Silent Please, Charlie
Modern films are something that millions of people enjoy. From going to the theater, to smelling the popcorn, to the comfortable seats, plus the previews of movies coming out that you just “Have to see!”, all followed by the main event: the film. It’s hard for some of us to imagine what life would be like without those moments. We know all the stories, we can quote every line, and tell you everyone who was in our favorite movie. But where did it all start? How did film become such a successful industry in the U.S.? Charlie Chapman is a name you have heard, more likely than not. He was a comedian, an actor, a screen writer, and a director that drastically changed the culture of film in America and throughout the world.
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This is one way we know that Chapman was truly special. Audience’s did not care that there was little to no story behind the tramp, they loved him because of the joy and laughter The Tramp brought to their lives in every film. Although he is poor and seemingly unlucky, he usually finds a way to come out on top. For example, in the film Gold Rush, the prospector not only gets the girl but also becomes rich beyond his imagination. “The Tramp was closely identified with the silent era, and was considered an international character; when the sound era began in the late 1920s, Chaplin refused to make a talkie featuring the character, partly due to how the character was supposed to be American, and Chaplin himself had a strong and obvious British …show more content…
Chaplin gives viewers a fascinating glimpse into the early years of filmmaking. Robert Downey Jr. is captivating, charismatic, and distraught, much like Charlie was in real life. From the beginning we see that Chaplin was made for the limelight when his mother was booed off the stage and he finished her song, causing a standing ovation. From then on we see how this rags to riches story came to life. He started as a supporting actor in many films before emerging as a silent film star. He insists that he can be a good director and the studio owner allowed him to, having some reservations about it. However, Charlie turned out to be a natural born screen-writer and director. He was very meticulous with every aspect of film, which in turn hurt his personal life at times. We see Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr.) spending hours, even days on scenes to make sure they’re perfect. Chaplin allowed us to see that while Charlie was an incredibly influential and successful person from the outside, on the inside he was broken and waging a war against himself, which affected many of his
Beginning the mid 1920s, Hollywood’s ostensibly all-powerful film studios controlled the American film industry, creating a period of film history now recognized as “Classical Hollywood”. Distinguished by a practical, workmanlike, “invisible” method of filmmaking- whose purpose was to demand as little attention to the camera as possible, Classical Hollywood cinema supported undeviating storylines (with the occasional flashback being an exception), an observance of a the three act structure, frontality, and visibly identified goals for the “hero” to work toward and well-defined conflict/story resolution, most commonly illustrated with the employment of the “happy ending”. Studios understood precisely what an audience desired, and accommodated their wants and needs, resulting in films that were generally all the same, starring similar (sometimes the same) actors, crafted in a similar manner. It became the principal style throughout the western world against which all other styles were judged. While there have been some deviations and experiments with the format in the past 50 plus ye...
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
Before the civil rights movement could begin, a few courageous individuals had to guide the way. Dr. Vernon Johns was one of those individuals. Dr. Vernon Johns was a pastor and civil rights activist in the 1920s. Johns became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in the late 1940s. During his time as a pastor, Johns preached many sermons on how African American people were being treated not only in the community but in society. Johns on multiple occasions upset his community through his ideas on social change. Through a sociologist perspective, many sociological concepts were displayed in The Vernon Johns Story. Some of those concepts included: ascribed status, conflict theory, deviant behavior, alienation, and
It includes the Little Tramp as a miner in the brutal winter of the Klondike amid the eponymous time when men attempted to strike it rich. He lives in a small shack on the highest point of an incline which in the long run begins to tumble off amid a terrible windstorm. Chaplin was one of the noiseless time's most clever and most adaptable physical humorists, keeping in mind he was never as aerobatic as Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd, he beyond any doubt knew how to offer a stifler. His acclaimed hit the dance floor with the rolls was so well known at the time that gatherings of people would request projectionists stop the film to respool and demonstrate the moment long portion once
Through these extensive genres, Welles made a brand of himself. He was known for playing in theaters, receiving the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the D.W. Griffiths Award, and was named number sixteen on the Fifty Greatest Screen Legends List of the American Film Institute. In Welles films, famous actors like Everett Sloane and Joseph Cotton made constant appearances. His filmin...
The strange life and death of Christopher McCandless is an enigma. After disappearing for 2 years, McCandless was found dead at age twenty-four in the Alaskan wilderness, the world stunned on why an affluent young man with a bright future would give it all up to live in seclusion in the wilderness. In his book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer theorizes the motivations of McCandless and why a seemingly sane person would take such dangerous risks. Krakauer’s major theories of why McCandless did what he did revolve around a singular idea: freedom. Krakauer uses McCandless’s change of identity and wilderness adventures to symbolize freedom and self-expression.
...lways be someone out there that idolizes him.Van Gogh, Picasso, and Chaplin will always have two things in common: their artistic abilities, and their lack of appreciation until they were gone. For Picasso and Van Gogh "gone" meant death, but for Chaplin "gone" meant exile. After Chaplin's long-term exile for his "communism" ideals, he once again returned to the U.S. after the Second Red Scare had died down (Encyclopedia of World Biography 439). Upon his return, Chaplin was contacted about receiving academy awards (Authors and Artists for Young Adults Par.2) 4 Academy Awards and 4 Academy Award nominations were only part of the many recognitions he received (Authors and Artists for Young Adults Par.2). Finally Chaplin had received the awards he deserved. Chaplin was a man who contributed so much to the film industry as well as thousands of laughs his films provoked.
Thompson, K 2003, ‘The struggle for the expanding american film industry’, in Film history : an introduction, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston, pp. 37-54
In this essay the following will be discussed; the change from the age of classical Hollywood film making to the new Hollywood era, the influence of European film making in American films from Martin Scorsese and how the film Taxi Driver shows the innovative and fresh techniques of this ‘New Hollywood Cinema’.
Charlie Chaplin faced public backlash with his stance on World War I. In The Importance of Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Diamond says, "a British citizen had chosen not to leave the United States to fight for his native country" (58). Chaplin's actions caused British audiences to have mixed feelings about him. They loved his films, but disapproved of his non-participation in the war. However, British representatives said that Chaplin was more valuable as an entertainer than an infantryman (Diamond 58). So while the public disagreed with his non-participation, the British government backed him up.
“A day without laughter is a day wasted.” This was one of the most famous quotes from Charlie Chaplin who became the celebrated superstar from the silent film era. He fulfilled this quote as his acting and directing career spanned over 75 years. He made his debut early on in his childhood and worked up until the day before he died at age 88. He is best remembered for role as the silly and loveable Little Tramp
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in London, England. His father, Charles Chaplin Sr., was a vocalist and an actor. His mother, Hannah Chaplin, was a vocalist as well as a character comedienne in the music halls of London. Chaplin also had a half-brother named Sydney, who was from a previous marriage of Hannah’s (Lynn). When Charlie was five years old, he sang for his mother on stage after she had fallen ill and was unable to speak let alone sing (Lynn). Everyone in the audience loved Charlie’s performance so much, that they threw coins onto the stage in show of appreciation of the young actor. By the age of 10, Chaplin’s childhood consisted of extreme poverty, working in the workhouses of London, and seeing his mother's mental health decline so much, that it had her institutionalized. Charlie and his brother Sydney were sent to an orphanage shortly after his mother was admitted into the asylum. Their father remarried, giving the opportunity to live with their father once more. The Chaplin brothers were often locked out of his father’s house because his new wife didn’t want to take care of his children. They were often left to search for food and shelter outs...
Chaplin was born to be in front of an audience, literally. His parents were the highly
The Salary is below minimal and the workers are frustrated because they need to support and maintain their families. Outside the factory is filled with angry and dissatisfied workers amongst them law enforcement agencies for crowd control purposes. Tramp walks out the factory and accidentally hits an officer with a pebble. He is imprisoned for two weeks and after being released is given a letter from an officer who informs him that he will be able to find employment anywhere upon presenting the letter. The letter indeed allows him to find employment but only for a few minutes. Tramp is inexperienced and has no working skills other than the factory. Charlie Chaplin interacts with society in a naïve manner.
http://charliechaplin.com/ “Chaplin, Charles.” Dictionary of World Biography the 20th Century A-Inc. Volume VII. Pasadena” Salem Press, Inc. 1999. 653-656.