Pete Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 TCM has been running Charlie Chaplin films all day today in honor of his birthday- that guy can act! He is very good at comedy. This is the last scene from the 1940 film The Great Dictator. To set it up-Chaplin plays a Jewish barber that is mistaken for Hitler and put on stage for a speech- It is a great speech that is still relative today. And it is very progressive- especially for 1940. Cheers Charlie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Thanks for posting this. As an aside, I always thought that Robert Downey, Jr. did a great job in Chaplin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 16, 2008 Author Share Posted April 16, 2008 Thanks for posting this. As an aside, I always thought that Robert Downey, Jr. did a great job in Chaplin. I have never seen that film and should check it out. Chaplin is a fascinating person. He composed many of the scores to his films and he took on challenging roles and avoided being typecast. I watched Monsieur Verdoux today- and that is a dark comedy. Very dark with social commentary- it was a big risk in 1947. The Chaplin films are on all day today- I plan on watching more http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/monsieur_verdoux/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 More Chaplin. He is a friggin genius! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I have never seen that film and should check it out. It was an outstanding film, and one that totally sold me on Downey. I recall from that movie that The Great Dictator was portrayed as something that movie-goers at the time despised. There's a scene in Chaplin where people are in the theater watching Chaplin dressed like Hitler, booing and throwing rotten fruit at the screen. I have no idea how deep that sentiment actually ran at the time, but...Chaplin is a terrific flick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oneonta Buffalo Fan Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I remember seeing a few of his films. All were funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 TCM has been running Charlie Chaplin films all day today in honor of his birthday- that guy can act! He is very good at comedy. This is the last scene from the 1940 film The Great Dictator. To set it up-Chaplin plays a Jewish barber that is mistaken for Hitler and put on stage for a speech- It is a great speech that is still relative today. And it is very progressive- especially for 1940. Cheers Charlie! Chaplin was a genius. It's amazing how many people don't check out older films. I work with a couple of people who refuse to watch black and white films. I ask them why and I get; "Why would I want to watch something that old that sucks?" Friggin morons. I guess to them, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, the Marx Brothers films, Laurel and Hardy, The Three Stooges, The Maltese Falcon and a multitude of other black and white films all suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 I just watched Buster Keaton's The General on TCM- the last great silent film from 1927. The whole movie is a train chase with spectacular stunts and special effects. Buster Keaton was another genius and an American treasure. There is another Buster Keaton film on now. One thing amazing about Keaton is he did all his stunts. Here are some of his stunts from The General- Older films are so much better then today. The 20s and 30s had great films, great music, great literature. It would of been an interesting time to be alive. Check out TCM now to see Keaton in action Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I just watched Buster Keaton's The General on TCM- the last great silent film from 1927. The whole movie is a train chase with spectacular stunts and special effects. Buster Keaton was another genius and an American treasure. There is another Buster Keaton film on now. One thing amazing about Keaton is he did all his stunts. Here are some of his stunts from The General- Older films are so much better then today. The 20s and 30s had great films, great music, great literature. It would of been an interesting time to be alive. Check out TCM now to see Keaton in action Yeah, except for that little depression thing life was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 Yeah, except for that little depression thing life was great. speakeasies? The depression must of sucked but there was a fun scene within it. There was a lot of great stuff going on in that time period. Here is some more Keaton- who does not get the credit he deserves- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Charlie Chaplin was once kidnapped! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeyemike Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 A while back I rented The Great Dictator and realized how provacative it was for 1940...remember, Hitler was beginning his takeover of continental Europe and it was still a year before we became involved in World War II. This was truly a great time for film...between Chaplin's performance here and Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, these were two movies that are among the greatest ever, but certainly were not recognized as such at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Indablanc Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I just watched Buster Keaton's The General on TCM- the last great silent film from 1927. The whole movie is a train chase with spectacular stunts and special effects. Buster Keaton was another genius and an American treasure. There is another Buster Keaton film on now. One thing amazing about Keaton is he did all his stunts. Here are some of his stunts from The General- Older films are so much better then today. The 20s and 30s had great films, great music, great literature. It would of been an interesting time to be alive. Check out TCM now to see Keaton in action Saw it too. Not Busters best work but he was an incredible talent. I actually prefer his work to Chaplins. He must have been an accomplished athlete. Another person to check out if you like the genre is Harold Lloyd who I can proudly say that I am related to. Best film was "Safety Last". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennesseeboy Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 I have never seen that film and should check it out. Chaplin is a fascinating person. He composed many of the scores to his films and he took on challenging roles and avoided being typecast. I watched Monsieur Verdoux today- and that is a dark comedy. Very dark with social commentary- it was a big risk in 1947. The Chaplin films are on all day today- I plan on watching more http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/monsieur_verdoux/ I think I'll see if I can get a copy of it as well. He is touted to be a real comedic genius. Nice to know he appears to hold up well with time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 Saw it too. Not Busters best work but he was an incredible talent. I actually prefer his work to Chaplins. He must have been an accomplished athlete. Another person to check out if you like the genre is Harold Lloyd who I can proudly say that I am related to. Best film was "Safety Last". Harold Lloyd is great too. That is cool you are related. Here is Safety Last- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1g9zDOe4Bs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 17, 2008 Author Share Posted April 17, 2008 Here is some Harold Lloyd- vertigo anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 I have been on the road where Chaplin's little tramp walks down at the end of "The Tramp". Chaplin made 5 movies in 5 months (when movies were made in 3 days) in Niles Canyon, CA which is now part of Fremont, CA on the east side of SF Bay. The road is Niles Canyon Road and still takes the same route. It is a 2 lane paved road today, but isn't any wider because it goes through a narrow canyon. On the internet someone pinpointed the exact location of some scenes including the ending by matching up the trees in the scenes with trees that are still present today. A few months after he finished The Tramp, Essenay Studios (where it was made) moved to SoCal. The town of Niles became part of Fremont in the 60s, but Niles is still spelled out on the hill above the canyon and is painted every few years by he city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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