'Master of Masters' Little Things about a Great Man

The more I learn about Charlie Chaplin, the more I want to know about him. Roy Export SAS is the owner of the Chaplin films made from 1918 onwards, and all the copyrights, rights, images, documents, writings and archives relating to those films and to Mr Chaplin’s life and work in general.

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Limelight (1952)

“The genius of Chaplin is like an iceberg - you only see what’s above water, but you sense the depths. Humour above the water, tragedy below.“

 John Barrymore (Los Angeles Times, June 21,1925)

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Claire Bloom and Charlie Chaplin as Terri and Calvero in Limelight (1952)

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Limelight (1952)

Hands/fingers appreciation post.

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Charlie Chaplin in 1969. Charlie spent some time in London exploring ways to capture scenes of a strange bird in flight.

The film, titled "The Freak," is a fantasy about "a beautiful creature with wings... a bird with a human body."

Charlie Chaplin wrote about an otherworldly being named Sarapha who has the power to cure disease and bring peace to the world.

"Pierre Smolik guides us through the process of preparing this project to which the “master of masters”, as Renoir called him, devoted his last years, and whose beauty lies in its incompletion. Chaplin left the film nearly ready for shooting, since everything is there: script, preparatory notes, development, music, drawings and even some filmed rehearsals that constitute the last production by this giant of the cinema.

These heretofore unpublished documents pull the reader into a universe that blends aspects of the fantastic tale, dreams, poetry, myth and tragedy—a universe where humour is not left out: “Offering an egg to a bird—how very tactless!”

It was during a meal in the 1960s that Chaplin told his family the story of a strange creature—a bird woman who falls, injured, onto the roof of a professor-writer’s house in a remote area of the Tierra del Fuego. Who is she? An angel? A monster? A chimera? The best choice is to let our imagination survey the possibilities.

A testament film that illuminates all of Chaplin’s work, The Freak would have been, among other things, a playful satire on the almighty power of money and commerce, on the influence of advertising and the rise of religious fanaticism and its media exploitation.

The work of a free man, The Freak proves Chaplin — again and as always— to be a creator ahead of his time."

Source :

The Freak - Chaplin's Last Film (English edition) - CALL ME EDOUARD

The Freak - Chaplin's Last Film (English edition) published by CALL ME EDOUARD

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Remembering Edna Purviance, Charlie Chaplin’s most enduring leading lady, appearing in approx.. 34 of his films from 1915-1923, born 130 years ago today - October 21st 1895.

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Edna Purviance as Carmen and Charles Chaplin as Darn Hosiery in Carmen (also known as Charlie Chaplin’s Burlesque on Carmen and A Burlesque on Carmen)

Chaplin’s original version was a tightly paced two-reeler, but in 1916 after Chaplin had moved to Mutual, Essanay reworked the film into a four-reel version called A Burlesque on Carmen, or Burlesque on ‘Carmen’, adding discarded footage and new scenes involving a subplot about a gypsy character played by Ben Turpin. This longer version was deeply flawed in pacing and continuity, not representative of Chaplin’s initial conception. Chaplin sued Essanay but failed to stop the distribution of the longer version; Essanay’s tampering with this and other of his films contributed significantly to Chaplin’s bitterness about his time there. [x]

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Charlie & Edna in various sweet moments (except possibly Carmen, but even that is sweet considering the end….)

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A love letter from Charlie Chaplin to Edna Purviance dated March 1, 1915. It remains in Chaplin’s archives so may not have been sent:

“My Own Darling Edna, My heart throbbed this morning when I received your sweet letter. It could be nobody else in the world that could have given me so much joy. Your language, your sweet thoughts and the style of your love note only tends to make me crazy over you. I can picture your darling self sitting down and looking up wondering what to say, that little pert mouth and those bewitching eyes so thoughtful. If I only had the power to express my sentiments I would be afraid you’d get vain. Well little girl I hate to stop this outburst of divine emotion but you are the cause of my being the happiest person in the world – Charles.”

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Charles Chaplin & Edna Purviance in Behind the screen (1916)

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The Freak: script of Charlie Chaplin’s unfinished final film to be published

Exclusive: Fantasy about ‘a beautiful creature with wings’ has been compiled from drafts, storyboards and sketches

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Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom and Sydney Chaplin in Limelight (1952)

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“Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference."  Monsieur Verdoux

Charlie Chaplin ~ 16 April 1889 - remembered always

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Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, KBE - 16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977

“The world is not composed of heroes and villains, but of men and women with all the passions that God has given them. The ignorant contemn, but the wise pity.”

Charles Chaplin, prefatory title to A Woman of Paris, 1923

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“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world; not even our troubles.”

April 16, 1889 | 130 years ago Charlie Chaplin was born.

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(l-r) ‘The Fireman” 1916, “The Rink” 1916, “The Count” 1916, “The Adventurer” 1917, “Mabel’s Busy Day” 1914 & “Dough and Dynamite” 1914.

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Remembering Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin on his birthday.

April 16th 1889 — December 25th 1977

“Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.”

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“After my blog was cloned a few weeks ago, I filed numerous DMCA notices with @Blogger, all were rejected. Now the thief who stole my blog has filed DMCAs against ME & they were accepted! 100s of pages of my blog have been removed, based on lies. @Blogger sides with criminals.”

If anyone has a twitter account please support Discovering Chaplin with likes or replies in case google and blogger correct their error and she be able to get her site back because she honestly has done some very important work at giving information about Charlie Chaplin.

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Charlie Chaplin photographed by George Hoyningen-Huene, 1932.