Everybody knows Chaplin's Tramp. The little figure with the greasepaint moustache and oversized shoes, the bowler and cane of a down-at-heels gentleman, vies with Mickey Mouse for the title of world's most famous movie character. But how well do we really know Chaplin's films? The Tramp's status as a beloved American icon can too easily overshadow the real achievements of Charles Chaplin (1889–1977), which in many ways ran counter to the American mainstream. The Tramp character, first seen onscreen in 1914, was importantly an outsider, a tweaker of the established order; throughout his career, Chaplin managed to combine Victorian sentiment with sharp social critique. His empathy for the poor and downtrodden, rooted in the acute hardships of his own London childhood, continued even through the years of his extraordinary success-at twenty-eight, he was already a millionaire, with complete control over his own productions. Later, as anti-communist paranoia rose in America, his leftist views (along with personal scandals including a trumped-up paternity suit) drove him into exile in England.
With this series of fine prints, most of them imported from Europe (amazingly, many are currently not distributed in the United States), we invite you to experience Chaplin's films as they were meant to be seen: not at home, but on the big screen, in the community of an audience. This is the way really to know Chaplin, the extraordinary performer and complex artist, maker of films that were poignant, pointed, and, above all, funny.
Please see our Movie Matinees for All Ages series for additional Chaplin screenings: Modern Times on November 17, The Circus on November 24, and The Gold Rush on December 1.
PFA at the Castro
Selected prints in this series will also be screened at San Francisco's historic Castro Theatre from December 2 through 12. For details, visit www.castrotheatre.com.