Pics: Charlie Chaplin's¹ Comedic Cavalcade & Lovecraft.
1 & 2. "The Tramp"² himself!
But, what happened to his mustache?!
Sacre blu!!
3 thru 6. Some of the biographical materials out there...
7. A scene from "The Kid"³ (1921), Chaplin's 1st full length movie (as a director) & a huge, smash hit.
1915: HPL Output.
Title: "To Charlie of the Comics."
Intro: < Charley Brady on the website silentcinema.com
The 20th century's most gifted horror writer was a strange Gent from Providence, R.I. - H.P. Lovecraft.
Stephen King⁴ once said that "all horror writers walk under Howard's immense shadow."
In cold & clammy fact, HPL single- handedly dragged Gothic horror⁵ into a brighter - but, still doomed - future!!
Lovecraft's best stories all partake of cosmic horror⁶ themes.
Expanding that genre with demonic gods, magical tomes, crazy cultists & maddened, good for nothing - but, smart - 'hero victims', etc!
So much did Howard contribute that a large part of this genre is now classed under his name - Lovecraftian Horror!⁷
This next, comedic poem is all about HPL's enjoyment of Charlie Chaplin's comedic stylings as the "Tramp."
Not what 1 would imagine the prim & proper Howard doing in a dark movie theater!
Lovecraft, we're told, supposedly had nothing but disdain for the silent film scene.
But, did he?!!
Really?!
If so, this was 1 'hatred' that didn't last long in him...
Because, Howard thoroughly enjoyed Chaplin's works & many other weird films!!⁸
HPL actually compared Charlie's best acting roles to those of the great actor - Douglas Fairbanks!⁹
Then, in 1915, Lovecraft composed a comedic fan poem honoring the man who brought so much levity into this own life...
Text:
You trip & tumble over the sheet¹⁰ That holds your life-like image.
You shuffle your (large) feet Thru love scene, chase or scrimmage.¹¹
As gazing on each comic act I stare at your perfection
I find it hard to face the fact that you're a mere projection.
I've seen you as an artist rare, With brush & paint smeared palette;¹²
I've seen you fan the empty air With ill intentioned mallet.
I've watched you woo a winsome fay¹³ (You a dream to her must be),
But never have caught you in a play Without that cane & derby!¹⁴
Dear lad, I trust your happiness May be like that you give us,
And since ripe years the mirthful bless,¹⁵ That you may long outlive us.
May you the smiles of Fortune¹⁶ see, Nor know what want of cash is;
And may your times of trouble be As short as your mustaches!
I'd like to meet you, Charles, old chap, Though vast the space dividing;
Yet I must merely sit & clap At your fantastic gliding.
But though you're far away, we know, You still have power to rouse us:
Your films can pack a picture show That's roomy as your trousers!
Footnotes:
1. Charles Spencer Chaplin was an English actor, filmmaker & composer who rose to stardom during the silent movie era.
He became a worldwide idol, a co- founder of United Artists & is now considered a film industry legend.
Chaplin's career spanned 75+ years of adulation & controversy...
All the way from the Victorian Age til 1976!
Strangely enough, just like Howard, Chaplin's mom was institutionalized - several times! - in a mental asylum...
2. The Tramp persona was created for the 1914 movie "Mabel's Strange Predicament."
Chaplin chose his character's look as being all contradictions: baggy pants, tight coat, small hat & large shoes.
As a final touch, he added a small mustache - which wouldn't hide the actor's facial expressions!
And so, the Tramp was born...
3. "The Kid" was the 2nd highest grossing film of 1921 & is now rightly considered 1 of the greatest movies of the whole silent era.
In 2011, the National Film Registry selected "The Kid" for preservation as a cinema treasure!
Its basic plot is of the Tramp finding a baby in an alley!
After not being able to give the baby away, he decides to raise it.
5 years later, the baby's mom (now rich) offers a $1,000 reward for his safe return.
After some misunderstandings & chases, the kid ends up reunited with his mom.
And, at the end of a particularly weird nightmare, the Tramp is reunited with 'his' kid.
4. Do I really have to tell you who Stephen King is?
Sigh.
King is a life-long resident of Maine who's now the world's greatest horror (among other genres) writer.
Unable to find a teacher's job, he 1st worked in an industrial laundry.
King's 1st short story, "The Glass Floor" sold in 1967.
In 1971, he finally started teaching high school English at the Hampden Academy.
2 years later, King got a major paper- back sale for his novel "Carrie", mean- ing that he could now afford to write full-time.
"Salem's Lot", "The Shining", "The Stand", "The Dead Zone", etc soon followed...
Strangely enough, King doesn't plan out his tales.
He prefers to work with an idea, adding to it as he's inspired...
His latest collection of short stories is You Like it Darker (2024), which includes "Rattlesnakes", a 'sequel' to his own "Cujo!"
5. Gothic fiction is a literary genre of haunting fears.
The name refers to the architecture of the tales' settings: monasteries, con- vents, castles, cemeteries & crypts.
Its themes create environments of fear, supernatural threats & physical reminders of a 'better' past!
Gothic stories wallow in plot elements such as murder, vengeful persecution & claustrophobic imprisonment.
The horrible events in these works serve as expressions of psychological or social conflicts.
But, from all the dungeons & forests primeval, there emerged the Female Gothic tale.
This subgenre focuses on introducing women's societal roles & sexualized desires into Gothic romances.
The main theme here, is that of a persecuted woman - with a villain for a father - who's seeking her real mom.
They fight against males who break all social taboos.
A sort of critique on masculine power, family violence & sexual predators.
Luckily, the naive female victim soon evolved into a more assertive heroine.
Shakespeare influenced early Gothic writers, with his plots on murder, omens, witchcraft, ghosts & revenge.
Written dramatically & set in medieval castles, his many plays were quoted in an effort to legitimize Gothic tales as serious literature.
John Milton & Alexander Pope (whose poetic style HPL copied) are also seen as influences to the Gothic genre.
Also, the Graveyards Poets, Edmund Spenser & Daniel Defoe had earlier popularized the dreary & sorrowful mood that accompanied corpses, skeletons & churchyards.
All that was needed, to make a true Gothic tale, was a philosophical core to tie everything together.
An emotional aesthetic...
This was finally provided by another Edmund - Burke this time.
His 1757 ideas on Terror, Obscurity & the Sublime showed they could be used to produce the strongest emotion that the mind is capable of - a mostly suspected fear...
And the Gothic novel was born.
6. Cosmic horror is a subgenre of horror fiction & the weird tale.
Originally, it covered the dread of alien invaders or the exploration of strange planets.
But, HPL refined this eldritch genre by emphasizing a horror of the unknown- able & incomprehensible, more than any gore or shock.
This cosmic dread is born of for- bidden (& dangerous) knowledge, madness, non-human (& multi- dimensional) beings - who are totally indifferent to man's needs, hideous fates & the ugly side-effects of weird scientific discoveries.
In his honor, this kind of cosmic horror is now named after Lovecraft.
As is usually the case, few people truly understood what Howard had really accomplished - back then.
Luckily, HPL's friends kept his works going.
Not just publishing his Mythos tales but, adding to them.
True, they made some weird decisions along the way - but, Lovecraft is better known nowadays.
And, what an influence his cosmicism has had!
Howard's stories can now be found in many other media: horror films, RPGs, comicbooks, etc!!
If only he could have known...
7. See note number 6.
8. HPL tried to see The ("fantastic") Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1921) but, he was never able to track it down.
Yet, he did see 1925's "The Phantom of the Opera", which he 1st thought was boring!
But, when the 2nd part came on, Lovecraft "could not (be) made drowsy by all the opiates under heaven!!"
He was especially taken by the Phantom's 'face' - &, "the nameless legion of things that... appeared be- side & behind (the Phantom) when the crowd chased him into the river at last!"
9. Douglas Elton 'Fairbanks Senior was an American actor & filmmaker best known for his swashbuckling roles.
He was a huge star during the silent movie era & was called "The King of Hollywood!"
Douglas even got to host the 1st Academy Awards show in 1929.
Though a comedian at 1st, his best films were all in the adventure genre: "The Mark of Zorro", "Robin Hood" & "The Thief of Bagdad."
Sadly, Douglas' career soon declined with the arrival of the "talkies."
So, he retired from acting but, kept himself involved in the movie industry & at United Artists.
10. The sheet mentioned here must have been an early type of screen or other material used to display films on.
11. I believe Howard means "a con- fused fight" or "struggle" here.
Not, the football placement...
Heh.
12. The small, thin board upon which artists place & mix their colors.
Pallette's meaning has expanded to include "a range of figurative colors."
Figurative, here, describes colors thru metaphors.
Like "beet root" being "the color of someone who's embarrassed."
13. "Woo a winsome fay" is to "try to gain the love of an attractive fairy or elf!"
And so, an "unpredictable" & "unreal" woman, since she's actually an evil sea elf type.
14. A derby is American for an English bowler hat.
This means that it is a hard felt hat with a rounded top.
These bowlers were created by London hat-makers, Thomas & William Bowler in 1849.
Strangely enough, it was known as "the hat that won the American West!"
The reason being that bowlers didn't blow off easily in windy conditions.
Both lawmen & outlaws wore it.
In fact, one Marion Hedgepeth was better known as "the Derby Kid!"
15. In this case, I'd say "ripe years the mirthful bless" equals "very old folk by the cheerful/funny are blessed."
16. "The smiles of Fortune", here, is a way of wishing Chaplin "good luck."
HPL should really have known better.
Fortune is the modern version of the Roman Fortuna, a very fickle goddess who dispensed good & ill fortunes.
To people & whole cities as well...
So, it's not surprising that - as Atrox Fortuna - she's also the goddess of all fates!!
But, there's also the Parcae (Decuma, Nona & Morta), goddesses of fate who were originally controllers of childbirth!
End.