Charlie Chaplin - what lies behind the mask of a tramp? Without musical education

On December 25, 1977, Charlie Chaplin died - a truly legendary person. Silent cinema has become history today, but even children will recognize the images created by this brilliant actor. Neither world fame nor two Oscars could protect this great director and comedian actor from the disgrace of the authorities, who was an active political personality off the screen and sought to achieve the notorious "peace in the world."

Chaplin's career spanned 75 years

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was born April 16, 1889 in Walworth (UK) in a family of music hall artists. He first appeared on stage at the age of 5, when it was necessary to replace his mother in the program, who had problems with the larynx. Little Charlie managed to break the applause of the audience, who threw coins and banknotes at him. The young actor captivated the audience even more when he began to collect this money from the stage right during the performance with childish spontaneity.
From that moment, Chaplin's career began, which, stretching for 75 years, continued until the death of the great comedian.

Charlie Chaplin landed his first role before he could read

Chaplin's childhood passed in hopeless poverty. The father left the family, and Charlie and his brother were forced to go to an orphan school. Charlie Chaplin worked as a newspaper seller, an errand boy in a printing house, a doctor's assistant and never lost hope that he could someday make money acting.

Charlie Chaplin received his first role in the theater at the age of 14 - the role of Billy the messenger in the play "Sherlock Holmes". Then Chaplin was illiterate and was very afraid that he would be asked to read a few paragraphs aloud. He learned the role with the help of his brother Sidney.

Charlie Chaplin became the youngest and most expensive actor of his time

On September 23, 1913, Chaplin signed a contract with the Keystone Film Company. Then his salary was $150. In 1914, he made his first film, Caught in the Rain, where he acted as a director, actor and screenwriter. His earnings are growing exponentially. Already in 1915 he receives $1250, and in 1916 Mutual Film pays the comedian $10,000 a week. In 1917, Chaplin signed a $1 million deal with First National Pictures and became, at the time, the most expensive actor in history.

Receiving fabulous fees, Chaplin kept checks in a suitcase

It is known that even after Charlie Chaplin managed to earn his first million, he continued to live in a more than modest hotel room, and kept the checks he received in the studio in an old suitcase all his life. In 1922, Charlie Chaplin built his own house in Beverly Hills. The house had 40 rooms, an organ and a cinema hall.

After the film "The Great Dictator" Chaplin began to be called a communist

At the end of 1940, Chaplin finished shooting his film The Great Dictator, which, in fact, was a political satire on Nazism in general and on Hitler in particular. This was the last film where Chaplin used the character of Charlie the Tramp. The film was refused to be shown in cinemas in England and the USA, because they were afraid to break the fragile peace with Germany, and Chaplin was accused of inciting hysteria. A commission was even appointed to investigate the actor's anti-American actions. After Hitler saw the film, the actor was called a "scoundrel".

During World War II, Chaplin spoke at one of the rallies and called for the opening of a second front as soon as possible. The first word in his speech was "comrades", after which Western propaganda began to call the actor a "communist".

In the US, Chaplin was persona non grata.

In 1952, Chaplin finished work on his painting "Ramp Lights", which tells about creativity and the fate of a creative person. On September 17 of the same year, he went to the world premiere of his film in London, and could not return to the United States. Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Edgar Hoover managed to get Chaplin out of the country from the immigration authorities. By the way, Charlie Chaplin lived in the USA for more than 40 years, but never received American citizenship. The official reason for the refusal to enter the country was the presence of the comedian's name on Orwell's list. After that, Chaplin settled in the city of Vevey in Switzerland.

Chaplin's last child was born when he was 72 years old.

Charlie Chaplin was a hit with women. He had 11 children, and a certain Joan Berry in 1943 tried to impose a twelfth on him through the court, but the examination proved that her child had nothing to do with Chaplin.

Charlie Chaplin's first wife in 1918 was 16-year-old Mildred Harris. The marriage lasted only 2 years. In his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: Mildred wasn't evil, but she was hopelessly zoological. I could never get to her soul - she was filled with some pink rags and all sorts of nonsense».

In 1924, Charlie Chaplin marries 16-year-old Lita Grey. The marriage took place in Mexico, which avoided problems with American law, which did not allow marriage at 16 years old. After the divorce in 1928, Chaplin paid Lita a record amount for that time - $ 825 thousand, which caused an investigation by the tax authorities. According to Joyce Milton, Chaplin's biographer, this relationship was based on Nabokov's novel Lolita.

Chaplin's third wife was the actress Paulette Goddard, who starred in his films Modern Times and The Great Dictator. They parted in 1940, and the writer Erich Maria Remarque became Goddard's second husband.

Chaplin's fourth wife, Una O'Neill, was 36 years his junior. When Una got married in 1943, her father stopped communicating with her. In 1952, leaving for London, Chaplin gave his wife a power of attorney to his bank account, which allowed Una to take Chaplin's property out of the United States. She later renounced her American citizenship.

Chaplin and O'Neill had three sons and five daughters. The last child was born when the comedian was 72 years old.

Chaplin's coffin was stolen

Charlie Chaplin died on December 25, 1977 at the age of 88. 2 months after the funeral of the great actor, sensational news spread around the world - the comedian's coffin was stolen from the cemetery at the Anglican Church in Vevey. On the morning of March 2, 1978, the cemetery caretaker reported this to the police, and in the evening unknown people called Chaplin's widow and said that the sarcophagus with the body of her husband was in a "safe place".

Negotiations with the robbers, who demanded 600,000 Swiss francs, went on for almost a month. The police spotted the criminals on the 27th call. The perpetrators were 38-year-old Gancho Ganev and 24-year-old Roman Vardas.

Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane sold for more than $60,000

In 2012, Charlie Chaplin's bowler hat and cane were sold for $62.5 thousand at Bonhams auction house in Los Angeles. big city". True, it is not known for certain how many canes and bowlers, filmed with Chaplin, have survived to this day.

At the Oscars, the audience applauded Chaplin standing for 12 minutes

The first "Oscar" Charlie Chaplin brought the film "The Great Dictator". In 1941, the actor received a statuette for "Best Actor". In 1948, Chaplin was once again awarded the Oscar. This time - for the best script ("Monsieur Verdu"). In 1962, Charlie Chaplin became a Doctor of Oxford University, and in 1975, Elizabeth II presented him with the Order of the Knight. british empire. In 1970, Charlie Chaplin's star was laid on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And his photos today are included in eminent photo artists.

In 1972, 82-year-old Charlie Chaplin was awarded an honorary Oscar "for his invaluable contribution to the fact that in this century cinema has become an art." The audience gave the great comedian a standing ovation for 12 minutes.

Chaplin appeared in 82 films throughout his film career. Chaplin earned about $10.5 million from his films.

In 1889, namely in April, two people were born who became famous not only in Europe, but throughout the world. They were Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler. Sir Charles Spencer (Charlie) Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889, in London, Great Britain, and Adolf Gitler- April 20 in Ranshofen, Braunau am Inn Upper Austria, Austria-Hungary. These two men had not only external resemblance, as short stature and small mustaches, they had similarities in life positions. Both were forced to fight for survival with all their might (whatever they have to do!) It's just that one had the role of a humanist, and the second was made a villain, while both were used by the globalists for their own purposes.

It is no coincidence that we emphasized this aspect, because when international terrorism has intensified today with the support of world transnational corporations, when the West does not seek to support the actions of Russia and Iran in the fight against terrorists in Syria, without fully understanding what threat it poses, then a certain analogy arises with the past. Why, we will explain further.

Fate generously endowed Charlie Chaplin (April 16, 1889 - December 25, 1977) with talents. He was a brilliant comedian and the creator of a number of immortal comedy images, a talented screenwriter, director, producer, musician (played the piano, cello, violin freely and composed music). Over a 75-year career, he made 14 feature films, participated in the filming and acted as a director, screenwriter or producer in 70 short films. Bernard Shaw called Chaplin "the only genius who came out of the film industry." All this is certainly true.

When preparing an article about Charlie Chaplin, we got acquainted with his story, leafing through Peter Weil's guide "The Genius of the Place" (we will dwell on some points of this story below), and we remembered one old Hasidic parable about money, which is quite related to life credo Chaplin (which he did not deny in his autobiography).

Here is the parable. It's called The Parable of the Glass.

“Once a man came to the sage and asked: “Why, as soon as we have money, do we immediately spoil?” The wise man said to the man: “And you go to the window and tell me what you see there?” The man looked out the window and answered: “I see a woman who is walking with a bag, obviously to the market. I also see a driver and his horse.” “Well, now come up to that wall,” the sage continued, “what do you see THERE?” “Mirror,” the man replied. “Well, what do you see in the mirror?” “Well, what can I see in the mirror? I see my face! "Well," the sage chuckled.

Through ordinary glass, we are able to see the whole world, but we only need to put a little silver on the glass - and we already see only ourselves! »

And here's the story about Charlie Chaplin (according to Peter Weil's guidebook).

Charlie ChaplinCharles Chaplin

It contains a statement that characterizes Chaplin as a person.

Chaplin, it turns out, spoke with irritation (repeating his statement, probably more than once):

“I do not find anything attractive and instructive in poverty. She taught me nothing and only perverted my idea of the values of life.”

The philosopher Blaise Pascal, for example, did not think about this subject at all.

“If God hadn’t laid us on our backs from time to time, we wouldn’t have had time to look at the sky”

But did Charlie Chaplin want to "look at the sky"? That's what main question. It seems not.

The myth that has developed around the name of Charlie Chaplin is far from his real image, which, by the way, he did not hide. But how often and a lot do we read the notes of actors and other memoirs? .. Chaplin was obsessed with the idea of \u200b\u200b"earning a million." The god of gold held him tenaciously by the collar.

By the way, Chaplin was very annoyed by the fact that in Europe and especially in Russia they made him into a kind of “Dostoevsky” image of a sufferer for all the humiliated and offended.

“Russians appreciate only sentimentality in me, and they don’t need anything more from me,” Chaplin was offended.

Chaplin's laugh was evil, and he himself was evil, and he made no secret of it.

Chaplin has a film called The Gold Rush (1925). It was about this film that he once said:

"It's a picture that I want to stay in people's memory."

Noble? Let's see.

The plot of the "Gold Rush" was based on real events. This is a terrible page in the history of the development of the American "West". History of the Donner Expedition.

150 gold diggers were cut off from the world by an avalanche on the mountain pass of the Sierra Nevada. They died of hunger and cold. But before they died, they lost their human form. Cannibalism began among them, and some of them tried to eat their moccasins - hunger drives a person crazy.

And this is what Charlie Chaplin writes in his memoirs. As they say, the word to the author:

“It was this tragic situation that gave me one of the funniest scenes in the Gold Rush. Hungry, I boiled my shoe and sucked on the nails like chicken bones and swallowed my laces like spaghetti. People were dying of hunger, they began to eat leather soles and shoelaces and everything ... And I thought: There is something funny in this.

You know, about the above, there is a wonderful quote from Dostoevsky, from his novel The Teenager. This quote is about their and strangers easily recognizable by laughter.

“With laughter, another person completely betrays himself, and you suddenly recognize your ins and outs. If you want to examine a person and know his soul, then look not into how he is silent, or how he speaks, or how he cries, or even how he is excited by the noblest ideas, but you look better than him when he laughs. Laughter is the truest test of the soul” (below we will focus on Chaplin’s film “The Great Dictator”, in which he parodied Hitler and showed the sinister essence of fascism in a comical form).

Yes, Chaplin's values are literally valuable (as Peter Weil noted).

In 1922, having become rich, Charlie Chaplin settled in the Beverly Hills area, where he built himself huge house. It was a house of forty rooms, with a cinema hall and an organ, with a columned portico and a round tower - eclectic, pompous and wildly tasteless (according to eyewitnesses).

According to Chaplin, poverty taught him nothing (we willingly believe).

But thinking about such a house, you involuntarily ask yourself the question:

“What has wealth taught you, Charlie? And where does this wealth come from?

CHARLIE CHAPLIN AND ADOLF HITLER

Hitler always spoke very briefly and vaguely about his parents, constantly overestimating and obscuring his origins. At the age of 16, he left the real school in Steyr and decided to become an artist. At the age of 15, the future Fuhrer composed a play, wrote poetry and short stories, and also composed a libretto for Wagner's opera based on the Wieland legend and an overture. Adolf was an excellent painter of landscapes and still lifes, but failed his exams in which he had to paint portraits. He was advised to become an architect.

In September 1908, Hitler made another attempt to enter the Vienna Art Academy, but failed in the first round. After the failure, Hitler changed his place of residence several times without giving anyone new addresses. Avoided service in the Austrian army. He did not want to serve in the same army with the Czechs and Jews, to fight "for the Habsburg state", but at the same time he was ready to die for the German Reich. He got a job as an "academic artist", and from 1909 as a writer.

He was a participant in the First World War. On October 13, 1918, Hitler was seriously shell-shocked near Ypres as a result of a gas attack and temporarily blinded. He learned about the surrender of Germany and the overthrow of the Kaiser while in the hospital. This news made a huge impression on him. He was sure that all this could only happen because of someone's betrayal. Hitler later claimed that it was then that he realized what role history had in store for him and vowed to revive a great Germany.

Hitler in 1918, after the hospital returned to Munich. He immediately joined the ranks of the German Workers' Party and very soon became its leader.

In 1934 Adolf Hitler assumed the powers of head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The title of president was abolished; from now on, Hitler should be called the Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor.

In 1940, Germany occupied many countries.

Charlie Chaplin was born on East Lane, in the Walworth area, to a family of music hall artists. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to West Square, St. George's Road, in Lambeth. His parents - Charles Spencer Chaplin Sr. and Hannah Chaplin (based on the stage of Lily Gurley) - were stage actors. Mother performed with songs and dances in various theaters. Hannah Chaplin fell seriously ill shortly after her husband's death. Brothers Sid and Charlie (along with their mother) ended up in a workhouse in Lambeth, and then were sent to a school for orphans and poor children. They had to earn their own living. In 1896, Hannah lost her mind and was later committed to a psychiatric clinic. Charlie began to perform on stage and earn money.

At first, Chaplin tries to imitate the rather crude style of Sennett's impromptu comedies, but it is precisely the departure from this style that brings him success. Soon he became a famous film actor and began to shape and hone his screen image- the image of a harmless-looking tramp - a small person.

In 1918, the tramp Charlie was already known all over the world! And Chaplin himself got the opportunity to make films as he saw fit. First World War had not yet ended when his comedy “On the Shoulder!” came out on the screens.

And Charlie Chaplin in 1940 shoots his film "The Great Dictator" with a rather obvious political overtones.

So in parallel went through life so different people, but so superficially similar, which are connected in uniform image in this film.

Therefore, the question is: why did Adolf Hitler choose this style of mustache for himself? The answer is clear - this is a manifestation of someone's matrix control (for what it is - read the article "Matrix control - it's time to master the magic" - http://inance.ru/2015/09/matrix/). In the modern world of developed information technologies and an abundance of various images, the previously hidden type of management is becoming clearer and clearer. The control of matrices and through them the collective unconscious of the peoples of the Earth today is already visible to many, while in the distant past it was the prerogative of dedicated priests, although they did not call this type of control that way.

It is known that Charlie Chaplin acquired a mustache back in 1914. Hitler is two years later - in the First World War. And there is a version that the future Fuhrer was a big fan of the English comedian and, under the influence of his image, acquired a “toothbrush” (this is the name of this mustache - our note).

Interestingly, in 1940, Chaplin starred in the film The Great Dictator as Adenoid Hynkel, which was a parody of Hitler. The film was even sent to the Fuhrer. Chaplin, upon hearing that Hitler had seen the film, said:

"I would give anything to know what he thinks of this film."

But the Fuhrer's direct reaction remained unknown. But it is known that Stalin did not like the film very much.

And here a quite reasonable question arises: why did Stalin not like the film that made fun of his enemy? Here it is necessary to understand the semantic subtext of this film (read the article “Symbols in the management of society” - http://inance.ru/2016/05/simvol/), and then it will become clear why Stalin was critical of this film. The semantic subtext in his works was also reflected by the Russian classic A.P. Chekhov, who was worried about the “damned question” about the truth of human relations.

SEMANTIC SUBTEXT OF THE FILM "THE GREAT DICTATOR"

Before talking about this film, about its double meaning, it is necessary to explain what Chekhov's "subtext" is.

The special nature of the conflict demanded from Chekhov new ways of organizing stage action. The absence of events in the drama has created a dependence of a different kind - dependence on mood, elusive and not motivated by the logic of cause-and-effect relationships.

Chekhov is interested in the hero’s experiences that are not declared in monologues (“They don’t feel what they say” - K.S. Stanislavsky), but disguise themselves in the clothes of “random replicas” and go into subtext, which constitutes the so-called “undercurrent” of the play. It is based on the gap between the direct meaning of a replica, dialogue, remark and the meaning that they acquire in the context.

Chekhov did not reveal everything in mental life hero, led a lot into the "undercurrent" of the narrative, into the "subtext", activating the perception and imagination of the reader, forcing the latter, together with the author, to participate in psychological analysis:

“When I write, I fully rely on the reader, believing that he will add the subjective elements missing in the story himself” (T.15, p.151).

And now about the film, which has both Chekhov's "subtext", and an understanding of what symbols are in the management of society, as well as matrix management.

The premiere of The Great Dictator took place on October 15, 1940. The year before World War II was going on. The comedy became Chaplin's most successful film. She has received numerous awards, including five Oscars. The "Great Dictator" brought huge profits to Charlie, the size of which is not known to this day. And Hitler looked at the picture twice, which indirectly indicates how he reacted to this picture. And you can ask an interesting question for reflection: How did this film affect the behavior of the Fuhrer himself, how did Hitler change, what did he learn from Chaplin's work?

“Of course, if I had known then about the true horrors of German concentration camps, I would not have been able to make The Dictator, I would not have been able to laugh at the Nazis, at their monstrous mania of destruction” (https://kinoyurco.com/ct/yur_id_10486.php ).

That is, years later, Charlie Chaplin admits that he did not take fascism seriously, with a certain amount of comedy, which, of course, raises a lot of questions.

The importance of cinema in the field of propaganda is well known, and bright to that An example is this film, which combined the art of cinema and political propaganda.

Chaplin's political views undoubtedly showed up in his film, which was created as a satire on the political regimes (in his opinion) of that time in Germany and Italy. Back in 1931, in a conversation when it came to B. Mussolini, Chaplin said:

“Modern dictators are clowns who are pulled by the rope by industrialists and financiers” (Sadoul, J. Life of Charlie. Charles Spencer Chaplin, his films and his time / J. Sadoul. - M .: Progress, 1965. - 318 p.) .

In the 30s of the 20th century, Hollywood remained true to itself and continued to develop its usual themes and genres that were profitable. As for the anti-fascist theme, it was practically taboo.

And at this time, Charlie Chaplin releases the first (!) sound film in which he uses his resemblance to Hitler, while it is no coincidence that he uses the familiar on-screen image of a tramp, a small person who first appeared in the comedy "Children's Car Races", which premiered February 7, 1914. At the same time, Chaplin also invented the tramp costume. So this film has two sides of the coin.

(Let's say right away that we are expressing our point of view, since admirers of the talent of the great comedian will not agree with us. At the same time, we want to say that no one disputes the greatness of Charlie Chaplin as an actor, we simply focus on a number of semantic subtexts of the film's plot).

With this film, Chaplin brings us the idea that Hitler is as ridiculous as his tramp hero, that is, for him the manifestation of fascism is nothing more than a comedy, that it is not scary.

Marginal Notes on Fascism

Fascism in both modifications (fascism of the oligarchic-dictatorial type and liberal fascism) is a system of misanthropy that prevents the formation of a culture in which an individual can take place as a real Man.
This definition is easily confirmed by life, if you look at the degradation of culture and education both in fascist Germany, in modern liberal Russia, and in Western countries, primarily Western Europe and USA.

Fascism is one of the types of culture of social self-government, possible only in a crowd-“elitist” society.
The organizational and political essence of fascism as such, regardless of what it is called, what ideas it hides behind and what ways it exercises power in society - in the active support of the crowd of "little people" - on the basis of their ideological conviction or lack of ideas on the basis of animal- instinctive behavior - a system of abuse of power by the "elitist" oligarchy, which:

presents unrighteousness as allegedly true "righteousness", and on this basis, distorting people's worldview, cultivates

unrighteousness in society, preventing people from taking place as a person;
under various pretexts, with all the power under her control, she suppresses everyone and everyone who doubts the righteousness of her own and her policies, and also suppresses those whom she suspects of this.

Chaplin, presenting the Fuhrer as funny to the public, actively worked on the formation of what kind of culture in society? The culture of the formation of humanity or the culture of small people and oligarchic groups above them, that is, a fascist culture?

Conveying to the viewer the idea of the Fuhrer's comedy, Chaplin not only prepared American society for war (it's easy to defeat a clown there), but also promoted the culture of fascism itself, since the ridiculed evil does not cease to be evil, it is simply less feared, which means it can be easier let into your life. And this was beneficial not only to the global forces that nurtured Hitler, but also to the local oligarchs who profited well from the war. Recall how the US economy rose as a result of the Second World War.

marginal notes

World War I, undermining the economy European countries, put forward USA to the role of leader of the capitalist world. The warring countries needed a variety of goods that were no longer produced by their industry, transferred to a war footing. These goods could be bought from the only large industrial non-belligerent country, the United States. During the war years, the export of American goods increased 1.5 times.

Industrial production more than doubled from 1938 to 1948; for comparison, we note that during the period between the wars, that is, 20 years of peaceful development, production increased only by 30%. The share of the United States in world production has also grown. If before the war the USA provided 40% of the world's capitalist industrial output, by the end of the war it was 62%. From 1938 to 1990 industrial production USA increased 10.1 times (http://www.gumer.info/bibliotek_Buks/Econom/konot/16.php).

By changing the name of the dictator (in the film, his name is Adenoid Hinkel), as well as the names of his closest associates, Charlie made everything else absolutely recognizable: mustaches, military uniforms, eccentric behavior, gestures and intonations.

Thanks to this film, Charlie Chaplin became even richer, as did the financial-oligarchic capitalism (and, in fact, fascism) of the West.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that globalists erected a monument to Charlie Chaplin on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland in honor of Charlie's services to them, which is confirmed by this video:

Similarly, in those years, such films were produced in Germany. The German film The Triumph of the Will (1935) was propagandistic through and through - the story about the NSDAP congress in Nuremberg lasts almost two hours on the screen. Just in this film, Goebbels said the phrase:

“It may be good to have power based on a dictatorship, but it is much better to win and not lose the hearts of people.”

This film became one of the most outstanding documentaries in history - its propaganda power is felt today. To direct quotation of the "Triumph of the Will" resorted George Lucas in one of the scenes Star Wars IV". If only this film was released not under the name "Triumph of the Will", but under the name - "The Apotheosis of Lack of Will", what an anti-fascist film it would be then!

His powerful film response to fascism in the Soviet Union appeared in 1965, when " Ordinary fascism» Mikhail Romm. Using newsreels of the Third Reich, photographs from German archives, and even footage from Triumph of the Will, Romm shows Nazi Germany not as circles of hell or endless rows of barracks, but as a prosperous capitalist country. Here are the German schoolchildren, here is the stage, here are the factories and farms. They walk along the German streets ordinary people, ordinary families live in German houses. However, this ordinariness is dominated by the essence of fascism, Goebbels' "unification", the power of the oligarchy over a crowd of small people.

And Romm, despite his emotional and even biased off-screen commentary, is trying to show that fascism was born and flourished not in a society of murderers and sadists, but in the most ordinary Western society. And therefore, it can be born at any moment, in any place - one has only to forget about the past. And you can not treat such phenomena with humor. As you can see, M. Romm turned out to be right.

AFTERWORD

On December 25, 1977, the actor, who entertained tens of millions of people in the 20th century with his work, died in his sleep at his home in Switzerland. On March 1, 1978, his interred body was stolen. The criminals hoped to get a good reward, but were arrested by the police. The remains of Charlie Chaplin were found only after almost two months on the shores of Lake Geneva. They were reburied, hidden under concrete ... two meters thick. Is it by chance? The history is strange with these remains.

Charlie Chaplin at the Oscars

Chaplin is one of the most famous and mysterious. Even Hollywood could not digest such a unique figure, and the genius was forced to leave America and settle in quiet Switzerland. But what did he have before that, to him, who was recognized even when cinema was not recognized in principle?

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Charlie Chaplin was called the most famous figure in the world. Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, we remember what he left to the world. 11 children, countless mistresses, in search of which he was tireless until his death, a scandalous story with thieves who stole the coffin with his body. But we remember his image of a “little man” with a cane and a bowler hat.

There have been little people at all times, even when the trees were big. Little people can give rise to a fascist culture, forgetting about their mission on Earth - to take place as Humans.

At the end of our article, we draw the attention of our readers once again that we do not in the least detract from the great talent of Charlie Chaplin, foreseeing, probably, critical comments addressed to us.

Our story is about how little people (what Charlie Chaplin, what Adolf Hitler, what their enthusiastic admirers) can influence the world order and worldview of society and can delay the formation of humanity on Earth.

Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer (Charlie) Chaplin (Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin). Born April 16, 1889 - Died December 25, 1977. American and English film actor, screenwriter, composer and director, universal master of cinematography, creator of one of the most famous images of world cinema - the image of the tramp Charlie.

Chaplin actively used the techniques of pantomime and buffoonery, although starting from the 1920s, much more serious social topics than it was in the early period of the short film. Beginning in April 1914, Chaplin began to act as a director and screenwriter of most films with his own participation, from 1916 he also produced films, and from 1918 he wrote music.

Together with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and David Griffith, Charles Chaplin founded the United Artists film studio in 1919.

Winner of the Academy Award in 1973 and twice winner of the out-of-competition honorary Oscar in 1929 and 1972. Chaplin received an honorary Oscar in 1972 with the following wording of his merits - "for his invaluable contribution to the fact that in this century cinema has become an art." Younger brother of actor Sydney Chaplin.

Chaplin was one of the most creative and influential people of the silent film era. Chaplin's work was greatly influenced by the French comedian and film actor Max Linder, to whom he dedicated one of his films. His career began back in the Victorian era, when little Charlie first appeared on the stage of the Music Hall in the UK and, stretching for 75 years, continued almost until the artist's death at the age of 88. After a resounding success in Hollywood, Chaplin was forced to leave the United States under the onslaught of high-profile scandals, revelations regarding the details of his personal life and accusations of sympathizing with the ideas of communism during the McCarthy era in the early 1950s.

In 1915, he sprang into the world like a ghost with his gift for comedy, laughter and help, at a time when everything was being torn apart in the First World War, and for the next 25 years - during both the Great Depression and the rise of Adolf Hitler, - he continued to create ... It is unlikely that any other person will ever be able to bring more joy, pleasure and relief at a time when most people need them so much.

In 1972, Chaplin received an honorary Oscar for the second time. To do this, he came to the United States for a short time - he was given only a limited visa. On March 4, 1975, Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

The artist died in his sleep on December 25, 1977 at his home in Vevey and was buried in the local cemetery. In memory of Charlie Chaplin, a monument was erected on the shores of Lake Geneva.

On March 2, 1978, Chaplin's coffin was dug up and stolen for ransom. The police arrested the perpetrators and the actor's body was reburied on May 17, 1978 at the Meruz Cemetery in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, under 6 feet (1.8 m) of concrete to prevent future attempts.

Chaplin was married four times and had 12 children. Some of them also tried their hand at acting, but only Geraldine Chaplin became widely known as a film actress. Charles' son Sydney Chaplin became a well-known theater actor. In addition, the artist's granddaughter, the Spanish actress Una Chaplin, gained fame.

Politics and Charlie Chaplin

During World War I, Chaplin, at the request of the US government, participated in the distribution of government bonds. Together with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Chaplin spoke at special rallies.

The FBI opened a case against Chaplin back in the 1930s - after the film "Modern Times".

During the filming of The Great Dictator, Chaplin was warned that the film would be in trouble with the censors. Chaplin was asked to cancel the production of the film, assuring that it would never be shown either in England or in the United States. After the German attack on the USSR, the pressure from above ceased, but threatening letters began to arrive from the audience. Some of them contained promises that theaters showing The Dictator would be bombed with suffocating gas and fired at the screen. Chaplin tried to negotiate with the leader of the longshoremen's trade unions about the protection of cinemas.

After The Dictator was released, the New York Daily News wrote that "Chaplin was poking the 'communist finger' at the audience."

Nazi propaganda began calling Chaplin a Jew. The Un-American Activities Commission launched an investigation into Chaplin's activities, one of the points of the investigation was his nationality.

During film editing "Monsieur Verdoux" Chaplin was summoned to Washington for a hearing by the Un-American Activities Committee, but the summons was later cancelled. 19 people were called from Hollywood at the time. Those of them who insisted on their civil rights went to jail for a year for disrespecting the commission. According to one version, voiced by Chaplin in an interview with reporters to ridicule the Commission on Un-American Activities, he intended to appear at the hearing in his Tramp costume; for this reason, the Commission canceled its challenge.

Chaplin was never a US citizen. The release of the film "Monsieur Verdu" was banned by censors. After additional editing, the censors still allowed the film to be released. The demonstration of "Monsieur Verdoux" was accompanied by protests in the United States. The newspapers began to persecute Chaplin. In addition to accusations of belonging to the communists, accusations were added that he did not receive US citizenship.

"Catholic Legion" announced a boycott of the film, cinemas began to refuse to rent "Monsieur Verdu". The newspapers published photographs of the pickets of the "Catholic Legion" with posters "Chaplin is a fellow traveler of the Reds!", "Get out of our country a stranger!", "Chaplin stayed with us for too long!", "Chaplin is ungrateful! He is a communist henchman!”, “Send Chaplin to Russia!”. However, the film was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Screenplay category.

In 1952, Chaplin wanted to travel to England for a short time and requested a return visa from the US immigration authorities. The US immigration authorities began their own investigation, which lasted several months, and issued Chaplin an entry visa. Already on the way to Europe, Chaplin was informed that he was denied entry to the United States, and in order to obtain a visa, he would have to answer a commission from the Department of Immigration to a number of political charges, as well as to charges of moral licentiousness. Participated in the persecution of Chaplin future president US Richard Nixon.

Three years after Chaplin's departure from the United States, the US Internal Revenue Service taxed Chaplin's income in Europe from the rental of the film Limelights until 1955. The IRS considered him a permanent resident of the United States. Chaplin was unable to turn to the defense of the American court to protect his interests.

Charlie Chaplin paternity trial

In 1943 Joan Barry filed a lawsuit in a California court to recognize Chaplin as the father of her child. A blood test unequivocally showed that Chaplin is not the father. But the federal authorities still charged Chaplin with violating the Mann Act. The Mann Act, or "White Slave Transportation Act", was passed to combat prostitution. After the prohibition of brothels, the law became obsolete, but the federal authorities used the law to crack down on political opponents. Even after the announcement of the results of the blood test, the investigation was not closed.

In his autobiography, Chaplin wrote that he was offered information that Joan Berry was used by Nazi organizations to crack down on him, but at the request of Chaplin's lawyer, these facts were not disclosed at the trial.

In 1944, Chaplin was found not guilty of all charges by a jury.

Following this, a second paternity suit was initiated - this became possible due to the fact that custody of the child was transferred to the court and the participation of Joan Berry as one of the parties was no longer required to start the process. The first hearing ended inconclusively (the jury did not reach an agreement); after the second hearing, despite the fact that a blood test proved that Chaplin could not be the father of Joan Berry's child, an unfavorable sentence was passed for Chaplin, according to which he had to pay the child a financial allowance until he came of age.

Because of the lawsuit, Chaplin worked on the screenplay for Monsieur Verdoux for almost two years, while the film took only three months to shoot.

Personal life of Charlie Chaplin

Dancer, Chaplin's first love. They met in London when Chaplin was 19 and Hetty 14. After five dates, they broke up. Later, Hetty Kelly married, Chaplin only spoke a few times with her brother. Hetty Kelly died in 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic. Chaplin found out about this only in 1921.

Chaplin and Chaplin met in 1915 in Los Angeles during the filming of Chaplin's second film for Esseney Studios. Edna Purviance supported romantic relationship with Chaplin during their joint work at the Essanay and Mutual Films studios in 1916-1918. In 1918, Edna began dating actor Tommy Meighan of the Paramount Company. Edna remained the lead actress in Chaplin's films until 1923. Chaplin paid her a weekly salary until her death in 1958.

(1901-1944) - Chaplin's first wife. The wedding took place on October 23, 1918. Chaplin was 29 years old, Harris was 16. Chaplin married Harris because of her pregnancy. The pregnancy later turned out to be false. On July 7, 1919, their son, Norman Spencer Chaplin, was born. The child lived only three days.

In 1920, during the editing of the film The Kid, divorce proceedings began. Lawyers for Harris tried to arrest the film. Chaplin was forced to take about 140,000 meters of film (more than 2,000 takes) to another state. The film was edited in a hotel room in Salt Lake City.

The divorce was accompanied by mutual accusations. Chaplin later wrote in his autobiography about this marriage: "Mildred was not evil, but she was hopelessly zoological. I could never get to her soul - she was clogged with some kind of pink rag and all sorts of nonsense."

(1908-1995) - Chaplin's second wife. The wedding took place on November 26, 1924, at that time Lita was only 16 years old. In this regard, in order to avoid problems with the legislation of the United States of America, Chaplin married Lita Gray outside the United States - in Mexico. She starred in the films "Gold Rush", "Idle Class", "Baby".

They had two sons: Charles Chaplin Jr. (1925-1968) and Sidney Earl Chaplin (1926-2009). They divorced in 1928 during the filming of The Circus. Chaplin paid Lita $ 825,000 (according to other sources - $ 700,000) - a record amount for that time, which caused an investigation tax authorities. Chaplin's biographer Joyce Milton wrote that Chaplin's relationship with Lita Gray became the basis of the novel Lolita.

The actress (1910-1990) and Chaplin were on close terms from 1932 to 1940. Most of this time, Paulette lived in Chaplin's house. She starred in the films "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator". After the rupture of relations in 1940, they stated that secretly married in 1936.

At the end of her life, Paulette also moved to Switzerland. The writer became her husband.

Una O'Neill(May 13, 1925 - September 27, 1991) - daughter of Eugene O'Neill. Chaplin's fourth wife. She was 36 years younger than him. We met when Chaplin was looking for an actress for the film adaptation of the play Ghost and Reality. The film was not made. Una said that she does not want a career as an actress, but wants to devote herself to her family. The wedding took place on June 16, 1943 during the process of recognizing the paternity of the child Joan Berry. After her marriage to Chaplin, Una's father stopped all contact with her.

Una O'Neill

In 1952, Chaplin, before leaving the United States, gave Una a power of attorney to manage his bank account.

After Chaplin was denied entry to the United States, Una removed Chaplin's property from the United States. She later renounced her US citizenship.

O'Neill and Chaplin had three sons (Christopher, Eugene and Michael) and five daughters (Geraldine, Josephine, Joan, Victoria, Anna-Emil).

last child Una gave birth when the great comedian was 72 years old.

Interesting facts about Charlie Chaplin

Chaplin once took part incognito in the Tramp's look-alike competition at the San Francisco theater and didn't even make it to the finals of that competition.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, Chaplin's films did not enjoy significant success. Characteristic is the statement about them, published in the magazine "Projector": "Chaplin is far from being a comic actor. He's just a clown, just someone who gets slapped. ... In Russia, Chaplin cannot be so successful: he is too rude, too primitive, too little elegant. ... Such comedians as Max Linder, Prens, Patachon, even Andre Dide, are incomparably closer and more understandable to us.

Filmography of Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin Feature Films

1914 - Interrupted novel Tilly (Tillie's Punctured Romance; actor; the first full-length comedy in history)
1921 - Kid (The Kid; producer, director, screenwriter, actor, editor)
1923 - Parisienne (A Woman of Paris; producer, director, screenwriter, actor (cameo), editor)
1925 - Gold Rush (The Gold Rush; producer, director, screenwriter, actor, editor)
1926 - Woman by the Sea (A Woman of the Sea; producer)
1928 - The Circus (producer, director, screenwriter, actor, editor)
1928 - People of Art (Show People; cameo)
1931 - City Lights (producer, director, screenwriter, actor, editor, composer)
1936 - Modern Times (Modern Times; producer, director, screenwriter, actor, composer)
1940 - The Great Dictator (producer, director, screenwriter, actor, composer)
1947 - Monsieur Verdoux (producer, director, screenwriter, actor, composer)
1952 - Limelight (producer, director, screenwriter, actor, composer)
1957 - King in New York (A King in New York; producer, director, screenwriter, actor, composer)
1967 - Countess from Hong Kong (A Countess From Hong Kong; producer, director, screenwriter, actor (cameo), composer)

Short films films of Charlie Chaplin

1914 Making a Living Making a Living A Busted Johnny; troubles; Doing His Best; take my picture
1914 - Kid Auto Races at Venice The Children's Automobile Race; Kid's Auto Race; The Pest
1914 - Mabel's unusual predicament Mabel's Strange Predicament Hotel Mixup; Pajamas
1914 - Between Two Showers Charlie and the Umbrella; The Flirts; Between Shaves; In Wrong Thunder and Light
1914 - Johnnie in the movie A Film Johnnie Charlie at the Studio; Charlie the Actor; Film Johnny; Million Dollar Job; Movie Nut
1914 - Tango Tangles Charlie's Recreation; Music Hall
1914 - His Favorite Pastime The Bonehead; Charlie Is Thirsty; Charlie's Reckless Fling; The
1914 - Cruel, Cruel Love, Cruel Love Lord Helpus
1914 - The best tenant of The Star Boarder The Fatal Lantern; The Hash-House Hero; In Love with His Landlady; The Landlady's Pet
1914 - Mabel driving Mabel at the Wheel His Daredevil Queen; A Hot Finish
1914 - Twenty Minutes of Love Cops and Watches; He Loves Her So; love friend
1914 Caught in a Cabaret Charlie the Waiter Faking with Society; Jazz Waiter; Prime Minister Charles
1914 - Caught in the Rain At It Again; in the park; Who Got Stung?
1914 - Busy Day Busy as Can Be; Lady Charlie Militant Suffragette
1914 - Fatal Mallet Hit Him Again; The Pile Driver; The Rival Suitors
1914 - Her friend the bandit Her Friend the Bandit Mabel's Flirtation; A Thief Catcher
1914 - Knockout Counted Out; The Pugilist
1914 Mabel's Busy Day Charlie and the Sausages; Hot Dog Charlie; Hot Dogs; Love and Lunch
1914 Mabel's Married Life The Squarehead; When You're Married
1914 - Laughing Gas Busy Little Dentist; The Dentist; down and out; Laffing Gas; Tuning His Ivories
1914 - Proprietor of The Property Man Charlie on the Boards; Getting His Goat; props; The Rustabout; Vamping Venus
1914 - The Face on the Bar Room Floor The Ham Actor; The Ham Artist
1914 - Recreation Spring Fever
1914 - Masquerade mask The Masquerader The Female Impersonator; The Female; The Perfumed Lady; The Picnic; Putting One
1914 - His New Profession The Good for Nothing; Helping Himself
1914 - Spenders The Rounders Going Down; The Love Thief; Oh what a night Revelry; Tip, Tap, Toe; Two of a kind
1914 - The New Janitor The Blundering Boob; The New Porter; The Porter
1914 - These pangs of love Those Love Pangs Busted Hearts; Oh, You Girls; The Rival Mashers
1914 - Dough and Dynamite The Cook; The Donut Designer; The New Cook
1914 - Cheeky Gentleman Gentlemen of Nerve Charlie at the Races; Some Nerve
1914 - His musical career His Musical Career Charlie as a Piano Mover; Musical Tramps; The Piano Movers
1914 - His Date Place
1914 - Tilly's Interrupted Romance
1914 - Hunter for robbers (A Thief Catcher, police officer in the episode)
1914 Getting Acquainted Exchange Is No Robbery; A Fair Exchange; hello everybody
1914 - His Prehistoric Past The Caveman; a Dream; The Hula-Hula Dance; King Charlie
1915 - His New Job Charlie's New Job
1915 - All Night A Night Out Champagne Charlie; Charlie's Drunken Daze; Charlie's Night Out; His Night Out
1915 - The Champion Battling Charlie; Champion Charlie; Charlie the Champion
1915 - In the Park Charlie in the Park; Charlie on the Spree
1915 - Getaway in A Jitney Elopement Charlie's Elopement; Married in Haste
1915 - Tramp Charlie on the Farm; Charlie the Hobo; Charlie the Tramp
1915 By the Sea Charlie by the Sea Charlie's Day Out
1915 - Work Charlie at Work; Charlie the Decorator; Only a Working Man; The Paperhanger; The Plumber
1915 - A Woman Charlie the Perfect Lady; The Perfect Lady
1915 - His recovery (His Regeneration, buyer in the episode)
1915 - The Bank Charlie Detective; Charlie at the Bank; Charlie in the Bank
1915 - Shanghaied Charlie Shanghaied; Charlie on the Ocean; Charlie the Sailor
1915 - Evening in the music hall A Night in the Show Charlie at the Show; A Night at the Show
1915 Charlie Chaplin's Burlesque on Carmen Burlesque on Carmen
1915 - Police Charlie in the Police; Charlie the Burglar; housebreaker
1915 - Review of Chaplin's work in Essenay The Essanay-Chaplin Revue of 1916 The Chaplin Revue of 1916
1915 - Triple Trouble Charlie's Triple Trouble
1916 - Controller of The Floorwalker Shop; The Store
1916 - The Fireman The Fiery Circle; A Gallant Fireman
1916 - The Vagabond Gipsy Life Drifter
1916 - One A.M. Solo
1916 - The Count Almost a Gentleman
1916 - The Pawnshop At the Sign of the Dollar; High and Low Finance
1916 Behind the Screen The Pride of Hollywood
1916 - The Rink Rolling Around skating ring; waiter
1916 - Quiet Street Easy Street
1917 - The Cure The Water Cure
1917 - The Immigrant Broke; Hello U.S.A.; A Modern Columbus; The New World
1917 - The Adventurer
1918 - A Dog's Life
1918 - The Bond Charlie Chaplin in a Liberty Loan Appeal
1918 - On the shoulder! Shoulder Arms
1919 - Sunnyside
1919 - A Day's Pleasure A Ford Story
1921 - The Idle Class Vanity Fair
1921 - Eccentric (The Nut, episodic role of a passerby)
1922 - Pay Day
1923 - Pilgrim The Pilgrim
1923 - Souls for Sale (as himself)
1923 - Hollywood (Hollywood, as himself)

129 years ago, on April 16, 1889, Charles Spencer Chaplin was born - director, actor, screenwriter and composer, who has become one of the symbols of not only contemporary silent cinema, but cinema in general. But if Chaplin's directing talent, not to mention acting, has long been recognized by everyone and everything, then the details of his biography as a musician often remain in the shadows. the site offers readers facts from the biography of Charlie Chaplin, a composer and musician.

Without musical education

Formal music education Chaplin did not have, but from his father, who performed in music halls, he inherited an ear for music and an amazing sense of rhythm. “If Charles continues to be a film actor, the music world will lose a genius. I saw him sit for hours at the piano, composing as he went. Most of all, I think he loved the cello. It was joyful to see how his expression changed when he touched the strings with a trembling hand, ”recalled his aunt Kate in 1915.

Violin and cello

At the age of 16, Chaplin acquired his own violin and cello, and took the instruments with him on any trip. At the same time, he had to drag the strings in reverse order to make it more convenient to play with his left hand (he was left-handed).

"His musical career"

Chaplin reflected his passion for music in the short film "His Musical Career", filmed at the Keystone Film Studios in 1914.

The first songs are about love

In the theaters in which he had to play, Chaplin took lessons from conductors, and, apparently, the experience was not in vain - on February 20, 1916, Chaplin performed at a benefit performance in the New York Hippodrome Hall, where he conducted the Susa Orchestra and played the composition own composition"Peace Patrol". That same year, Chaplin published sheet music for two of his songs: "Oh, that cello!" and "There's Always Someone You Can't Forget", written during the period of first falling in love.

Charlie Chaplin's first records

Having created United Artists in the early 1920s, Chaplin took over the composition of film music, starting with the film The Parisienne. At the same time, records were released with his songs “With you, dear, in Bombay” and “Sing a song”, which were later included in the sound version of the “Gold Rush”. In the 1940s, Chaplin's song "Shooting Star" was published, written to the melody from the film "The Great Dictator", as well as three more compositions that sounded in the film "Monsieur Verdu": "Paris Boulevard", "Bitterness of the Tango" and "Rumba" .

Special musical arrangement of films under the patronage of Chaplin

Before musical accompaniment began to be recorded on tape, special collections of musical works were published for scoring films, suitable for illustrating a particular scene of the film. As a result, stable cliches arose that migrated from picture to picture. Chaplin demanded that the music be performed in every cinema exactly as he intended, and personally compiled lists of musical numbers that were sent free of charge to all cinemas that bought his films. Such lists existed for Chaplin's films from 1921 to 1931 (from "The Kid" to "City Lights").

Soundtrack to the film "City Lights"

City Lights, released in 1931, was the first film to credit Chaplin as a composer. Chaplin commissioned Arthur Johnston and Alfred Newman to orchestrate, but most of the melodies were written by him. In addition, the film features an excerpt from the ballet Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, music by Debussy and Liszt, and the theme of the blind flower girl was written by composer José Padilla. In total, 95 compositions sound in City Lights, not counting fragments in which the musical background is synchronized with the actions of the characters.

Chaplin Composer Statement

The public finally accepted Chaplin the composer after the release of the second version of The Gold Rush, for which he wrote all the music. Spectators and critics started talking about the "Chaplin" sound, although other people were still involved in the orchestration of the compositions. The music was also authorial in all Chaplin's subsequent films - up to the 1967 film The Countess from Hong Kong.

"Song without words" and Arkady Raikin

“A song without words” in one of the last scenes of the film “New Times” became evidence of another of Chaplin’s talents - Chaplin masterfully performed songs in “no” language back in early years. The melody itself turned out to be so memorable that it was subsequently used in the television screensaver of the Mask Show program and in one of Arkady Raikin's numbers - dressed in a Chaplin costume, the maestro sang a song with these words:

"He lives in Leningrad,

His name is Arkady

Or simply Arkasha,

Il Raikin, finally.

"Smile", Nat King Cole and Michael Jackson

In the film "Modern Times" there is another instrumental theme composed by Chaplin and later becoming a song. The source of inspiration for her was one of the melodies of Puccini's opera Tosca, and in 1954 the poets John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons added words to this melody. This version of the song, titled "Smile", was a hit by Nat King Cole, reaching number 10 on the Billboard charts and number two on the UK National Singles Chart. Michael Jackson, also a big Chaplin fan, recorded his own version of this song for the album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I.

funny weirdo

The future genius and three-time Oscar winner, Charlie Chaplin, was born on April 16, 1889 in London. His parents were music hall artists, so the kid encountered show business almost immediately!

Charles Spencer Chaplin's father and mother were Charles Spencer Chaplin Sr. and Hannah Chaplin

Shortly before their wedding, Hannah was born Sidney Hill, who later also gave the name Chaplin. Here he is, the older half-brother

Charles' mother took part in various musical productions, and his father often toured Europe (he also visited the USA). They separated in 1891, and a year later Hanna gave birth to a son, George Wheeler Dryden. The boy was taken by his father, and George did not appear in the life of the Chaplin family for the next 30 years.

Unfortunately, Chaplin Sr. became addicted to alcohol and passed away in 1901, when he was only 38 years old. The fate of the mother was also unsuccessful - she lost her mind and in 1898 was first placed in a clinic for the mentally ill (later there were several more hospitalizations, and Hannah died in 1928). As a result, Charlie and Sydney were forced to earn their own living.

Chaplin made his stage debut in 1894, immediately captivating the audience with his spontaneity.

Four years later, he joined the Eight Lancashire Boys, a children's dance group, but left the company in 1901. Nevertheless, the choreographic experience was very useful later, when he took up cinematography.

For several years, Chaplin played in various theaters and variety shows. In 1908, he got into Fred Karno's theatrical enterprise and quickly became one of the main actors. When the band went on tour in the US in 1912, film producer Mark Sennett noticed Charles and offered him a contract with Keystone. The young Brit moved to Los Angeles a year later

After the end of the contract, Chaplin began to collaborate with other film companies. And Sidney, who moved from Britain to the USA, took his brother's place in Keystone. Charles' first film was Making a Living (1914)

In the same year, "Children's Car Races" appeared, in which Chaplin first appeared in the form of a funny tramp.

Films in those days were short, so actors could star in more than a dozen projects in a year. Chaplin's thirteenth film work was called Caught in the Rain. She came out in the same 1914, and Charlie first appeared there as a director.

The career of the actor was gaining momentum. "Mabel's Incredible Predicament" (1914)

"Vagabond" (1915)

"All Night Long" (1915)

"The Tramp Musician" (1916). The picture is not upside down - Chaplin was left-handed, and played the violin that way)

"Immigrant" (1917)

In 1919, Chaplin, along with other famous colleagues, founded the United Artists Corporation, but continued to fulfill his obligations to First National. So the legendary “Kid” (1921) appeared on the screens.

Charles' first work for United Artists was The Parisienne (1923). Chaplin the director appeared there only in a small role

After that, the classics of world cinema appeared on the screens. This, of course, is the "Gold Rush" (1925) ...

...and "Circus" (1928)

Note that Chaplin also wrote music for many of his films. Melodies from his works are instantly recognizable. This also applies to “City Lights” (1931)

"New Times" (1936)

Chaplin could not remain in the shadow of what is happening in Europe. "The Great Dictator" (1940)

"Monsieur Verdoux" (1947) caused a negative reaction because the actor's views on the state of modern society seemed too gloomy to critics

Nostalgic "Ramp Lights" (1952)

"King in New York" (1957) - a rather sharp satire on the United States, cold war and mass paranoia

"The Countess from Hong Kong" (1967) is the last film of the maestro. Starring Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando

Chaplin died on December 25, 1977 at his home in Switzerland. The Great Mute was buried in one of the local cemeteries. A few months later, the artist's coffin was stolen for ransom. The police found the perpetrators, and Charlie's remains were reburied on May 17, 1978 at the Meruz cemetery in Corsier-sur-Vevey under a thick layer of concrete

Chaplin's personal life is so rich that it is enough not just for a book - for a multi-volume! The actor had a difficult relationship with both Hollywood and the US authorities, and there were enough other problems. Therefore, we will focus only on the artist’s beloved women - he was already married four times.

The first wife of the actor was Mildred Harris. They played a wedding in 1918, when Charles was 29, and Mildred - 16. The marriage happened, as they say, "on the fly", but this Harris pregnancy turned out to be false. On July 7, 1919, the couple nevertheless became parents, but, alas, their son Norman lived only three days. A year later, the divorce began. The process was difficult and scandalous: Mildred's lawyers even tried to seize the film "Baby", and Chaplin moved the priceless films to another state.

Charles' second wife is Lita Grey. The couple went down the aisle in November 1924, and, interestingly, Lita was also 16 years old. The wedding took place in Mexico - Chaplin did not want problems with American laws. Gray starred in her husband's, in particular, in "Gold Rush" and "Baby". There were two children in the marriage - Charles Chaplin Jr. and Sidney Earl Chaplin. The couple broke up in 1928, and the actor paid Lita a record compensation for those times (more than 800 thousand dollars)

Wife number three is Paulette Goddard. Their romance lasted from 1932 to 1940, and after parting, the couple announced that in 1936 they were secretly married. Paulette played in such Chaplin films as "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator". We add that the next husband of Goddard was the writer Erich Maria Remarque

fourth and last wife Chaplin was Una O'Neill, daughter of the famous writer Eugene O'Neill. The lovers played the wedding in 1943, and the couple was not embarrassed by the 36-year age difference. Unlike Una's father, who ended all ties with her. However, the marriage turned out to be strong, and O'Neill gave her husband three sons and five daughters.

Their most famous child is Geraldine Chaplin, who became an actress. “He once told me: “Your talent means nothing, there are many talented people. You have to work more than anyone, ”admitted star daughter in one of the interviews. “And he was the hardest worker in the world and the most disciplined. This is what I learned from him,” she said.

And Geraldine's daughter - Una Chaplin - you probably saw in the "Game of Thrones", "The Hour" and "Sherlock"

Carmen Chaplin - daughter of Michael Chaplin - actress, director, screenwriter

We will finish, according to tradition, with a quote from the birthday man. “I don’t think that now he [the Tramp] would find a place. Since then, our world has become somewhat more orderly. I don't think it's become a happier place - by no means. I noticed these guys in short clothes, with long hair, and I think many of them would like to become vagabonds. But now there was no former modesty. They have no idea what modesty is, it has become a kind of relic. She belongs to another era. That's why I couldn't create something like this now. And, of course, the sound is another reason. Since the voice came to the cinema, there was no place left for my character. I can't imagine what his voice should have been. Therefore, he had to leave, ”chaplin said about the fate of his hero