THREE WINKS AT CHAPLIN

THREE WINKS AT CHAPLIN #1: THE KID (1921, dir by Charlie Chaplin) As you try to shake off your post-Christmas food overload glaze and/or begin to start thinking about what 2021 has in store, we thought we'd post three appreciations of three Charlie Chaplin movies. First up is Chaplin's first feature film THE KID. Coming in at a fleet 68 minutes, it was originally intended to be a short. But as Chaplin shot more and more footage and developed the story more and more, it became, almost by accident, his first feature masterpiece. Chaplin's iconic Tramp encounters an orphan baby, raises him, then has societal forces try to tear them apart. Although Chaplin's maturing style in his shorts hinted at his move towards stories that would have gut laughs, amazing set pieces, and emotional wallops, it was THE KID that landed the first real KO punch. Jackie Coogan was so beloved as the The Kid that the entire industry of amazing child actors from Shirley Temple to Jodie Foster to MacCaulay Culkin almost seems a straight shot back to this movie. We also see Chaplin's inexhaustible gift for finding hilarious ways to make the most memorable of setpieces out of the seeming simplest of resources. One stand out scene here is the clever idea of having the Tramp dream that everyone he knows on his rough scrabble street is either a devil or an angel. What made Chaplin, Chaplin is truly mysterious (or else the rest of us would just bottle it and use it). But Chaplin movies, maybe more than any others in the silent period, carved out the road that proved that mass entertainments could also be works of the highest art if captained by supreme talents who understood the inner workings of both kinds of storytelling.

THREE WINKS AT CHAPLIN #2: THE GOLD RUSH (1925, dir by Charlie Chaplin) Chaplin's run from his world-famous shorts to his feature films through LIMELIGHT in 1952 is one of the most incredible and enviable filmmaker streaks of all time. For this programmer's money, there is no more classic distillation of the Chaplin style and genius than THE GOLD RUSH. THE GOLD RUSH is that golden mean where everything on all levels works. Here, the Tramp travels to the snowy Yukon in search of Gold. He finds instead snowstorms, ravenously hungry partners, a Showgirl who doesn't take his affections seriously, and all manner of dangers. THE GOLD RUSH is a kind of proto-blockbuster. Chaplin balances an overarching story (the underdog against the elements and fellow human beings pursuing love and redemption) with iconic standout setpieces. It's here that we get Chaplin turning into a chicken in front of his partner's starved delirious vision. Chaplin precariously balancing in a shack about to fall off a cliff. Chaplin doing his potato dance. Chaplin barely escaping from a bear. There's something so critical to be learned in how Chaplin balanced emotion, warmth, the underdog character with an unsentimental understanding that the LAUGHS had to be there. Many of the greatest moviemakers seem to understand truly great cinema lies somewhere in the nexus of art and entertainment. No one bettered Chaplin's ability to exist right in the intersection of these two worlds.

THREE WINKS AT CHAPLIN #3: CITY LIGHTS (1931, dir by Charlie Chaplin) It's often a toss-up between CITY LIGHTS and THE GOLD RUSH for Chaplin lovers in terms of which deserves the "ultimate masterpiece" crown. What a great problem to have! That framing is probably unproductive and beside the point since both movies are revelatory masterpieces. In an interesting way, this programmer sees them as almost mirror reflections. If THE GOLD RUSH is a masterpiece of individual knockout setpieces, CITY LIGHTS is a masterpiece of a powerhouse ending that somehow elevates all hilarious parts to genius. In this classic, Chaplin's The Tramp is accidentally mistaken for a rich man by a Blind Flower Girl. Tramp carries on the charade as he tries various activities to raise money for an operation that will restore her sight. Along the way, he saves the life of suicidal Rich Drunk who only remembers Chaplin at night when he's blasted. When the Rich Man is sober, he has no recollection of any of Chaplin's kindnesses. If THE GOLD RUSH is Chaplin's 7TH SYMPHONY (a la Beethoven-a perfect balance of all parts), CITY LIGHTS is Chaplin's 9TH SYMPHONY (three tremendous movements all building to an overpowering fourth movement). We again see the Chaplin brilliance at constructing stand-alone set pieces (Chaplin trying his hand at boxing, Chaplin accompanying the Rich Drunk on his nightly tears). We also see Chaplin's genius for the ending. Although it's been written about countless times, the ending here-where the Flower Girl, her sight now restored, realizes that the Bum she's just laughed at in the street is actually the "rich man" who paid for her operation- is a symphony of complex emotions. Complex emotions are a brass ring in cinema most of us reach out for and miss. Here, Chaplin, somehow manages to capture the most conflicted of emotions and reactions and yet distill them to such immediately graspable simplicity that some truth about life is instantaneously realized.

Written by Craig Hammill. Founder/Programmer of Secret Movie Club