Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-17

~ Of Charlie Chaplin from vari-
~ Gus friends we shared In COM
mon, I did not meet him until
after ] had been in the industry for
two years. That first sight of him
surprised me as much as it always
does those who know only the ia
miliar comedian of the black mus
! tache and baggy trousers. a slender
fellow. smooth -shaven. waves of crisp
black hair. dark blue eyes that have
that peculiar smoky quality Of the
autumn hills-here is the catalogue
of his outward self. But, of course,
you cannot compress into catalogue
the charm of his face. There is a
charm there-even beauty. In this
connection, indeed, I remember Chap
Inns telling me laughingly that his
mother once protested Indignantly
at his makeup.
why do you want to make your
self look hideous," said she, you who
are 50 beautiful?'r
But although his contours arc salts
factory and his eyes exceedingly
handsome, the real interest of Chap
Inns face lies in its perpetual and
sensitive absorptions. He seems al
ways listening. Even when he Is
| talking most aninatedly he is watch
ing you, wondering about you, quite
evidently trying to fit you and your
words into some pattern. When you
yourself are talking you get the full
force Of this vivid listening.
| Mack Sennett has often spoken
about this characteristics message of
his face as it was revealed to him
during Chaplin's first studio days.
He'd sit there for hours" records
Mack. just staring at people. I
couldn't make out what no was
thinking about"
Since that first meeting of ours ac-
quaintancc has developed into q
friendship which / certainly count one
Of the privileges of my life. From
that friendship il is hard to detach
myself for an objective survey Of the
gifted pantomimist. Even had l not
been SO close to him ] should find
formidable the task Of analysis. For
chaplin Is maze Of contradictions,
and no sooner have you AFFIXED to
him any one attribute than 10. the
! next moment has swept II away!
chaplin loves power-aS no one else
whom l have ever met he loves It.
Money contributes to this sense.
Therefore he sticks out for his large
contract and therefore he saves d
, great deal Of his earnings. But it
; affords him just as much conscious
ness OF power to think that he,
Chaplin. can afford to walk away
from those assembled actors and
stage-hands. Ergo, he does that. 4.
l have often been asked it Chaplin
q c N u fv-<., 4,
screen. He is-thoroughly so. His
mimicry is delightful. His dancing
Is perhaps even more so. To see
Chaplin improvistng a London street
scene with William de Mile; to hear
him deliver the speech of d Jewish
manufacturer at a banquet where he
had been presented with a loving-cup;
to watch his limitations of some fash
ionable rhythmic dancer-at one of
these last performances he carried a
cuspidor as Greek vase and con-
cluded by deftly catching it in the
crock Of his knee-such are the mem
cries Of Charlie Treasured by those
who know him.
| l always like TO think of the day
! when he got back from Europe. He
came straightway to my office to see
| me, and l never heard anything 50
| infectious as those descriptions of his
| triumphal tour. When he came to the
story of his decoration with the
| Legion of Honor he reached a high
! peak In THAT initiative narrative of
| which he is such a perfect master.
| Vet here again you are faced by
| another of those contrasts which be-
wilder the bfographer. There are
certain days when, instead of drol-
| lery and pungent narrative. he pre-
! sents a we'll Of unfathomable silence.
On such days he runs away from his
| studio and from everybody. For
hours he will sit motionIess In his
room. Or perhaps, starting off alone,
he will wander into an orange grove
OF tramp through the hills around
; Hollywood
! He suffers at such times-undoubt-
edly. But make no mistake. The
/ hlackneSS Of the universe, the tor
! turing puzzle of existence, which
i sometimes engulf so many of us, are
never repudiated by Chaplin. He
| does not desire madly to lose himself
his own life. He would not i'll his
most tortured moment shift places
! with the merriest. No. for the black
ness Is his blackness. And what he
| whether that be happiness or pain:
This hunger for high measure of
sensation is found In his horror Of
| old age. With q kind Of fierce re-
bellion he looks into neighbortng
glass at the streaks of gray in his
I ndlE. ne WI SAiSSI. "
! think the time is coming when ]
shan't be young any more!" =
His reaction to life is, you see, in
tensely personal. intensely emotional.
Nothing is more persuasive Of this
than Is his interest IN certain imper-
sonal. topics. Chaplin loYes to talk
about government and economics and
religion. Mention Of a new ism" or
"ology" brings him looping from the
farthest corner of room. When
Rupert Hughes came out to Holly
wood he and Charlie were much given
to what somebody calls "topics-just
topics" Nothing could have been
more illuminating. While Hughes
conducted hiY eide Of the discussion
in a spirit OF dlspasslonate inquiry:
the less scientifically trained mind OF
the comedian struck out with a poet
frenzy at everything which he did
not like. One could see IT was not
really abstract truth which he de-
sired. It was the theory which most
successfully represented his own
IJis nreiudice is against anything