The Circus 1928 G, 72 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sanford, John Rand, Steve Murphy, Betty Morrisey, Charles Chaplin
The Tramp (Charles Chaplin) is working odd jobs at a circus when police think he is a pickpocket and chase him around the Big Top. The crowd, thinking it is part of the act, finds him hilarious. This leads to his being hired as a clown. Soon he falls in love, is spurned, shrugs his shoulders, and sets off in a new direction leaving the circus behind.
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City Lights 1931 N/R, 87 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Harry Myers, Florence Lee, Hank Mann, Jean Harlow, Al Ernest Garcia, T.S. Alexander, Henry Bergman, Eddie McAuliffe, Granville Redman, Willie Keeler, Robert Parrish, Robert Graves, Tom Dempsey
This highly entertaining film is classic Charlie Chaplin fare. The plot involves the Little Tramp's love for a blind, flower girl (Virginia Cherrill). The story involves a comedy of mistaken identities in which an eccentric millionaire (Harry Myers) only recognizes the Little Tramp when he has been drinking. After a night of drinking, the millionaire gives the Little Tramp $1,000 for the flower girl's rent. After a few misadventures involving burglars in the millionaire's home, the Little Tramp gives the flower girl the money to pay for her rent and an eye operation. The operation is performed, and, later, the Little Tramp sees her through her window and shyly smiles. She goes outside and gives him money and a flower. She recognizes him as her benefactor and all ends happily when she tells him, "I can see."
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A Countess from Hong Kong 1967 N/R, 120 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Sydney Chaplin, Tippi Hedren, Charles Chaplin, Patrick Cargill, Margaret Rutherford
This is the last film that Charles Chaplin wrote, directed, and acted in. On an ocean liner, a diplomat (Marlon Brando) runs into a Russian stowaway (Sophia Loren) who pretends to be a member of royalty.
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The Gold Rush (1925) 1925 N/R, 110 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Georgia Hale, Malcolm Waite, Heinie Conklin, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sanford, Albert Austin, Al Ernest Garcia, Chris-Pin Martin, Margaret Martin, John Rand
Many consider this the best of Charlie Chaplin's comedies. In this film, the Lone Prospector (Chaplin) is prospecting for gold in Alaska and is trapped in a cabin with two mean-looking prospectors, Big Jim McKay (Mack Swain) and Black Larsen (Tom Murray). When they run out of food for Thanksgiving, the Lone Prospector roasts a leather boot for dinner! The weather clears, the Lone Prospector heads off on his own in search of gold and meets saloon girl Georgia (Georgia Hale). He invites Georgia to a New Year's Eve dinner, but she does not appear. Big Jim arrives back in town and joins the Lone Prospector at the cabin. As luck would have it, their cabin is blown by the wind and slides down the mountain–landing on Big Jim's gold strike. Now rich, the Lone Prospector and Big Jim sail back to the U.S. on a frigate. Also on board is Georgia, and, at last, they fall in love.
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The Great Dictator 1940 N/R, 127 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert, Emma Dunn, Maurice Moscovitch, Grace Hayle, Bernard Gorcey
Political satire about the Third Reich abounds as Charlie Chaplin plays dual roles of dictator Adenoid Hynbel as well as his look-alike: a Jewish barber.
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The Kid 1921 N/R, 60 min. Genre: Family / Comedy / Drama
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance, Carl Miller, Tom Wilson, Granville Redmond, Frank Campeau, Jack Coogan Sr., Lita Grey, Jules Hanft, Kathleen Kay, Walter Lynch, May White
This very successful first Charlie Chaplin feature film also was written and directed by him. It features Chaplin as "The Tramp" who rescues an abandoned baby from a garbage can and takes him home. Five years later, "The Tramp" is raising the "Kid" (Jackie Coogan) who breaks windows so that "The Tramp" will get jobs replacing them. Now, the "Kid's" Mother (Edna Purviance) has become an opera star who does charity work in the slums. Their paths cross, and the "Kid" is handed back and forth between "The Tramp" and the Mother. The story continues and involves whether "The Tramp," Edith, and the "Kid" will become a family or end up going their separate ways.
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A King in New York 1957 N/R, 105 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Maxine Audley, Oliver Johnston, Dawn Addams, Sid James, Harry Green, Michael Chaplin, John McLaren, Phil Brown, Alan Gifford
There are some funny scenes in this satire on the 1950s' Communist witch hunts, but it is not one of Charlie Chaplin's best films. The king of a tiny country is overthrown, and he and his wife move to New York. There, though he has no money, he is a hit with the status seekers. Then he sees what the 1950s are all about in the U.S.: rock 'n roll and McCarthyism.
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Modern Times 1936 N/R, 85 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Chester Conklin, Tiny Sanford, Hank Mann, Stanley Blystone, Al Ernest Garcia, Murdock MacQuarrie, Richard Alexander, Louis Natheaux, Sammy Stein
This movie was written by, directed by, and stars Charlie Chaplin. It is the last movie of the "Little Tramp" and also Chaplin's last "silent" film–although Chaplin's voice is heard for the first time when he sings a song. The humor is visual and remains timeless as Charlie meets the modern industrial age head-on.
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Monsieur Verdoux 1947 N/R, 125 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Mady Correll, Allison Roddan, Robert Lewis, Audrey Betz, Martha Raye, Ada May, Isobel Elsom, Marjorie Bennett, Helene Heigh, Margaret Hoffman, Irving Bacon
Henri Verdoux (Charles Chaplin) marries wealthy women and then murders them for their money–acts that he justifies as necessary and no worse than the position of those who profit by building the Atomic Bomb.
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The Pilgrim 1923 N/R, 59 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Kitty Bradbury, Syd Chaplin, Henry Bergman, Mack Swain, Mai Wells, Dean Riesner, Loyal Underwood, Charles Riesner, Tom Murray
An escaped prisoner is mistaken for a preacher in Devil's Gulch and takes on the persona of The Pilgrim (Charles Chaplin). The ruse lasts until his past is uncovered, but the sheriff (Tom Murray) takes him to the border where he is given a choice: return and go to prison or enter the arena of a bandit war in Mexico.
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Shoulder Arms 1918 N/R, 46 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Syd Chaplin, Jack Wilson, Henry Bergman, Loyal Underwood, Albert Austin, Tom Wilson, John Rand, J. Parks Jones
Released shortly before the end of World War I, this film represents one of Charles Chaplin's war efforts. In it, he plays a lowly recruit sent to the war zone where he humorously performs heroic actions and even captures the Kaiser. As he is enjoying a victory parade, he awakens and realizes it was all only a dream.
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Tillie's Punctured Romance 1914 N/R, 73 min. Genre: Comedy aka: Tillie's Big Romance For the Love of Tillie
Director: Mack Sennett Cast: Charles Chaplin, Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, Mack Swain, Charles Bennett, Chester Conklin, Edgar Kennedy, Al St. John, Slim Summerville, A. Edward Sutherland, Charley Chase, Glen Cavender
In this film, which marks the first feature-length comedy, Charles Chaplin plays the role of a con man who talks the farmer's innocent daughter (Marie Dressler) into eloping with him and then runs off with the money. But, never fear, good triumphs over evil by story's end.
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A Woman of Paris 1923 N/R, 81 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Charles Chaplin Cast: Edna Purviance, Adolphe Menjou, Carl Miller, Lydia Knott, Charles K. French, Clarence Geldart, Betty Morrissey, Malvina Polo, Henry Bergman, Charles Chaplin
Marie St. Clair (Edna Purviance) and Jean Millet (Carl Miller) plan to elope to Paris, but Jean's father has suffered a stroke, Jean doesn't appear, and Marie goes to Paris alone where she hooks up with wealthy Pierre Revel (Adolphe Menjou). One year later, Marie and Jean meet in Paris and become engaged–until Marie breaks it off because of Jean's mother's (Lydia Knott) pressure. Jean, torn between the two women, kills himself. The women then start life anew in the countryside.
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| 1. The Circus (1928)
2. City Lights (1931)
3. A Countess from Hong Kong (1967)
4. The Gold Rush (1925) (1925)
5. The Great Dictator (1940)
6. The Kid (1921)
7. A King in New York (1957)
8. Limelight (1952)
9. Modern Times (1936)
10. Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
11. The Pilgrim (1923)
12. Shoulder Arms (1918)
13. Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914) aka: Tillie's Big Romance aka: For the Love of Tillie
14. A Woman of Paris (1923)
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