Charlie Chaplin: The Tramp Turns 100
April 19-June 29
Half-Price Chaplin Day Apr. 25!
10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
All tickets for films in the Chaplin series are half price on Apr. 25 between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Make your list now, and shop online or at the box office on Apr. 25 for incredible savings! Full film listings and schedule below.
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Charlie Chaplin's first appearance as "The Little Tramp," his chaos-prone but balletically nimble underdog everyman, often unlucky, always plucky and, eventually, iconic the world over.
To celebrate the occasion, AFI Silver presents a selection of Chaplin's most beloved films featuring his Tramp persona (plus a few interesting variations), including his original appearance in the Keystone Studio's KID AUTO RACES AT VENICE (1914). In addition to the celebrated feature films, the series highlights include gorgeous restorations of the 12 short films Chaplin made for the Mutual Film Corporation from 1916 to 1917 after signing a then-unprecedented contract for $670,000 and being given complete creative control as writer, director, producer and star.
Hailed as the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin set the standard for silent screen comedy as a performer, writer and director (and, starting with his features, he even composed the accompanying scores). The iconographic Little Tramp, his signature screen persona of the silent era, remains such an enduring figure that even today he is recognizable by just his silhouette. This brilliant comedian was, for a time, the single most popular entertainer on the planet, celebrated the world over, connecting with audiences in the universal language of silent screen comedy. During his long life and career, Chaplin famously enjoyed the prestige and wealth that came with his filmic accomplishments (notably, co-founding the United Artists studio along with fellow Hollywood luminaries Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith; notoriously, living down a number of sex scandals). But he also endured business setbacks, strained relationships and harassment for his leftist politics during the Red Scare of the 1950s, which eventually led to the London-born comic's exile from his adopted home in the United States (his later, darker-hued films wickedly reflect this real-life turmoil).
With changes in the political winds, and the rise of film culture in the 1960s, audiences reclaimed Chaplin for his genius and artistry, leading to a late-career surge in popularity for the then 80-year-old entertainer, and culminating with the awarding of an Honorary Oscar in 1972 for "the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century."
Chaplin's Mutual Films have been restored by Lobster Films and Cineteca di Bologna, in collaboration with Film Preservation Associates and Association Chaplin.
Restorations sponsored by The Film Foundation, The George Lucas Family Group and George Harrison Material World Charitable Foundation (THE COUNT, THE CURE, THE PAWNSHOP), Alexander Payne (THE ADVENTURER), Michel Hazanavicius (BEHIND THE SCREEN) and Amitabh Bachchan (THE FLOORWALKER).
AFI Member passes will be accepted at all screenings.
THE KID
Free Screening on Apr 19!
Chaplin's debut feature established the template for his unique mix of slapstick and sentiment. In the forsaken slums of the big city, Chaplin's tramp stumbles upon an abandoned baby, and, despite his initial attempts to be rid of this responsibility, settles into the role of adoptive father, as "the kid" grows into streetwise 6-year-old ragamuffin Jackie Coogan. The pair enjoy a footloose father-and-son relationship—until the authorities come calling.
DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1921, b&w, 68 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
Sat, Apr 19, 3:30—Free screening!;
Wed, Apr 23, 6:30 (Montgomery College Show)
Chaplin at Keystone
100th Anniversary of Chaplin's Tramp Debut!
New DCP!
Live musical accompaniment by Andrew Simpson
While touring U.S. vaudeville theaters with Fred Karno's troupe of London comedians in 1913, an enterprising 24-year-old Brit named Charles Chaplin, who had gained notice mainly for his stage drunk act, decided to stay stateside for a while longer and signed a movie contract with Mack Sennett at the Keystone studio. Within a year, he had invented a signature screen persona, "The Little Tramp," that immediately connected with exhibitors and audiences who asked for more. Soon he was directing his own shorts and on his way to screen immortality. This program includes the very first appearance of Chaplin as the Tramp, KID AUTO RACES AT VENICE, plus seven other shorts from 1914:
KID AUTO RACES AT VENICE
THE MASQUERADER
HIS NEW PROFESSION
THE ROUNDERS
THE NEW JANITOR
DOUGH AND DYNAMITE
MUSICAL TRAMP aka HIS MUSICAL CAREER
HIS PREHISTORIC PAST
DIR/SCR Charles Chaplin et al.; PROD Mack Sennett. US, 1914, b&w, 122 min, DCP. NOT RATED
Tue, Apr 22, 7:20 rescheduled to: Sun, Apr 27, 5:15
THE GOLD RUSH
The Tramp tries his luck as a prospector in wintry Alaska, striking a rich vein of comedic gold (if little of the real stuff) in this dazzling silent classic. "Whether staving off hunger by cooking his boot or doing a dainty dance with a pair of dinner rolls, Chaplin confronts the moral implications of every delicious, meticulously realized gag. As the poor man of refinement, the overlooked wanderer despairing of romance, the survivalist imp of defiant pride, Chaplin is the apotheosis of the world's despised and downtrodden, and also their hope." –Richard Brody, The New Yorker.
DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1925, b&w, 69 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
Sat, Apr 26, 2:55–just added!; Sun, Apr 27, 7:15; Tue, Apr 29, 7:15
THE CIRCUS
Chased off the midway by a policeman, Charlie stumbles into the Big Top, where his act's an immediate hit and he promptly falls for the owner's stepdaughter. But when he learns she loves another, it's time for one more noble sacrifice. Featuring perhaps Chaplin's most quietly poignant climax and some of his most hilarious sequences, from the opening chase to his high-wire tightrope act, complicated by frisky escaped monkeys.
DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1928, b&w, 71 min, 35mm. Silent. NOT RATED
Sat, May 3, 3:20; Tue, May 6, 5:15
Chaplin at Essanay
Live musical accompaniment by Michael Britt
THE CHAMPION
With his good-luck horseshoe inserted into his boxing glove, Chaplin punches above his weight. DIR/SCR Charles Chaplin; PROD Jesse T. Robbins. US, 1915, b&w, 33 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
THE TRAMP
The Tramp defends a country girl (Edna Purviance) against a pack of criminal-minded hoboes. Grateful, she gives him a job on her farm. Although smitten with the girl, the Tramp is hopeless as a farmhand and, once he discovers that she loves another, it's time to get on the road again. DIR/SCR Charles Chaplin; PROD Jesse T. Robbins. US, 1915, b&w, 32 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
A WOMAN
While wooing pretty Edna Purviance in the family parlor, the Tramp must think fast after her father, with whom the Tramp had an earlier altercation, returns home. Running upstairs, he dons a drag disguise, to pose as "Nora Nettlerash," a friend of the daughter's. But "Nora" is a looker and the father takes an interest. DIR/SCR Charles Chaplin; PROD Jesse T. Robbins. US, 1915, b&w, 20 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
A NIGHT IN THE SHOW
Based in part on a play Chaplin performed with the Fred Karno troupe. A finicky theatergoer (Chaplin) moves from seat to seat, ultimately winding up down in the front where he gets into a fight, first with the orchestra conductor, then the entire cast of that evening's variety show. DIR/SCR Charles Chaplin; PROD Jesse T. Robbins. US, 1915, b&w, 30 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
Total program approximately 115 min.
CITY LIGHTS
#11 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies
#10 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions
#1 Romantic Comedy on AFI's 10 TOP 10
Possibly the Tramp's greatest tale: having fallen in love with a beautiful young blind woman (Virginia Cherrill) who, through a mixup, has mistaken him for a millionaire, Chaplin resolves to raise the funds to pay for the operation that will restore her sight. The film's celebrated twist finale established this Depression-era classic as one of the screen's most bittersweet romances. "I think I like CITY LIGHTS the best of all my films." –Chaplin.
DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1931, b&w, 83 min, 35mm. RATED G
Sat, May 17, 3:45; Sun, May 18, 9:45
MODERN TIMES
#33 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs
Chaplin delights as an enthusiastic but comically inept factory worker, whose willingness to throw himself into his work results in much comic chaos. In the guise of slapstick comedy, Chaplin's film spoke to Depression-era anxiety over labor unrest and burlesqued the mind-numbing effects of mechanization. With Paulette Goddard as the gamine—and soon to be the third Mrs. Chaplin.
DIR/SCR/PROD Charlie Chaplin. US, 1936, b&w, 87 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
Chaplin at First National, Program 1
Live musical accompaniment by Michael Britt
A DOG'S LIFE
Chaplin and dog Scraps eat on the sly, polishing off the entire stock of brother Syd's lunch wagon while the proprietor is looking the other way. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1918, b&w, 33 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
SHOULDER ARMS
The greatest comedy to emerge from World War I, features Chaplin as a hapless member of "the awkward squad" who single-handedly captures the Kaiser. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1918, b&w, 45 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
THE PILGRIM
Chaplin is an escaped convict mistaken for the rector of a Texas church. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1923, b&w, 40 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
NOTE: This program is composed of the three original versions of the short films re-released as THE CHAPLIN REVUE in 1959—but is not the collected version itself, which included new introductions by Chaplin between the shorts.
Total program approximately 118 min.
Chaplin at First National, Program 2
Live musical accompaniment by Bernie Anderson
SUNNYSIDE
Chaplin plays a hard-working farmhand, so busy he gets milk for his coffee straight from the cow and has a chicken lay eggs right over the frying pan. Fearing that pretty local girl Edna Purviance has eyes for a visiting city slicker, Chaplin puts on citified airs in an attempt to impress her. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1919, b&w, 30 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
A DAY'S PLEASURE
Family man Chaplin plans a day out with the wife (Edna Purviance) and kids (including an uncredited Jackie Coogan, soon to become a star himself opposite Chaplin in THE KID), but everything that can go wrong does, from the family's finicky Ford to a pleasure boat ride with dangerous deck chairs and an epidemic of seasickness. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1919, b&w, 19 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
THE IDLE CLASS
Looking for a little R&R, the Tramp crashes a swanky golf resort, where his carefree pocketing of the "free" golf balls he finds lying around causes an uproar on the links. Later, harassed by a policeman who suspects him of being a pickpocket (in fact, a guest of the resort is the thief), Chaplin flees to a masquerade ball, where he is mistaken for the drunk husband of wealthy socialite Edna Purviance, leading to multiple cases of mistaken identity. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1921, b&w, 32 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
PAY DAY
Chaplin is a bricklayer who'd like nothing more than to spend his whole paycheck drinking with his buddies. But for that he'll have to elude his dominating wife Phyllis Allen. Chaplin's final two-reeler. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1922, b&w, 22 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
Total program approximately 102 min.
Chaplin at Mutual, Program 1
Newly Restored DCPs!
Live musical accompaniment by Ben Model
THE FLOORWALKER
Chaplin's hapless department store clerk is a dead ringer for the embezzling store inspector (Lloyd Bacon, later a director). The store escalator serves as a stage for dynamic gags. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1916, b&w, 29 min, DCP. NOT RATED
THE FIREMAN
Chaplin is a bumbling firefighter, the runt of the firehouse. But after his ogre-ish Chief (Eric Campbell) becomes embroiled in an arson plot, Chaplin gets to play hero. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1916, b&w, 24 min, DCP. NOT RATED
THE VAGABOND
After a big score, city tramp Chaplin takes a break in the country, where he discovers and rescues a young woman kidnapped by a band of gypsies. An anticipation of Chaplin's more melodramatic work, including CITY LIGHTS. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1916, b&w, 34 min, DCP. NOT RATED
Total program approx. 87 min.
Chaplin at Mutual, Program 2
Newly Restored DCPs!
Live musical accompaniment by Michael Britt
ONE A.M.
After a night out on the town, a drunken Chaplin returns home and, unable to find his keys, gets into a series of physical altercations with his house and furnishings. A solo showcase for Chaplin's slapstick gags, and a rare variation on his Tramp persona, here portraying a wealthy but no-less-hapless homeowner. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1916, b&w, 24 min, DCP. NOT RATED
THE COUNT
Chaplin impersonates a wealthy Count in order to attend Miss Moneybags' soiree, where he becomes smitten with the pretty cook. Comic mayhem enlivens the party after the real Count arrives. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1916, b&w, 24 min, DCP. NOT RATED
THE PAWNSHOP
One of Chaplin's most celebrated and surreal shorts, including the famous "sick" alarm clock gag. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1916, b&w, 25 min, DCP. NOT RATED
Total program approx. 73 min.
Chaplin at Mutual, Program 3
Newly Restored DCPs!
Live musical accompaniment by Andrew Simpson & the Snark Ensemble
BEHIND THE SCREEN
On a Hollywood movie set, lowly stagehand Chaplin does all the heavy lifting while his boss Eric Campbell hogs the credit. The other stagehands go on strike, and a pie fight and Keystone-esque chase scene cap the explosive finale. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1916, b&w, 30 min, DCP. NOT RATED
THE RINK
Charlie Chaplin skates circles around his antagonists, figuratively, waiting tables in a swanky restaurant, and literally, at the rink next door, in one of his best-loved two-reelers. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1916, b&w, 30 min, DCP. NOT RATED
EASY STREET
The Tramp goes straight after falling for beautiful mission worker Edna Purviance, and becomes a police officer. But the rookie cop draws a challenging first assignment: working the beat on Easy Street, run by street tough Eric Campbell. Endlessly inventive—one of Chaplin's comic masterpieces! DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1917, b&w, 24 min, DCP. NOT RATED
Total program approx. 84 min.
Chaplin at Mutual, Program 4
Newly Restored DCPs!
Live musical accompaniment by Andrew Simpson
THE CURE
Chaplin is a society drunk who checks in to a health spa to dry out, but smuggles a trunkful of booze in with him. A revolving door provides ample opportunity for gags, with Chaplin's attempts to escape Henry Bergman's vigorous massage a comic highlight. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1917, b&w, 24 min, DCP. NOT RATED
THE IMMIGRANT
One of Chaplin's signature works, praised by fellow filmmakers the world over, including Elia Kazan, Francis Ford Coppola, Ousmane Sembene and Satyajit Ray. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1917, b&w, 30 min, DCP. NOT RATED
THE ADVENTURER
After a daring escape from prison, the Tramp saves Edna Purviance and her mother from drowning, and is taken into their home. But Edna's jealous suitor Eric Campbell does his darnedest to have him removed. DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1917, b&w, 24 min, DCP. NOT RATED
Total program approx. 78 min.
UNKNOWN CHAPLIN
Film archivists and historians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill take a fascinating look at Chaplin's outtakes, revealing his meticulous working methods, working and re-working scenes and stunts, take after take, in order to create the "effortless" magic on screen. Narrated by James Mason.
DIR/SCR/PROD Kevin Brownlow, David Gill. UK, 1983, b&w/color, 156 min, 16mm. NOT RATED
THE GREAT DICTATOR
Chaplin's first all-talking picture presents a biting satire on dictatorship, with Chaplin as a Jewish barber mistaken for Adenoid Hynkel, Der Phooey, Dictator of Tomania. His cohorts include the scene-stealing Jack Oakie as Benzino Napaloni (Il Dig-a-Ditchy), Henry Daniell as Garbitsch and Billy Gilbert as Herring. As Hynkel, Chaplin speaks in a rich guttural tongue interspersed with gibberish. Featuring Chaplin's globe dance—one of cinema's most iconic images.
DIR/SCR/PROD Charles Chaplin. US, 1940, b&w, 125 min, 35mm. NOT RATED
Tue, Jun 24, 6:45; Wed, Jun 25, 6:45; Thu, Jun 26, 6:45;
Fri, Jun 27, 12:15; Sat, Jun 28, 4:20