jim McKay (Mack Swain), a man who’s just discovered a huge gold deposit at his claim, and Black Larsen (Tom Murray), a man wanted by the authorities. The Tramp and Big Jim end up snowbound in a cabin with no food and a hallucinating Big Jim begins to see the tramp as an enormous chicken. Later, having giving up on prospecting, the Tramp ventures into town where he meets and falls head over heels in love with a dance hall girl, Georgia (Georgia Hale), who he mistakenly believes loves him back. Big Jim, now suffering from amnesia, reappears and demands that the Tramp help him locate his claim. The Tramp ends up finding gold at last.

The film was, as usual with most Chaplin projects, written and directed by the great man. Inspired by actual photos of the Klondike Gold Rush and the story of the doomed Donner Party, Chaplin filmed the opening sequence of a seemingly endless line of prospectors climbing a snow-covered mountain in the Sierra Nevada Mountains while the rest of the film was shot on elaborate sets back in Hollywood.

Two of the most iconic scenes in film history appear in The Gold Rush. The first occurs when in desperation for food, the Tramp boils one of his shoes for dinner. Chaplin makes an elaborate show of carving the shoe (the nails are swiftly gathered up) and includes a nice twirl of the laces as if they were pasta (in reality the shoe was made of black licorice).

The second scene is when the Tramp, who is waiting for Georgia and her friends to arrive for a New Year's Eve party he's prepared, dreams that he is entertaining them with a pair of dancing dinner rolls. Many people have imitated the trick, two rolls stuck on forks, but in Chaplin's hands there is a certain magic to their movement back and forth across the table. Film goers in 1925 were so enchanted with the scene that some cinemas would actually stop the film to replay it. 

Chaplin's films always include a mix of comedy, romance, and sentiment while never forgetting the plight of the common man, and The Gold Rush is no different. With the humorous moments come heartbreaking ones like when the Tramp wakes from the dancing rolls scene to realize that Georgia and her friends have forgotten about the party. Or when the Tramp believes he’s received a note declaring Georgia’s love for him when it's really meant for someone else. All of this elevates The Gold Rush to more than just a comedy.

In 1942, Chaplin released a new version of the film for which he recorded a new score, replaced the intertitles with a narration (done by him of course), trimmed some of the scenes, and changed the ending. At the Film Forum screening a restored version of the original 1925 film that includes the original ending was shown instead. I thought this version was absolutely wonderful (especially the ending) and by the audience's response, so did they. 

If you've never seen The Gold Rush, please try to find a copy of the 1925 version. It will make your day.

California Dreaming Part 2

During my visit to California, my parents and I made a trip out to Niles, a small historic district in the town of Fremont located in the East Bay. Niles has a quaint main street with a series of antique shops and a charming old train depot.

The reason for our visit was the area’s history. For a few years during the early days of filmmaking, the streets of Niles were filled with movie cowboys and one very famous tramp. Niles was home to the Essanay Studios, the West Coast branch of the Chicago based-company, whose employees included Broncho Billy and Charlie Chaplin. Among the films Chaplin made in Niles was The Tramp in 1915, which included the iconic closing image of the tramp walking away down a dusty road (that would be a dusty Niles road).

Although the original studio is gone, the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum chronicles the history of Essanay and exhibits original movie posters, cameras, and documents from the silent era. The Museum is housed in the Edison Theatre, built in 1913, and a tour includes a stop in the theatre's tin-lined projection booth, which is still functional. Every Saturday silent movies are screened with live piano accompaniment. They even have a cool gift shop (I picked up a Valentino magnet and a couple of new flip books).

Chaplin greets visitors in front of the ticket booth in the museum.

Although Chaplin spent less than a year in Niles, he's its most famous resident. Chaplin's image can be found everywhere and every June the area hosts "Chaplin Days," a weekend-long celebration of the man. The connection to Niles is such that when Google made a video doodle tribute to Chaplin earlier this year, it was done in collaboration with the Museum (and filmed on the streets of Niles too).

If silent film doesn’t interest you, there is a recently restored train depot across the street. The Niles Depot, built in 1901, contains a small museum that details its rail history. The depot was an important junction of two major lines at the turn of the century. Its bright colours look nice against the nearby hills and on Sundays a train runs between Niles and neighboring Sunol.

To learn more about the Essanay Studios, visit the Museum's website here. If you find yourself in the area and want to visit, go on a weekend as many places, including the Museum, are closed during the week.

Photos by Michele.

Charlie

Charles Spencer Chaplin. Born 122 years ago today. The man who with a mustache, bowler hat, cane, and ill-fitted suit launched one of the screen's most indelible characters, was a genius in the true sense of the word. An actor, writer, director, and composer, he created characters and stories that still move audiences today. While making people laugh, he would simultaneously break their hearts. And without saying a word, he managed to give a voice to the working man and bring a dignity to even the most destitute. Happy Birthday Little Tramp.

In honor of Chaplin's birthday, Google created this darling tribute.

The Little Tramp

All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman, and a pretty girl.—Charles Chaplin

New York’s Film Forum is in the midst of a Charles Chaplin Festival and if you have never seen one of his films on the big screen, you don’t know what you’re missing. I was fortunate enough on a recent evening to catch two of his silents—The Idle Class (1921) and The Circus (1928). 

A scene from The Idle Class.

In The Idle Class, Chaplin plays two parts: the Tramp and the Husband. After sneaking onto a private course to play a round of golf, the Tramp winds up at a costume ball where the Neglected Wife, played by Chaplin regular Edna Purviance, mistakes him for her husband and general hilarity ensues. While the film may be short (30 minutes), it’s full of comedic moments. The scene where the husband enters the hotel lobby without his pants on is worth viewing for itself alone.

Those darn monkeys.

The Circus opens with a song, Swing Little Girl, sung by the man himself. Chaplin composed the song and a new score for the film’s 1969 re-release and the poignant strains of the elder Chaplin’s voice urging the girl on the screen to “never look down” make this version of the film a special treat.

While visiting a traveling circus, the Tramp is mistaken for a pickpocket and leads the police on a merry chase, including a brilliant turn in a hall of mirrors, before stumbling into the big top. The chaos he creates is thought to be part of the act by the crowd, and the Tramp is offered a job by the Ring Master. The Tramp soon falls in love with a circus rider, played beautifully by newcomer Merna Kennedy. When she declares her feelings for Rex, a tightrope walker, the Tramp takes to the high wire to prove his love.

Once again, the myriad comic scenes are too numerous to mention though I will admit that most of my favourites involve the Tramp interacting with animals, from the running joke of the donkey who always chases him to getting trapped in the lion’s cage to the trunk full of mischievous monkeys who wreak havoc on his balance (shouldn’t every film have a trunk full of monkeys?). 

The festival runs through August 5 and other Chaplin festivals are slated for Boston and Washington, DC. If you can get to the cinema, please do. There’s nothing like sharing in the trials and joys of the little Tramp with an audience of film lovers.