Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin: Raving Lunatic, Communist Threat, or American Icon?

In this essay, I want to prove that Charlie Chaplin played an important role in the early development of comedy in films. Many people did not fully understand Charlie Chaplin for what he truly was, a genius. "Chaplin has been a man of position so long that it is difficult to think of him as an apprentice struggling to make his way. Yet up to the time of his success, when he was about twenty five, his life was anything but easy." (Jacobs 227) We always think of Charlie Chaplin as this huge American icon and never think of him as the struggling actor. "To have such far reaching influence, a man must be extraordinary. Yet when we view him with his doleful countenance and foolish mustache, his ill fitting derby, his absurd shoes, his gentleman's cane, his ineffectual gait, we see a child; a child playing grown-up." (Jacobs 227) His childhood shows that he started as an almost normal boy.

Chaplin was born into a dysfunctional family, but that dysfunction in his life created the genius we all remember today. His father was an alcoholic and this probably created his mother's mental instability. "Charlie Chaplin was born on April 15, 1889 to a pair of obscure performers, Charles Chaplin and Hannah Hill. At a very young age Charlie could sing and dance and he dreamed of becoming a star. At the age of five, Charlie sang in London when his mother had fallen ill and hoarse. The crowd loved him. This set Charlie's determination to become a star." (Hale 1) Charlie at this point wanted to escape the life of his parents. "When Charlie was twelve, his father died of alcoholism. After this, Charlie's mother's mental health declined rapidly and she was in and out of mental hospitals. Charlie and his brother, Sydney, were left at a charity home." (Hale 1)

Even without a formal academic education, Charlie Chaplin made an unforgettable mark on the pages of American history through the training he received from his mother after being apprenticed to her. "Chaplin attended two years of school at Hern Boy's College. This was the only formal education that he ever received. Charlie was at school when his mother suffered a mental breakdown and was taken away to an institution." (Hale 1) "When Mrs. Chaplin recovered from her illness, Sydney became a sailor. Charlie was apprenticed to his mother. He was first truly noticed in Jim, the Romance of Cocaine. (Jacobs 227) His career is now on its way to huge success.

Chaplin still held his dreams of fame close although he was at an awkward age for an actor. Seventeen was a middle ground in an actor's life. He was determined to make something of himself. "At seventeen, after completing Sherlock Holmes, he realized too old for boy parts, but also too young for men parts. Because of this he returned to slapstick variety shows. The show he joined would influence his later films, some with little or no change." (Jacobs 228) Joining this traveling show would eventually lead him to be recruited for films. "At the age of twenty one, Charlie was touring the United States. In A Night in the Music Hall, he was noticed by Adam Kessel for his potential for movies and was sent to the Keystone Company, Sennett's unit in 1913. At first he did not want to give up stage performance, because it was thought foolish to endeavor in such things at that time. But it came with a raise in pay so he took the job." (Jacobs 228) Now it shows that Chaplin was a struggling actor and that he still had to make ends meet.

At this point in Chaplin's life, things seemed pretty bleak. He arrived in California and was totally disgusted with what he was asked to do. He was not treated well, but soon was accepted because he was, in essence, a good actor. "Charlie arrived in California, expecting to be acting in romances and dramas as a modern day Romeo. He was then told that his first film was to be a man with limp and a backache, trying to carry a trunk and balance a scuttle of coal on his head while trying to climb a greasy stepladder. He refused to act at first, but finally agreed he would try once. He was told that the film was a scream." (Jacobs 228-229) He was certainly surprised when acting in comedy, he was actually quite talented. "Charlie was subjected to practical jokes from Sennett's other comedians, because of jealousy, but after a while he gained their admiration because of his falling technique. Soon after starting for Keystone, Charlie was an unwanted actor because he would not change his acting technique. Chaplin finally convinced Sennett to let him act his own way. Chaplin took the image of Max Linder, a French comedian, who was a dandy, and burlesqued it with a cane, oversized shoes, and the derby. (Jacobs 229-230) Chaplin's image was now made and he had to now develop it.

Chaplin was appearing in a great many films, but it was not truly his style and he was feeling overwhelmed. "During his year at Keystone Chaplin appeared in a great many pictures, most of them being one reelers, several two reels long and one, Tillie's Punctured Romance, one of the first feature comedies, five reels long." (Jacobs 230) The first films of Charlie's were not even near his best because his talents were not being used. "Chaplin's individual pantomime and subtlety were sacrificed for pace and action. These elements Chaplin was to later to incorporate in his own films, but he adapted them to his personality and individual style." (Jacobs 231) He was now gaining the experience he needed to make his own films

Charlie's fame started to grow along with all the opportunities that accompany fame. His life-long dream is being realized and it happened so fast that he hardly realized. He is also leaving Keystone to join another Company that will give him more creative freedom to really do his best in what he did best, making movies. "While at Keystone, people started to ask about the little man with the funny walk. By the end of his first year in pictures, newspapers raved; "The Chaplin crazed seems to have supplanted the Pickford craze." And "Charlie Chaplin stands today as one of the biggest drawing cards in the films. In many cases the Chaplin comedies are renting for bigger prices than feature films of twice there length." He was the most talked about person in the United States before he could even notice." (Jacobs 231) Chaplin is rapidly gaining fame from his movies at Keystone, but sees that he can gain more by joining another company. "Charlie Chaplin leaves Keystone Company and joins Essanay as his