First appearance of “Little Tramp” - Feb 07, 1914 - HISTORY.com First appearance of “Little Tramp” Share this: First appearance of “Little Tramp” Author First appearance of “Little Tramp” URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1914, the silent film Kid Auto Races at Venice premieres in theaters, featuring the actor Charlie Chaplin in his first screen appearance as the “Little Tramp,” the character that would become his best-known onscreen alter ego. Born on April 16, 1889, in England, Chaplin became a professional performer by the age of 10. In 1908, he joined the Fred Karno pantomime troupe, earning special notice for his portrayal of a character known as “The Drunk.” The troupe was touring the United States in 1913 when Chaplin was signed by Mack Sennett, whose Keystone Studios was becoming known for its short slapstick comedy films. In his first Keystone comedy, Making a Living, Chaplin played a swindler, complete with a sinister mustache and a monocle.

The performance wasn’t as funny as expected, but Sennett gave his newest comic another chance, casting him in Kid Auto Races at Venice. In preparation for filming, Chaplin reportedly combed through the Keystone costume closets to create the now-famous look of the Little Tramp. “Pants baggy, coat tight…hat small, shoes large,” as he later described it in his autobiography. To disguise the character’s age, he added a brush-like mustache over his lip. “I had no idea of the character,” he wrote, “but the clothes and the makeup made me feel the person he was.” In Kid Auto Races at Venice, the Little Tramp goes to a children’s cart race held in Venice, California, where he interferes with the race and gets in the way of the cameraman trying to take pictures of the contestants. Chaplin later refined the character, which to many became inseparable from the actor and filmmaker himself. Kid Auto Races at Venice captures the Tramp’s essence as a part-comic, part-tragic figure with a shuffling walk, expressive face and exaggeratedly polite manners.

Upon its release, the film was an immediate hit and the Tramp was a sensation, making Chaplin the most famous actor in Hollywood. After 35 Keystone comedies, Chaplin moved on to ever-more lucrative contracts with Essanay Studios, Mutual and First National before founding the United Artists studio in 1919 with his fellow actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford and the director D.W. Griffith. Chaplin would not always technically play a tramp, but his characters invariably had a bit of the Tramp in them, whether working as a waiter (1916’s The Rink), a janitor (1918’s Triple Trouble) or a gold prospector (1925’s The Gold Rush, considered by many to be Chaplin’s masterpiece). The Tramp himself made memorable appearances in a number of acclaimed hits, including The Tramp (1915), The Kid (1921), The Circus (1928) and City Lights (1931).

After the movies converted to sound in the late 1920s, Chaplin held out for a while but finally gave his Tramp a voice in Modern Times (1936); he covered his British accent by singing nonsensical fake Italian lyrics. Though Chaplin would make other films, including The Great Dictator (1940), Monsieur Verdoux (1947) and Limelight (1952), Modern Times marked the last appearance of his immortal alter ego. Related Videos Charlie Chaplin : Films 1915 His New Job Chaplin’s first Essanay comedy—and appropriately titled—was the only film he made at Essanay’s Chicago studio. As with his Keystone films, A Film Johnnie (1914) and The Masquerader (1914), Chaplin chose to set the action in a film studio. Charlie is hired as a prop man and is soon demoted to a carpenter’s assistant at the Lockstone studio (a play on his former employer, Keystone) before given the chance to act, which ends in disaster.

The film was Chaplin’s first pairing with cross-eyed comedian Ben Turpin and features an early appearance by Gloria Swanson as a secretary. It is also notable for several tracking shots, despite Chaplin’s reputation for static cinematography, which was seldom used in film comedy of the period. By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 A Night Out Chaplin’s second film for Essanay was the first of five films shot in and around the company’s Niles studio in northern California. The plot is a variation of the teaming of Chaplin and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle in the Keystone film, The Rounders (1914). This time he is paired with Ben Turpin. In the film Chaplin forms an excellent comedy partnership. Chaplin and Turpin are drunks about town, starting at a café and ending in a risqué hotel room mix-up with a pretty girl, similar to the situation in the Keystone comedy Caught in the Rain (1914), yet this time with Edna Purviance, in her first film with Chaplin.

By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 The Champion Inspired by the Keystone film, The Knockout (1914) and Chaplin’s interest in boxing, this comedy has Charlie finding employment as a sparring partner who fights in the prize ring and wins the championship match, with the help of his pet bulldog. Boxing events were then illegal in most states, and films of boxing matches (including comic takes on them) satisfied a pent-up interest in the subject. The relationship of the Tramp and his dog would be fully developed three years later in A Dog’s Life (1918), and Chaplin’s brilliant choreography in the ring anticipates the boxing match in City Lights (1931). G.M. “Broncho Billy” Anderson plays a spectator in the boxing sequence.

By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 In the Park The first of two one-reel shorts Chaplin made for Essanay, the film was hastily made at the request of the company as result of the prolonged production of his previous film, The Champion. The film, which involves Charlie interfering in the lives of two star-crossed lovers, has the same improvisational feel of the simple park comedies made at Keystone, and is nearly a remake of his own Keystone film, Twenty Minutes of Love (1914). By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 A Jitney Elopement Charlie must rescue his sweetheart, Edna, from an arranged marriage by posing as Count Chloride de Lime, the man to whom Edna is betrothed but whom neither she nor her father ever seen. The film ends with a car chase, featuring a Ford automobile, a target of contemporary humor.

Impersonation/ mistaken identity was a device Chaplin enjoyed. Having used it previously in Her Friend the Bandit (1914) and Caught in a Cabaret (1914), he would return to it in such films as The Count (1916), The Idle Class (1921), and The Great Dictator (1940). Among the wonderful bits of comic transposition in the film is a bit of business Chaplin had performed in Fred Karno’s music hall sketch Jimmy the Fearless: Charlie, attempting to slice a bread roll, continues in a spiral cut, turning the roll into a concertina. By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 The Tramp Charlie saves a farmer’s daughter from some thieving toughs and subsequently stops their attempt to rob the farm. He falls in love with the girl, but upon the appearance of her sweetheart, the little fellow realizes the true situation. He departs, leaving behind a note to the girl that reads: “I thort your kindness was love but it aint cause I seen him.

Goodbye.” This prototypical Chaplin film is important for its superb characterization and construction, successfully integrating pathos with comedy. The film’s sad ending—new to film comedy—incorporates Chaplin’s first use of the classic fade-out, in which the Tramp shuffles away alone into the distance, with his back to the camera. By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 By the Sea The second of two one-reel shorts Chaplin made for Essanay, the film was photographed around the Venice, California amusement pier in Los Angeles in just one day. This extended improvisation includes Chaplin’s first use of the flea routine, which he would develop further for his feature film Limelight (1952). By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 Work The havoc created by incompetent laborers had always been prime slapstick material.

For example, in 1906 Chaplin had appeared in Wal Pink’s music-hall sketch, Repairs, playing a plumber’s assistant. In this comedy, Chaplin plays a paperhanger’s assistant hired to paper a mansion (the imposing home was the Bradbury Mansion, one of the biggest homes in Los Angeles). Peace is replaced with anarchy, culminating with a massive explosion. The opening sequence—which shows Charlie pulling a work cart down a busy street and up a hill with his boss sitting in the cart’s driver seat, hitting Charlie with a whip—is striking for its symbolic importance regarding the exploitation and degradation of human laborers. By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 A Woman Chaplin had twice previously donned female attire at Keystone, in A Busy Day (1914) and The Masquerader. A Woman was Chaplin’s last and finest female impersonation, a then-popular device among comedians (Julian Eltinge built a career and fortune on it).

The first half of the film is a typical park comedy, in which the Tramp causes havoc as a result of his mischief with a flirtatious woman, soda bottles, and a nearby lake. The second half requires Charlie to disguise himself as a lady in order to be near Edna, his newfound sweetheart, after her father has forbidden her to see him. By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 The Bank Charlie the janitor loves Edna, the pretty bank secretary, but her sweetheart is another Charles, the cashier. One of the best of the Chaplin Essanay comedies, the film’s plot is a reworking of his Keystone film, The New Janitor(1914), incorporating a dream sequence inspired by Fred Karno’s Jimmy the Fearless. Just as in the Karno sketch—in which Chaplin starred as Jimmy, a downtrodden young man who becomes a hero in his dreams—in The Bank Charlie dreams he saves Edna in an attempted bank robbery, only to wake up and discover it was a dream.

The film’s equivocal ending was new to film comedy. Such endings became a signature of the Chaplin films. The memorable close-up of Chaplin in The Bank, when his note and gift of a few flowers to Edna are rejected, anticipates the ending of City Lights. By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 Shangaied Chaplin rented a boat, the Vaquero, to inspire the plot of this comedy gem. Charlie is hired to shanghai a crew, only to be shanghaied himself as well. He has to save himself and his sweetheart, who has stowed away, before the boat is sabotaged for the insurance. The film contains some of Chaplin’s early playful dancing (dance would be an important part of his mature films), seasickness (one of Chaplin’s favorite routines), and a curious homosexual situation with Chaplin and the cabin boy, highly unusual in mainstream cinema for its time.

By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1915 A Night in the Show This exceptional comedy was adapted from Fred Karno’s sketch, Mumming Birds. Chaplin plays dual roles in the film: his old stage success of Mr. Pest, and Mr. Rowdy, a dissipated working man, both of whom are attending a vaudeville performance. Mr. Pest manages to cause as much disorder in the orchestra stall as does Mr. Rowdy in the gallery. By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1916 Police Police uses comedy to make pointed—if glancing—social statements which over the years became central to Chaplin’s work. The film is arguably the most mature in the series and anticipates such later films as Modern Times (1936).

The Tramp, released from prison, is “once again in the cruel, cruel world” where he meets a former cell-mate and sets about to rob the home occupied by a young woman. Police was altered by Essanay after Chaplin had edited the film, removing an extended doss-house sequence that appeared two years later in Triple Trouble. By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS 1916 A Burlesque on Carmen Chaplin’s burlesque of Cecil B. DeMille’s popular film version of Carmen (1915), starring the great opera diva Geraldine Farrar, as well as a rival version of Carmen (1915) starring Theda Bara, was originally intended as a two-reel comedy. In Chaplin’s version Don José becomes Darn Hosiery (Chaplin), with Edna Purviance as the seductress Carmen. However, after Chaplin left Essanay, the company inserted discarded material and created new scenes, extending the film to four reels when it was given a general release in April 1916.

The altered version of the film sent Chaplin to bed for two days. He later put forward an unprecedented claim of the moral rights of artists, suing Essanay on the grounds that the expanded version would damage his reputation with the public. Although Chaplin lost the court battle, he later wrote that Essanay’s dishonest act “rendered a service, for thereafter I had it stipulated in every contract that there should be no mutilating, extending or interfering with my finished work.” By Jeffrey Vance, adapted from his book Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (New York, 2003) (c) 2009 Roy Export SAS All photographs from Chaplin films made from 1918 onwards © Roy Export S.A.S. All Rights Reserved. CHARLES CHAPLIN, CHARLIE CHAPLIN, the LITTLE TRAMP, certain images on this web site, and the names of some of Mr. Chaplin's films are trademarks and/or service marks of Roy Export and/or Bubbles Inc. S.A. All Rights Reserved.

ï¿½ Charles Chaplin, Silent Film Star - goldensilents.com Charles Chaplin (1889-1977) "The Little Tramp" Legendary silent film comedian Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London, England on April 16th, 1889 into a relatively well-to-do theatrical family. His father, Charles, and his mother Hannah were both headliners in their day in the English music halls. Charlie's childhood became Dickensian in its poverty and tragedy however, for his father separated from his mother when he was a young boy and remarried another woman, rarely providing financial support to his first family, Hannah, Charlie and his older half brother Sydney Chaplin . Hannah had another son by comic Leo Dryden named Wheeler, but that relationship ended as well. She tried to resurrect her stage career, but her voice began to suffer from weakness and lack of projection, and ultimately she had to leave theater work behind, however not before Charlie had had a chance to perform in his mother's place on stage, singing a popular tune to thunderous applause. Hannah became a seamstress to try and make a living to support Charles and Sydney for whom she had custody.

For awhile she was successful; her clients were her old friends from her music hall days; Charlie and Sydney went to school and life was relatively normal. Young Charles had little contact with his father growing up, and Charles Sr. eventually died from alcoholism. After his death what little extra support Hannah had been receiving from him disappeared. Her sewing jobs began to diminish, and her mind began to fail from malnutrition; any food she bought she gave to her two boys instead. Charles and Sydney spent the rest of their childhoods in and out of charity homes and workhouses, wandering the streets, or doing occasional acting jobs to make some extra income. Young Syd left to join the navy as soon as he was able, and for a time Charlie was alone, living with his insane mother in a slum area of London, waiting desperately for his older brother to send them money. Charlie avoided school in the hopes of not being discovered, so that he would not be separated from his mother. But Hannah was eventually discovered by neighbors to be completely insane and she was committed to an asylum in 1903. She remained there until 1921, when Charlie moved her to California to a more professional nursing home.

Hannah died in 1928. Charlie Chaplin with his frequent leading lady Edna Purviance Charlie's first real stage experience began at the age of eight with the music hall troupe The Eight Lancashire Lads. He loved the experience. At age seventeen Charles joined the Fred Karno Company and toured Britain performing, and then excitedly went off with them to America for their first tour in 1910. He and the troupe traveled by train and performed in several major U.S. cities. Charlie fell in love with America, its fast pace and positive, upbeat atmosphere. While performing with Karno on a second trip to the United States, Charlie's popular stage act was seen by a young filmmaker named Mack Sennett . Charles was persuaded by Sennett to leave the stage for that new fangled form of entertainment, the "flickers." At first Charlie was loath to leave but when the salary was mentioned he quickly changed his mind. It was much more than he was earning on the stage.

Charles Chaplin and Tom Wilson in "A Dog's Life" (1918) Charles Chaplin made his screen debut in a Keystone short called "Making a Living" (1914), but he did not make a big impression at first. Anxious to succeed, Charlie improvised with costumes in his private dressing room, until one day he experimented with a combination which felt perfect to him: droopy trousers, tight coat, derby hat, floppy shoes, and cane. The Little Tramp was born. Charlie found immediate success with the new character; even the crew members and co-stars on his sets laughed at the little fellow's antics. He made 35 films for Sennett in his first year, then moved on to the Essanay, Mutual, and First National studios. Searching for ways to increase his artistic freedom and his profits he joined with friends Mary Pickford , Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith to form United Artists in 1919. By then Charlie was an international film star whose films such as "The Immigrant" (1917), and "Shoulder Arms" (1918) were tremendous box office successes.

Other hit films for Charlie included "The Kid" (1921), which featured his child discovery, young Jackie Coogan , "The Gold Rush" (1924) and "The Circus" (1928). Essentially a mime and a dancer, Charles resisted the coming of sound as long as possible. He made two classics after the advent of sound: "City Lights" (1931) a completely silent film with musical soundtrack, and "Modern Times" (1936) which had a musical soundtrack, sound effects, and a few talking sequences. Charles was the first person in Hollywood to dare make fun of the German dictator, Adolph Hitler, with his film "The Great Dictator" (1940). However he claimed later that he would not have made the film if he had known of the existence of the concentration camps and the magnitude of Hitler's genocide. Although critics at the time did not like the film the public loved it, and the film made a fortune for Chaplin.

Charlie Chaplin, his wife Oona Chaplin, and their first two children, Geraldine and Michael, in March 1946 Charlie's professional success in films was tempered by much unhappiness and controversy in his personal life. His first two marriages, to actress Mildred Harris, who had a son with Charlie who lived only a few days, and to actress Lita Grey ended in bitter divorce. Charlie had two sons with Lita named Charles Jr. and Sydney, but he had restricted access to them for years after the divorce. A third marriage to actress Paulette Goddard was a happier experience, though it too ended in divorce when the two grew apart professionally and personally. His fourth marriage to Oona O'Neill, daughter of the playwright Eugene O'Neill, in 1943 was his happiest and most stable marriage, lasting until Charlie's death in 1977. The fact that Oona decided to give up her own acting ambitions to be a wife and mother no doubt contributed to the success of the marriage; for once Charlie had a mate who was not in competition with him.

Charles had eight children with Oona, including Geraldine Chaplin, who went on to become an actress and to appear as Tonya in David Lean's classic "Dr. Zhivago" in 1965. In the early years of Charlie's relationship and marriage to Oona he had to undergo the stress of a paternity suit charged to him by an imbalanced actress named Joan Barry who had been obsessed with him. A blood test proved that Charles could not possibly be the father of Barry's illegitimate baby; nevertheless Charlie had to submit to two trials on the matter, the second one finding him guilty. At the time blood tests were not admissible in court as evidence. He was ordered to pay child support for a baby that was not his biological child. This incident, combined with the investigation into his life and political views by J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI and the House Committee on Un-American Activities, finally helped Charles and Oona decide they were better off raising their children in Europe. Although the U.S.

government never had anything concrete they could pin on him - in fact they seemed to forget the millions of dollars he had raised for them in war bonds during World War One and the millions United Artists had paid in taxes to the U.S. government - Charles and Oona left Hollywood and their old friends and family behind and moved to Switzerland, where they lived out the remainder of their lives in relative peace and quiet, raising their children, traveling, entertaining, and involved in occasional film projects. Charles published his autobiography, "My Autobiography" in 1964, an interesting, if incomplete read, filled with accounts of his poignant childhood and his personal encounters with the humble and famous. He published a second autobiographical volume, "My Life in Pictures", in 1974. Charles made several sound films in the 1940's and 1950's, including the memorable "Limelight" (1952), which featured an appearance by his old contemporary and friend Buster Keaton . The last film he made in which he appeared as an actor was "A King In New York" (1957), in which his son Michael also appeared.

During the years Charles had helped both his brothers Sydney and Wheeler land film work in Hollywood, and Sydney had also acted as Charlie's business manager. His last film project was as director for "A Countess from Hong Kong" (1966), starring Marlon Brando, a failure at the box office. However both "Limelight" and "Countess" featured beautiful musical scores created by Charles Chaplin. He also composed lovely Victorian style melodies for his classic "City Lights" score. In 1971 Charles Chaplin returned to the United States to a warm welcome, to receive a special Academy Award for lifetime achievement in film. He wept as he received his Oscar and seemed genuinely humbled by the experience and appreciative of all the good will bestowed on him. A British subject until his death, Charles Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1975. He died peacefully in his sleep on Christmas Day, 1977. Much of Charlie Chaplin's silent film work has survived, and has been restored and transferred to video and DVD for future generations to rediscover and enjoy.

~ Copyright © 2004 goldensilents.com Charles Chaplin's Silent Films Little Tramp stays silent as Charlie Chaplin reborn in 3D animation | Film | The Guardian The Observer Little Tramp stays silent as Charlie Chaplin reborn in 3D animation Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, one of cinema's most famous characters, is to become a 3D animated competitor to Mr Bean Hi-tech guy: Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times (1936). Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext Vanessa Thorpe , arts and media correspondent Saturday 9 January 2010 19.05 EST First published on Saturday 9 January 2010 19.05 EST Close This article is 7 years old Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character, a true icon of cinema, is to be reborn in the 21st century as a computer-generated 3D avatar. The absurd figure with the baggy trousers, bowler hat and cane was once the best known silhouette in the world, and is to be introduced to modern audiences in a series of short films following a multi-million-pound deal approved by the Chaplin family.

Almost a hundred years since Chaplin first appeared in front of Hollywood cameras, an Indian-French collaboration has been licensed to make a series of six-minute animated episodes for cinema and TV. The silent films will be based on 70 original "shorts" that featured Chaplin as the Little Tramp. Visual gags and slapstick choreography from the films will be re-enacted by the new "stereoscopic" avatar, but some fresh material is also being written. The films will be made by DQ Entertainment, an animation and special effects firm based in the Indian city of Hyderabad, which hopes that Chaplin's tramp can compete for audiences with the animated version of Rowan Atkinson's equally hapless Mr Bean. On Friday the company concluded an €8m deal with two French media groups, Method Animation and MK2, one of France's biggest independent film companies and the owner of the international rights to the Chaplin films. Method Animation's chairman, Aton Soumache, said the Tramp would not be "a realistic portrayal but more like a puppet in an offbeat universe". "We've been working for more than a year on the graphics concept to find an original way of adapting Chaplin's world," he said.

"We'll put him in modern situations, but at the same time keeping his poetic, child-like view of the world with a retro feel." The venture coincides with the opening of an exhibition on London's South Bank which celebrates Chaplin's early life in south London, where he and his stepbrother Sydney grew up in poverty before building careers in music hall. Chaplin left London for America as a 21-year-old in 1910, with Fred Karno's "speechless comedians", and was invited to join the Keystone film company in Hollywood three years later. After success as the Tramp in silent shorts, he made a series of feature films, from The Kid in 1921 to The Great Dictator in 1940, that established him as one of the most influential screen actors and directors of all time. The chairman and chief executive of DQ, Tapaas Chakravarti, said that the new Chaplin films, which are aimed at adults and children above the age of six, would be "better" than Mr Bean.

"It's very, very clear that to tickle people's funny bones you don't really have to talk all the time and silent movies can work." The evolution of Charlie Chaplin's Tramp - latimes HOLLYWOOD The evolution of Charlie Chaplin's Tramp Classic Hollywood: Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character first appeared in 1914, but it would be 'The Kid' in 1921 before he was fully developed. January 24, 2014 |By Susan King Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in "The Kid," 1921. (File photo ) Cinema was just emerging from its infancy when Charlie Chaplin created his comic character the Tramp a century ago. With his bowler hat, baggy pants, endearing little mustache, exaggerated shuffling walk and cane, the Little Tramp was an instant star. "The cinema was not yet 20 years old when he made the first Tramp film," said documentarian/film preservationist Serge Bromberg, whose Paris-based Lobster Films teamed with Flicker Alley three years ago to restore and release the "Chaplin at Keystone" DVD set.

"What is so amazing is that 100 years later, he remains the absolute icon for cinema." The reason the character has remained a part of culture is straightforward, according to Bromberg. "We are all the Tramp. He has no nationality. When a kid watches Chaplin, it's simple. He doesn't speak, he just shows. He shares the most common values of generosity." That's just a part of it, noted Ohio University professor and Chaplin historian Lisa Stein Haven, who said, "He's not above kicking somebody in the pants and making the authority figure look bad." PHOTOS: Behind-the-scenes Classic Hollywood The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax Avenue is amid a two-month celebration, "The Tramp at 100: A Charlie Chaplin Centennial." Besides presenting an evening of classic Chaplin shorts, Cinefamily will also be screening Chaplin's feature-length films such as "The Circus" (1928), "Modern Times" (1936), "The Kid" (1921) and "City Lights" (1931). When Chaplin arrived at Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Co.

in 1913, the British comedian was touring the U.S. with Fred Karno's theatrical company. At 24, he was already a seasoned veteran of the British music hall, having joined the Karno troupe in 1908. At Keystone, Chaplin became a member of the stock company of comedic actors such as Sennett, Mabel Normand and Fatty Arbuckle. Chaplin, though, didn't have a clue about movies. "He wasn't at all a cinema creature," said Bromberg. "He thought the films were to be shot in chronological order." Movie audiences got their first look at Chaplin in the short comedy "Making a Living," released in early 1914; he played a swindler — replete with top hat and a villainous mustache. The Tramp was born with his second film — "Mabel's Strange Predicament," staring Normand. As Chaplin related in "My Autobiography," Sennett told him, "'We need some gags here,' he said, then turned to me. 'Put on a comedy make-up.

Anything will do.'" PHOTOS: Winter movie sneaks 2014 On his way to wardrobe, Chaplin thought: "I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. I wanted everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large. I was undecided whether to look old or young, but remembering Sennett had expected me to be a much older man, I added a small mustache, which, I reasoned, would add age without hiding my expression." The moment Chaplin put on the clothes and makeup, "I began to know him, and by the time I walked on to the stage he was fully born." And Sennett, said Chaplin, "stood and giggled until his body began to shake." "Mabel's Strange Predicament," which opened Feb. 9, 1914, was actually the second Tramp film released. Two days earlier, Keystone brought out "Kid Auto Races at Venice." Chaplin is riotously funny in both comedies and demonstrates his brilliant comic timing and athleticism.

But the early Tramp was quite different than the sweetly sentimental fellow who took care of a little boy in "The Kid" and earned money for a blind woman to regain her sight in "City Lights." In "Mabel's Strange Predicament," he's a slapstick happy drunk whose flask is his best friend. And in "Kid Auto Races," the Tramp is an obnoxious spectator who keeps interrupting the filming of the race. PHOTOS: Celebrities by The Times "What we have is a character of some vulgarity, a bit violent, very funny, but very slapstick," said Bromberg. But then Chaplin took charge of his films by mid-1914. The character was so popular, he went to Sennett and told him, "If you want me to stay, I want to do the films myself," said Bromberg. The Tramp continued to evolve by the time he got to the Mutual Film Co.

in 1916, where over the course of two years he made 12 films, including such early masterpieces as "The Immigrant" and "The Vagabond." '"Chaplin is still so funny but there is some romance going on, and all of a sudden you have tears and laughs in the same film," said Bromberg. With the release in 1921 of his first feature-length film, "The Kid," Chaplin's evolution from a wastrel to the funny little man who wore his heart and emotions on his sleeve was complete. The Tramp had fully arrived, and movies were never the same. These photos show the first appearance of Chaplin's “Little Tramp” in 1914 ... SHARE: Facebook Twitter Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin, (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the silent era. Chaplin became a worldwide icon through his screen persona “the Tramp” and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry.

His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy In February 1914, Mack Sennett’s Keystone released the movie Kid Auto Races at Venice (also known as The Pest) where Charlie Chaplin wears his tramp costume for the first time in a film exhibited in front of public. When Chaplin was still creating his now iconic on-screen persona “Little Tramp,” he wanted to achieve a rather complex fella; a tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure. himself, the costume lasted on-screen more than 22 years. Check out the photos below. The Tramp (Charlot in several languages), also known as The Little Tramp, was British actor Charlie Chaplin’s most memorable on-screen character and an icon in world cinema during the era of silent film. Source The character of the Tramp was originally created by accident while Chaplin was working at Mack Sennett’s Keystone Studios when dressing up for the short film Mabel’s Strange Predicament starring Mabel Normand and Chaplin.

That was actually the first film featuring the Tramp but a different film, shot later but with the same character, happened to be released two days earlier. The Tramp debuted to the public in the Keystone comedy Kid Auto Races at Venice (released on February 7, 1914; Mabel’s Strange Predicament, shot earlier, was released on February 9, 1914). Chaplin, with his Little Tramp character, quickly became the most popular star in Keystone director Mack Sennett’s company of players. Chaplin continued to play the Tramp through dozens of short films and, later, feature-length productions (in only a handful of other productions did he play characters other than the Tramp). Source The Tramp was closely identified with the silent era, and was considered an international character; when the sound era began in the late 1920’s, Chaplin refused to make a talkie featuring the character. Another reason was, the character was supposed to be American, and Chaplin himself had a strong and obvious British accent. The 1931 production City Lights featured no dialogue.

Chaplin officially retired the character in the film Modern Times (released February 5, 1936), which appropriately ended with the Tramp walking down an endless highway toward the horizon. The film was only a partial talkie and is often called the last silent film. The Tramp remains silent until near the end of the film when, for the first time, his voice is finally heard, albeit only as part of a French/Italian-derived gibberish song. This allowed the Tramp to finally be given a voice, but not tarnish his association with the silent era. In The Great Dictator, Chaplin’s first film after Modern Times, Chaplin plays the dual role of a Hitler-esque dictator, and a Jewish Barber. Although Chaplin emphatically stated that the barber was not The Tramp, he retains the Tramp’s moustache, hat, and general appearance. Despite a few silent scenes, including one where the barber is wearing the tramps’ coat and bowler hat and carrying his cane, the barber speaks throughout the film (using Chaplin’s own British accent), including the passionate plea for peace that has been widely interpreted as Chaplin speaking as himself.

Two films Chaplin made in 1915, The Tramp and The Bank, created the characteristics of his screen persona. While in the end the Tramp manages to shake off his disappointment and resume his carefree ways, the pathos lies in The Tramp having a hope for a more permanent transformation through love, and his failure to achieve this.

Charlie Chaplin Complete Film List A Dog's Life - April 14, 1918 Shoulder Arms - October 20, 1918 The Bond - December 16, 1918 Sunnyside - June 15, 1919 A Day's Pleasure - December 15, 1919 Other English Titles: The Kid - February 6, 1921 The Idle Class - September 25, 1921 Other English Titles: Pay Day - April 2, 1922 The Pilgrim - February 26, 1923 United Artist Films - 1924 - 1952 All Films Directed by Charles Chaplin The Gold Rush - June 21, 1925 The Circus - January 6, 1928 City Lights - January 30, 1931 Modern Times - February 5, 1936 The Great Dictator - October 15, 1940 The Gold Rush - 1942 (re-release) (Chaplin replaced title slides with comments) Monsieur Verdoux - April 

11, 1947 Limelight - October 23, 1952 All Films Directed by Charles Chaplin A King in New York September 12, 1957 Last film Charles Chaplin starred in A Countess From Hong Kong January 2, 1967 Triple Trouble August 11, 1918 (Created from out-takes from Chaplin film work at Essanay.

Chaplin did sue to stop release, but lost) Chase Me Charlie (Created from out-takes by Essanay. Not an official Chaplin film.) The Chaplin Revue - 1959 Chaplin First National Collection (Three films including scenes from 'How to Make Movies' with Chaplin as himself in and out of make-up) Films Chaplin Appeared 1915 - Essanay Broncho Billy film How to Make Movies (Never released - available Chaplin DVD Collection ) The Nut City Lights Movie Review & Film Summary (1931) | Roger Ebert Tweet If only one of Charles Chaplin's films could be preserved, “City Lights” (1931) would come the closest to representing all the different notes of his genius. It contains the slapstick, the pathos, the pantomime, the effortless physical coordination, the melodrama, the bawdiness, the grace, and, of course, the Little Tramp--the character said, at one time, to be the most famous image on earth.

Advertisement When he made it, three years into the era of sound, Chaplin must have known that “City Lights” might be his last silent film; he considered making a talkie, but decided against it, and although the film has a full musical score (composed by Chaplin) and sound effects, it has no speech. Audiences at the time would have appreciated his opening in-joke; the film begins with political speeches, but what emerges from the mouths of the speakers are unintelligible squawks--Chaplin's dig at dialogue. When he made “ Modern Times ” five years later, Chaplin allowed speech onto the soundtrack, but once again the Tramp remained silent except for some gibberish. There was perfect logic here: Speech was not how the Tramp really expressed himself. In most silent films there's the illusion that the characters are speaking, even though we can't hear them. Buster Keaton's characters, for example, are clearly talkative. But the Tramp is more of a mime, a person for whom body language serves as speech.

He exists somehow on a different plane than the other characters; he stands outside their lives and realities, is judged on his appearance, is homeless and without true friends or family, and interacts with the world mostly through his actions. Although he can sometimes be seen to speak, he doesn't need to; unlike most of the characters in silent films, he could have existed comfortably in a silent world. In “Modern Times,” as Walter Kerr points out in his invaluable book The Silent Clowns, the Tramp is constantly trying to get back into jail, where he feels safe and secure. His most frequent refuge is a paddy wagon. In “City Lights,” his only friendships are with people who don't or can't see him: with a drunken millionaire who doesn't recognize him when he sobers up, and with a blind flower girl. His shabby appearance sets him apart and cues people to avoid and stereotype him; a tramp is not ... one of us. Unlike the Keaton characters, who have jobs and participate eagerly in society, the Tramp is an outcast, an onlooker, a loner.

Advertisement That's what makes his relationship with the flower girl ( Virginia Cherrill ) so poignant; does she accept and treasure him only because she can't see what he looks like? (Her grandmother, who would no doubt warn her away from him, is never at home when the Tramp calls.) The last scene of “City Lights” is justly famous as one of the great emotional moments in the movies; the girl, whose sight has been restored by an operation paid for by the Tramp, now sees him as a bum--but smiles at him anyway, and gives him a rose and some money, and then, touching his hands, recognizes them. “You?” she asks on the title card. He nods, tries to smile, and asks, “You can see now?” “Yes,” she says, “I can see now.” She sees, and yet still smiles at him, and accepts him. The Tramp guessed correctly: She has a good heart, and is able to accept him as himself. Chaplin and the other silent filmmakers knew no national boundaries. Their films went everywhere without regard for language, and talkies were like the Tower of Babel, building walls between nations.

I witnessed the universality of Chaplin's art in one of my most treasured experiences as a moviegoer, in 1972, in Venice, where all of Chaplin's films were shown at the film festival. One night the Piazza San Marco was darkened, and “City Lights” was shown on a vast screen. When the flower girl recognized the Tramp, I heard much snuffling and blowing of noses around me; there wasn't a dry eye in the piazza. Then complete darkness fell, and a spotlight singled out a balcony overlooking the square. Charlie Chaplin walked forward, and bowed. I have seldom heard such cheering. Advertisement He had by then for many decades been hailed as one of the screen's great creators. In “City Lights” we can see the invention and humanity that coexist in his films. The movie contains some of Chaplin's great comic sequences, including the famous prize fight in which the Tramp uses his nimble footwork to always keep the referee between himself and his opponent. There's the opening scene, where a statue is unveiled to find the Tramp asleep in the lap of a heroic Greco-Roman stone figure.

(Trying to climb down, he gets his pants hooked through the statue's sword, and tries to stand at attention during “The Star-Spangled Banner” although his feet can't find a footing.) There's the sequence where he tries to save the millionaire from drowning, and ends up with the rock tied to his own neck; the scene where he swallows a whistle and gathers a following of dogs; the scene where the millionaire and the Tramp encounter burglars; the scene in the nightclub where Charlie sees Apache dancers and defends the woman dancer against her partner. And there are the bawdy moments, as when the Tramp, working as a street-sweeper, avoids a parade of horses only to encounter a parade of elephants; and when the millionaire pours bottles of champagne down the Tramp's pants. Advertisement Chaplin was a master of the small touch, the delayed reaction. Consider the moment when he goes to the blind girl's house to give her the money for an eye operation. He has prudently stashed $100 in his pocket for his own needs, but after she kisses his hand he shrugs, reaches in his pocket, and gives her the final bill.

Chaplin and Keaton are the giants of silent comedy, and in recent years the pendulum of fashion has swung between them. Chaplin ruled supreme for years, but by the 1960s he looked dated and sentimental to some viewers, and Keaton seemed fresher and more contemporary. In the polls taken every 10 years by Sight & Sound, the British film magazine, Chaplin placed high in 1952 and was gone by 1962; Keaton placed high in 1972 and 1982, and Chaplin replaced him again in 1992. The only thing such polls prove for sure is that a lot of film lovers think the work of both men belongs on a list of the 10 greatest films ever made. Both filmmakers based their work on their fictional personalities, but took opposite approaches. Keaton plays a different character every time; Chaplin usually plays a version of the Tramp.

Keaton's characters desire acceptance, recognition, romance and stature in the real world, and try to adapt to conditions; Chaplin's characters are perpetual outsiders who rigidly repeat the same strategies and reactions (often the gags come from how inappropriately the Tramp behaves). Keaton's movements are smooth and effortless; Chaplin's odd little lopsided gait looks almost arthritic. They appeared together only once, in Chaplin's “ Limelight ” (1952). Keaton steals the scene--but, as Kerr observes, Chaplin, who could have re-edited it to give himself the upper hand, was content to let Keaton prevail. Advertisement There was a time when Chaplin was hailed as the greatest popular artist of the 20th century, and his films were known to everyone. Today, how many people watch them? Are they shown in schools? I think not. On TV? Not very often. Silent film, the medium that gave Chaplin his canvas, has now robbed him of his mass audience. His films will live forever, but only for those who seek them out. Having just viewed “City Lights” and “Modern Times” again, I am still under their spell.

Chaplin's gift was truly magical. And silent films themselves create a reverie state; there is no dialogue, no obtrusive super-realism, to interrupt the flow. They stay with you. They are not just a work, but a place. Most of Chaplin's films are available on video. Children who see them at a certain age don't notice they're “silent” but notice only that every frame speaks clearly to them, without all those mysterious words that clutter other films. Then children grow up, and forget this wisdom, but the films wait patiently and are willing to teach us again. Advertisement

Question: What was the last silent film in which Chaplin's little tramp appeared?
Answer: Modern Times