The Chaplin Collection, Vol. 2 (City Lights / The Circus / The Kid / A King in New York / A Woman of Paris / Monsieur Verdoux / The Chaplin Revue / Charlie - The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin)
The second magnificent collection of Charlie Chaplin's work is even more stuffed with goodies than thefirst:  six feature films, a round-up of two-reelers, and a new documentary, plus a cornucopia of deleted scenes and context. Each feature is accompanied by a half-hour "Chaplin Today" featurette, in which a filmmaker comments from a 21st-century perspective. Claude Chabrol extols the wicked virtues ofMonsieur Verdouxand calls Chaplin "a thoroughly modern director," while Jim Jarmusch speaks gallantly on the political satire of the problematicA King in New York.The Kid(1921), Chaplin's first feature, relates directly to Chaplin's own hard upbringing. The Tramp adopts a street kid (Jackie Coogan), in a seamless blend of slapstick and sentiment. ForA Woman of Paris(1923), Chaplin experimented:  straight, adult melodrama, with no Charlie onscreen (save for a brief cameo). 1927'sThe Circusis prized by many Chaplin critics as pure sublime comedy, less burdened by sentiment or politics than subsequent films.City Lights(1931) is an undisputed masterpiece; the Tramp befriends a blind girl, leading to one of the great bittersweet endings in film history. (Among the extras: a priceless seven-minute deleted scene involving little more than Chaplin and a piece of wood stuck in a grate.)  WithMonsieur Verdoux(1947), Chaplin turned his back on the Tramp and invented an elegant lady killer (literally); audiences disapproved, but the film stands as a fascinating essay on himself. Finally, after his exile from the United States, Chaplin madeA King in New York(1957), which is mostly flat, except as autobiography.The Chaplin Revuegathers six essential short works, from the superbA Dog's Life(1918) to his last two-reeler,The Pilgrim. A separate disc contains film critic Richard Schickel's comprehensive documentaryCharlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, which does nicely by Chaplin's life and his working process, with keen comments from admirers such as Woody Allen and Johnny Depp. This box set is more than film history; it's a living treasure.--Robert Horton