Chaplin, page 1
David Robinson
CHAPLIN
His Life and Art
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Preface to the first edition
Chaplin Family Tree
The London of Chaplin’s Youth
1 A London Boyhood
2 The Young Professional
3 With the Guv’nor
4 In Pictures
5 Essanay
6 Mutual
7 Penalties and Rewards of Independence
8 Escape
9 A Woman of Paris
10 The Gold Rush
11 The Circus
12 City Lights
13 Away From It All
14 Modern Times
15 The Great Dictator
16 Monsieur Verdoux
17 Limelight 589 18 Exile
19 A Countess From Hong Kong and the final years
Notes
Appendices
I Chronology
II Tours of ‘The Eight Lancashire Lads’, 1898–1900
III Tours of ‘Sherlock Holmes’, 1903–6
IV Tours of ‘Casey’s Circus’, 1906–7
V Three Keystone Scenarios
VI Filmography
VII Shooting Schedules and Ratios
VIII Who’s Who
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
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PENGUIN BOOKS
CHAPLIN
David Robinson is a film critic and historian, specializing in the archaeology of the cinema and the silent film era. He is currently Director of Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (the Pordenone Silent Film Festival) and was previously Director of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Mr Robinson was for many years film critic for, successively, the Financial Times and The Times. His private collection of pre-cinema apparatus has been featured in exhibitions throughout Europe. Other books include Buster Keaton, The Great Funnies, Hollywood in the Twenties, World Cinema and Peepshow to Palace.
List of Illustrations
Plates
All photographs unless otherwise specifically acknowledged are the copyright of the Roy Export Company Establishment.
1 Kennington Park Road at the time of Chaplin’s boyhood. (Author’s Collection)
2 Charles Chaplin, father of Charles, aged about twenty.
3 Hannah Chaplin, mother of Charles and Sydney, about 1885.
4 Illustrated cover for Charles Chaplin Senior’s song ‘Pals That Time Cannot Alter!’ c. 1892. (Author’s Collection)
5 Bill for New Empire Palace Theatre of Varieties, Leicester, featuring Charles Chaplin Senior, 1898. (Author’s Collection)
6 Leo Dryden about the time of his liaison with Hannah Chaplin. (Author’s Collection)
7 Cuckoo Schools, Hanwell. (Inman Hunter Collection, British Film Institute)
8 Charles Chaplin (circled) at the Hanwell Schools, 1897. (National Film and Television Archive)
9 Charles Chaplin at the time he was touring with the Eight Lancashire Lads.
10/10a Marceline, ‘The Droll’, in pathetic and manic moods, 1900. (Author’s Collection)
11 Chaplin as Sammy the Newsboy in Jim, A Romance of Cockayne, 1903.
12 Chaplin as Billy the Page in the touring company of Sherlock Holmes, 1903.
13/13a Chaplin’s two Sherlock Holmeses: (a) H. A. Saintsbury (Author’s Collection) (b) William C. Gillette. (Roy Waters Collection)
14 Sydney Chaplin, aged eighteen, c. 1903.
15 Chaplin in Repairs (1906).
16 The Casey’s Circus company, 1906. (Author’s Collection)
17 The real Dr Walford Bodie. (Garrick Club)
18 Chaplin’s impersonation of Dr Walford Bodie, 1906.
19 Fred Karno c. 1920. (Author’s Collection)
20 Chaplin, c. 1909, at the time he joined the Karno companies.
21 Sydney Chaplin as Archibald in Skating, with his wife, Minnie.
22 Charles Chaplin as Archibald in Skating.
23 Hetty Kelly as stage artist. (Mrs Jay Reddaway)
24/24a Two pictures of Hetty Kelly about the time that she became Mrs Alan Horne. (Mrs Jay Reddaway)
25 The Karno company on tour in USA. (Betty Tetrick)
26 On tour with the Karno troupe: about to leave Solano railway depot, Philadelphia.
27 Chaplin in front of poster for A Night in an English Music Hall on Karno tour.
28 Chaplin with posters at Exeter (California) railway depot.
29 The Keystone Studios about 1913 (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
30 Mack Sennett on the set. (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
31 Mabel Normand (Author’s Collection)
32 Making a Living, Chaplin’s first film. (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
33 The Essanay Studio at Niles, California, 1915. (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
34 The Majestic Studio (formerly the Bradbury Mansion). (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
35 Group of picture postcards with scenes from Essanay films, 1915. (Author’s Collection)
36 Panoramic group photograph of Chaplin’s Essanay unit on the set of The Bank, 1915. (Author’s Collection)
37 Chaplin’s first days at the Lone Star Studios.
38 Filming The Vagabond, 1916.
39 Edna Purviance, 1918, photographed by Jack Wilson. (Author’s Collection/ Jack Wilson Archive)
40 Chaplin and Sydney at the site of the projected studio, 1918.
41 The studio in early stages of construction.
42 Chaplin precariously balanced on the skeleton of the part-built studio.
43 Anticipation of Shoulder Arms: ‘advertisement’ for a putative film.
44 Aerial view of the Chaplin Studio taken by Jack Wilson in 1918. (Author’s Collection/Jack Wilson Archive)
45 Aerial view of the studio during the shooting of A Woman of Paris, 1922–3.
46 Aerial view of the studio during the shooting of Modern Times, 1935–6.
47 A Dog’s Life (1918).
48 A Dog’s Life (1918). Chaplin with Mut.
49 Chaplin after four days and nights spent editing A Dog’s Life.
50 A rehearsal at the studio, posed for How to Make Movies (1918).
51 Harry Lauder visits the studio, 23 January 1918.
52 Chaplin addressing a Bond rally in Wall Street, New York, 1918.
53 Shoulder Arms (1918): kitchen set for abandoned prologue.
54 Shoulder Arms (1918): banquet set for abandoned epilogue.
55 The Bond (1918): Chaplin and Edna.
56 Shoulder Arms (1918): Chaplin getting into his tree costume.
57 A break during filming of The Bond.
58 An impetuous visitor: Douglas Fairbanks vaults the gate of the Chaplin Studio.
59 The United Artists: Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Chaplin and D. W. Griffith with Oscar Price. (Author’s Collection/Jack Wilson Archive)
60 Jack Wilson taking the photograph of the United Artists. (Author’s Collection/Jack Wilson Archive)
61 Mildred Harris Chaplin, 1918. (Author’s Collection)
62 The grave of Norman Spencer Chaplin, Glendale Cemetery. (Mark Stock)
63 The Kid (1921). Chaplin, with wings, practises flying.
64 The Freak. Victoria Chaplin. (Jean-Baptiste Thierrée)
65 The Professor (1919). Shooting the dosshouse scene. (Author’s Collection/Jack Wilson Archive)
66 The Kid (1921). Chaplin with Jackie Coogan, Edith Wilson and her baby. (Author’s Collection/Jack Wilson Archive)
67 Chaplin and Clare Sheridan, November 1921.
68 Chaplin with Max Linder, 1921.
69 Chaplin in his cutting room, c. 1920
70 Chaplin and Pola Negri at the press conference to announce their engagement, 28 January 1923. (News Internationaal, Times Picture Archive)
71 A Woman of Paris (1923): two pictures of Chaplin directing Edna Purviance. (Jeffrey Vance)
72 Chaplin rehearsing with Abe Lyman’s orchestra, 1925.
73 The Gold Rush (1925). Lita Grey (Lillita MacMurray) with Chaplin at the signing of her contract.
74 The Gold Rush (1925). Chaplin on set: evidently things are not going quite right.
75 The Gold Rush (1925). The 1896 stereogram which first inspired the film. (Author’s Collection)
76 The Gold Rush (1925). Chaplin’s version of the great trek.
77 The Gold Rush (1925). Lita Grey as leading lady.
78 The Gold Rush (1925). Georgia Hale as leading lady.
79 The Gold Rush (1925). Shooting the original ending.
80 Chaplin, out of costume, performs the Dance of the Rolls.
81 The Gold Rush (1925). Between takes on location: Chaplin as a chicken, with Mack Swain and Kono Toraichi.
82 Chaplin’s first Hollywood home.
83 Chaplin’s house on Summit Drive.
84 The Circus (1928). Merna Kennedy as the circus girl.
85 The Circus (1928). Chaplin succumbs to exhaustion. (Author’s Collection/Jack Wilson Archive)
86 The Lita Grey divorce: Lita takes the oath in court. (Author’s Collection)
87 The aftermath of the studio fire, 28 September 1926.
88 Sea Gulls (A Woman of the Sea): cast and crew on location. (Inman Hunter Collection, British Film Institute)
89 Sea Gulls (A Woman of the Sea). Edna Purviance. (Inman Hunter Collection, British Film Institute)
90 Chaplin and Sergei Eisenstein on the tennis court, 1930 (Author’s C
91 City Lights (1931). Chaplin on set, with Ralph Barton.
92 City Lights (1931). The studio back lot during shooting.
93 City Lights (1931). Chaplin with Virginia Cherrill, as the flower girl.
94 City Lights (1931). Chaplin shows Virginia Cherrill how to play the role.
95 Hannah Chaplin in 1921, while still in the nursing home in Peckham. (Pauline Mason)
96 Hannah, with friends, in her Hollywood home.
97 Chaplin’s sons, Charles Jr and Sydney, c. 1930. (Author’s Collection)
98 City Lights. The première at the Los Angeles Theatre, 30 January 1931.
99 City Lights (1931). Chaplin with Professor and Mrs Albert Einstein at the première.
100 The 1931 world tour. Chaplin at the Majestic Hotel, Nice.
101 The 1931 world tour. Sydney with May Reeves in front of a snowman Charlie at St Moritz.
102 Paulette Goddard, photographed by Hurrell.
103 Modern Times (1936). Chaplin, out of costume, rehearses the automated feeder sequence.
104 Modern Times (1936). Chaplin and Paulette Goddard, as the nun, in the abandoned original ending.
105 Paulette Goddard and Chaplin at the première of Modern Times.
106 Key members of the Chaplin unit at the period of Modern Times.
107 Set design for department store skating sequence in Modern Times.
108 Chaplin as Napoleon at a fancy-dress party given by Marion Davies, 1925. (Bison Archives, Marc Wanamaker Collection)
109 Chaplin as Napoleon, mid-1930s.
110 The Great Dictator (1940).
111a/b/c/d The Great Dictator (1940). Storyboard designs by J. Russell Spencer. (Author’s Collection)
112 The Great Dictator (1940). Chaplin and Roland Totheroh on the camera crane.
113 The last meeting of Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, 15 November 1939.
114 Chaplin at a music recording session for The Great Dictator.
115 Chaplin and Oona in a Hollywood restaurant, 1944.
116 Monsieur Verdoux (1947). Plan for Thelma’s villa, by John Beckman. (Author’s Collection)
117 Monsieur Verdoux (1947). Plan of villa garden, by John Beckman. (Author’s Collection)
118 Monsieur Verdoux (1947). Chaplin and Martha Raye.
119 Chaplin directing Somerset Maugham’s Rain at the Circle Theatre, Hollywood, 1948.
120 Limelight (1952).
121 Limelight (1952). The screen debuts of Michael, Josephine and Geraldine Chaplin.
122 A King in New York (1957). Chaplin with Michael Chaplin and Oliver Johnston.
123 Manoir de Ban, Corsier sur Vevey, Switzerland, Chaplin’s home for the last twenty-four years of his life.
124 Chaplin and Oona in the park at Vevey, late 1960s.
125 Chaplin family group, 1972.
126 Oona as widow and hostess, August 1983.
127 The last official portrait, December 1977.
Line illustrations
Chaplin Family Tree.
The London of Chaplin’s Youth. (Author’s Collection)
Chaplin’s first press notice, The Magnet, 11 May 1889. (British Library)
Marriage certificate of Charles Chaplin Senior and Hannah Hill, 1885. (GLC Archives)
Lillie Harley’s ‘card’, 2 January 1886. (Garrick Club)
Lillie Harley’s ‘card’, 9 January 1886. (Garrick Club)
Handbill for benefit concert at the South London Palace, including ‘Miss Lilly Harley’, 1886.
Illustrated song cover, with portrait of Charles Chaplin Senior, 1893. (Author’s Collection)
Leo Dryden’s ‘card’, 31 October 1891. (Garrick Club)
Leo Dryden’s ‘card’ 28 November 1891. (Garrick Club)
Extracts from minutes of Southwark Board of Guardians (1896). (GLC Archives)
Part of the ‘Order for the Reception of a Pauper Lunatic’ relating to Hannah Chaplin, 9 May 1903. (GLC Archives)
Announcement of ‘Rags to Riches’, The Era, 20 August 1904. (Author’s Collection)
Letter from Sydney Chaplin to his mother, 1904.
Letter from the great pioneer music hall manager Charles Morton, 1904.
Letter from Hannah Chaplin to her sons, written from the Cane Hill Lunatic Asylum, 1905.
Programme for Sherlock Holmes at the Duke of York’s Theatre, 1905. (Author’s Collection)
Advertisement for The Football Match. (Author’s Collection)
Karno advertisement, 1910. (Author’s Collection)
Chaplin in A Night in a London Club, 1911, during US tour.
Cartoon of Chaplin as the Inebriate in A Night in an English Music Hall in USA, 1910.
A Night in an English Music Hall, 1910.
Charles Chaplin’s letter to Sydney, 1913, announcing he is going into films.
The two drafts of Chaplin’s first film contract, 1913.
Chaplin’s first filmography, written by himself in August 1914.
Two British postcards from the First World War: ‘Charlie Chaplin in the Post Office’, 1915. (Author’s Collection)
Music sheet, ‘The Charlie Chaplin Glide’, 1915. (Author’s Collection)
‘Alphabeticature’ self-portrait by Wheeler Dryden.
Daily production reports on A Dog’s Life, at first called I Should Worry, 1918.
Spanish cartoon depicting Chaplin with the Kaiser, 1917.
Letter written by Edna Purviance after seeing Shoulder Arms, 1918.
Record of employment and payment of actors during the seven days of shooting the boat scenes of A Day’s Pleasure, 1919.
Bill from Peckham House for Hannah Chaplin’s clothing, 1920.
The cartoonist David Low’s view of Chaplin’s visit to London, 1921.
The cartoonist Will Owen’s view of Chaplin’s visit to London, 1921.
Programme for first Hollywood run of A Woman of Paris, 1923.
Page from première programme, The Gold Rush, 1925. (Author’s Collection)
A cartoonist’s view of the Chaplin–Grey divorce, 1927.
Shooting record for 7 (out of 17) takes of the final shot of City Lights.
Form of acknowledgement sent to correspondents during Chaplin’s stay in London, 1931. (Author’s Collection)
‘Knighthood proposed for Chaplin (news item)’, 1931.
Ralph Barton, caricatured by Chaplin, 1931.
Caricaturist’s view of the encounter of Chaplin and Gandhi, 1931.
Certificate of destruction of the negative of Sea Gulls, 1933.
Cartoon of Chaplin and Hitler, late 1930s.
Script for Verdoux’s speech from the dock, marked up by the Breen Office, 1946.
Article from the Los Angeles Herald-Express, 1947.
Passage from the first page of Calvero’s story in the ‘novel’ version of Limelight, c. 1946.
Preface
This started out, eighteen years ago, as a long book, and is now even longer. For an author who cherishes brevity, this is a matter of concern; but in Chaplin’s case discursiveness seems justified. An artist of universal stature has left – uniquely and against all his intentions – an extensive, detailed record of the life and the working processes that resulted in his creation. It would, then, seem irresponsible to curtail this record, or to shirk the opportunity to make it available to future researchers.
Since the book first appeared, new information has come to light, new recollections have been published, and old errors and misunderstandings have been exposed. This edition includes, for instance, fresh information on Hetty Kelly and on Chaplin’s 1925 fling with the legendary Louise Brooks; and the FBI records – which only became available as the original edition went to press – are now examined in more detail and incorporated into the body of the book. The smaller additions and amendments are too numerous to mention. The filmography has been improved in the light of recent research. New pictures have become available. The numerous friends who have contributed to extended knowledge of Chaplin are thanked in the Acknowledgements.
An unexpected source of insight into Chaplin and his times was the opportunity to work on Richard Attenborough’s biographical film, Chaplin, which was in part based on this book. The extraordinary dedication of Attenborough and his designer Stuart Craig to recreating the physical world in which Chaplin’s films were made offered many revelations. The accuracy of their effort was attested when William James – who, as Little Billy Jacobs, had been the child star of Keystone in 1913, the year before Chaplin arrived there – visited the set of Mack Sennett’s studio which, in the absence of documentary evidence, Craig had reinvented. ‘It is just as I remember it!’ Mr James exclaimed. ‘It is given to a few people to have their memories realized.’
