Created by film critic Richard Schickel, this definitive documentary posits the need for, and fear of, the audience as the driving forces of Chaplin's life. Beginning with the first appearance of his tramp persona on film, in 1914, Schickel and a host of critics, biographers, filmmakers, and performers-David Thomson, David Robinson, Martin Scorsese, Bill Irwin, Johnny Depp, and many others-assess Chaplin's filmic techniques and trace the course of his career from his meteoric rise to his years in exile. “A serious, often illuminating, and unavoidably entertaining account” (J. Hoberman, Village Voice), Charlie balances interviews with film clips and home movies, artistic analysis with personal biography, for a multifaceted portrait of a brilliant and troubled artist.