As far back as his U.S. tours with the Fred Karno company in 1911/12, Chaplin brought along his cello and... Read Story
Before the sound era, filmmakers were at the mercy of the pit musicians in various theaters—Chaplin included. Even when cue... Read Story
Even before the 1942 revision of THE GOLD RUSH, Chaplin mentioned in interviews a desire to rerelease THE CIRCUS with a newly... Read Story
One of the joys of researching my book is discovering musical nuggets in Chaplin’s films that contemporary audiences in his day may have... Read Story
By the time THE CIRCUS was released in 1928, the Little Tramp personified the time-honored notion of the tragic clown smiling... Read Story
“The world has Chaplinitis,” said a reporter for Motion Picture Magazine in 1915. “Any form of expressing Chaplin is what... Read Story
Two forks, a couple of baked goods, and sixty seconds of pantomime bliss. It’s one of Chaplin’s and cinema’s most iconic scenes—the... Read Story
In the 1923 compilation score for A WOMAN OF PARIS, Louis F. Gottschalk worked in a brief quote of his... Read Story
The expressions on the faces of Edna Purviance & Co. in the image that leads this post may be sour,... Read Story
On December 4, 1935, the air on the MODERN TIMES recording stage was crackling with tension. Chaplin had already postponed... Read Story
