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Post by nondescript spice on Mar 9, 2014 18:50:18 GMT -5
come ON!
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Post by nondescript spice on Mar 9, 2014 18:50:51 GMT -5
i found a cool quote from geraldine chaplin, chaplin's oldest daughter, about robert downey jr. on his role as her father in the 1992 movie, chaplin: "I have to tell you: I had never, ever dreamed that anybody could convince me that they were Daddy. But that young man was Daddy. I don’t think that any actor could do what Robert did. It was as if my father came down from Heaven and inhabited him and possessed him for the length of the movie. He is so gorgeous, which is appropriate because my father was a beautiful man too. He’s heartbreaking and he has my father’s sense of melancholy. The first time I met him as the Little Tramp I hugged him and he hugged me, and there I was with my father as a young man in my arms.” how cool that must have been - for them both. some of chaplin's other kids said the same thing about the resemblance and similar qualities RDJ had of their father during the film. they said it was almost eerie. honestly, i didn't see it as much when RDJ played chaplin as an old man. but as a younger man and especially as the tramp, no one else could have come as close as he did. he was so good at it that anytime a clip of one of chaplin's films was shown in the film, they didn't bother to re-shoot it with RDJ - it was the actual film. considering what a genius chaplin was at mimicking others, that's saying a lot for RDJ.
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Post by nondescript spice on Apr 16, 2014 9:55:09 GMT -5
HAPPY 125TH BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE CHAPLIN!i knew his birthday was coming up, so i watched the schickel doc and a few mutual shorts last saturday night. i might watch a couple more tonight, since TCM isn't showing ANY chaplin today on their schedule. i'm really pissed at TCM. they haven't acknowledged that chaplin's early films are now 100 years old, and they're completely ignoring his birthday. when i first became a fan, they would show a few shorts and usually a feature film of his during primetime. the last several years they might show a short or a feature, but they do it at like, six in the morning. now, nothing. i'm cool, since i have most everything chaplin ever did (the only thing i don't have is countess). but what about the rest of the world? i became a fan of the tramp because of TCM. if it weren't for them, i would be living a chaplin-free life, and i can't even imagine that. ^have no idea if that is for real or not. chaplin always said his birthday was on the 16th and this says it was the 15th. but there was no birth certificate to go by.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jun 17, 2014 15:49:59 GMT -5
chaplin and oona on their wedding day. she was 18 and he was 54. chaplin and oona - i'm guessing that was on the set of limelight. chaplin and oona - in the 60's sometime, looks like on a cruise - could be the set of a countess from hong kong. chaplin and oona - mostly where they hang out now.
yesterday was their 71st wedding anniversary - june 16, 1943.
the following is what chaplin wrote about oona in his autobiography. i've always thought it was so moving -
“Schopenhauer said happiness is a negative state- but I disagree. For the last twenty years I have known what happiness means. I have the good fortune to be married to a wonderful wife. I wish I could write more about this, but it involves perfect love and perfect love is the most beautiful of all frustration because it is more than one can express. As I live with Oona, the depth and beauty of her character are a continual revelation to me. Even as she walks ahead of me along the narrow sidewalks of Vevey with simple dignity, her neat little figure straight, her dark hair smoothed back showing a few silver threads, a sudden wave of love and admiration comes over me for all that she is – and a lump comes into my throat.”
i'm sure more than a few people expected them to fall apart after their marriage. but they ended up having one of those amazing relationships that most people only dream about.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jul 29, 2014 11:02:34 GMT -5
TCM has been pissing me off over the last few years for mostly ignoring chaplin on his birthday. they might show a short or two, maybe a feature, but it's usually at some ungodly hour, like five or six in the morning. since i have just about everything he did it's no big deal to me, but it's important to keep him - as well as buster and harold - in the rotation to keep them in the present for new fans to enjoy. if anything, chaplin's films are now turning 100 years old and that is definitely something to show off, especially since they have been beautifully restored. at any rate, TCM has decided to run chaplin's films from 6 a.m. to 4:15 a.m. on thursday, august 15th & 16th. here's a schedule: www.tcm.com/schedule/index.html?tz=est&sdate=2014-08-14what i'm really excited about is apparently there is a new doc about chaplin that will be featured, the birth of the tramp, to run at 8 p.m. and again at 11:30 p.m. definitely checking that out. they will also throw in a few other docs, one just 30 minutes long that i have seen before that focus on specific movies - chaplin today: the gold rush, at 1:15 p.m.. if you've never seen the great dictator (1940), i highly recommend it, and prior to it at 4:45, an hour long doc made in '02 called the tramp and the dictator will come on, showcasing the differences and similarities between hitler and chaplin. it's been a few years since i've last seen it and remember it as being very interesting.
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Post by nondescript spice on Aug 18, 2014 16:38:34 GMT -5
i really enjoyed the marathon. in a crazy coincidence, i just happened to be feeling under the weather that day, so i stayed home from work. i spent the day in my jammies, watching a few shorts - shoulder arms, a dog's life, the idle class. i watched the kid and part of the great dictator. it was cool to see the tramp and the dictator doc again, as well as the chaplin today on the gold rush. it was like seeing old friends. it's crazy, since like i said, i have everything they showed. but i liked watching it all knowing other chaplin fans were probably tuning in as well, and maybe a new fan or two was born after catching some of chaplin's work by chance. it was great to see the new doc, the birth of the tramp. i didn't learn anything new, but it was put together very well and concentrated on my favorite part of his career, the early years.
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Post by nondescript spice on Aug 19, 2014 13:26:09 GMT -5
^one of my favorite moments from the fireman, in 1916. it's different when you see it in the actual short - the whole story moves pretty fast, so it's just part of his constant motion, but it always kind of amazes me - how liquid he could be in his movements.
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Post by nondescript spice on Aug 27, 2014 9:39:32 GMT -5
the tramp, acting like a rock star, 1914 style, in the masquerader. the masquerader was a keystone short released 100 years ago today. this short features fatty arbuckle and mabel normand. the cool thing about the masquerader is that you see chaplin in three forms - he comes to a movie studio in street clothes, looking like charlie chaplin. in the dressing room he transforms into the tramp, despite his run ins with arbuckle. after he screws up his part in a film, he is fired. then he comes back in drag - chaplin always looked so fetching as a woman - and is chased around by an over amorous director. my favorite moment in the short is when chaplin, as a woman, takes a quick drag of a cigarette while the director isn't looking. chaplin had such a talent for making the most ordinary acts look so comical.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 5, 2015 2:54:53 GMT -5
Thought I’d give Groupie a break from her Chaplin thread and make a post myself. I spent pretty much the last week of the year watching Chaplin’s feature films on Hulu. Seemed fitting that I started the year making my way through the filmography of Buster Keaton that I end it with another iconic silent film star. And as far as silent film stars go, Chaplin’s at the top of the list. The silent films I had seen before (well…most of them), but outside of The Great Dictator, the talkies were entirely new to me. So it seemed like a worthwhile venture. The Kid – First time I watched Chaplin’s silent features I singled this one out as my favorite. I’m a sucker for a story told through emotion with a sentimental happy ending. Chaplin’s scenes with his adopted Tramp Jr. are a joy and as the film goes on it grows heartbreaking before bouncing back with tears of joy. Amazing film. A Woman of Paris – Can’t speak fully on this one because every time I try to watch it I get interrupted. The first time I saw it was earlier this year when it was on TCM, but I was in the hospital at the time (nothing serious, overnight tests) and it had to be lights out after a half an hour into it. I was disappointed I wasn’t able to finish it and I welcomed giving it a second shot, but sure enough I got interrupted with company this time, and while I was able to catch twenty minutes of the beginning and about five minutes of the ending with scattered moments in between I didn’t really get the gist of what was going on. Rather than start the movie all over again (maybe in January) I decided to move on. The Gold Rush – Had only seen this once before and thought it was a lesser movie at the time. Re-watching it now I remember why, with the exception of the Tramp just about every character in this movie is a bad person, even his love interest. Chaplin tries to humanize her by giving her some humility at the end, but if she were that cruel in the first place such remorse seems like a stretch for a character arc. But pantomime can only tell so much, and I must admit that the acting for such a change of heart is actually sublime despite some irrationality of it. The film went down better a second time, as the bitterness of the supporting characters does help the movie get from beginning to end though I can’t ignore it was a mildly unpleasant viewing the first time. Laughs are had, as the cabin fever sequences are hysterical to this day. NOTE: First time I watched the film was the 1925 silent version. This time I decided to make the experience mildly fresh by watching the 1942 re-issue with narration by Chaplin himself. The consensus is correct: We love you Chaplin but your voice does not belong in this film. It’s a cute curiosity though, feeling like a old news reel. Not worth watching a second time however. The Circus – I suppose on the surface one could say there’s nothing too special about this one. The idea of the Tramp at the circus probably could have been a short subject I suppose (after all, just about every comedian in shorts did one of those at least once). Does stretching it into 70 minutes hurt it? Not in the slightest. This one’s a comedic delight. The mirror maze is a lot of fun and the Tramp’s attempts to be a clown are beautifully done. It probably isn’t known as Chaplin’s best, but it’s a delightful romp of a comedy. And re-reading Groupie’s posts on this one made the film all the more interesting, so thank you! City Lights – When The Circus came out the writing was already on the wall, silents were on their way out. Chaplin clung onto it, preferring the expression of pantomime to dialogue and when one watches City Lights you can tell he has a point, even if the two art forms have separate virtues. City Lights might have been fine as a talkie, but as a silent it’s a masterpiece. I adore the story, and if anybody is going to argue that it could never have been better told I won’t argue. It’s enchanting and enrapturing firth down to the ending, which is well-deserved as being known as one of the best in the history of cinema. Many other classics were being made in 1931 with the modern sound technologies (two of my favorites were the pioneer monster films Dracula and Frankenstein), but City Lights holds its own among them and in some ways might just be the best film of its year. Modern Times – A (mostly) silent film made when silents were no longer being made. Chaplin most likely knew this would be his last and made it one to remember. It’s an interesting commentary on technology and the stress that comes with changing with the times, and one can’t get out of the back of your head he’s talking specifically about sound technology, his reluctance to use it, and the pressure he was feeling from others to switch to it. In City Lights Chaplin portrayed dialogue as useless gibberish as almost a sly in-joke to himself. In Modern Times just about all the futuristic pieces are quirky gizmos that mankind doesn’t really need but seems to want anyway and the people who can’t handle the change are portrayed as obsolete, yet are the most human characters of the film. My favorite moment is Chaplin being strapped up to that feeding machine, his reaction shots are hysterical. I wildly enjoyed his battle with an escalator too. Chaplin uses his first real dialogue sequences, mostly coming from the machines themselves shouting at the human beings who are mostly portrayed in pantomime, and uses this idea to usher himself into the period of sound pictures on his own terms. That alone makes this a fascinating picture, because he’s conforming to public will in a way that’s staying true to himself which is something not many artists can do. The Great Dictator – A Chaplin talkie finally made way in 1940, contrasting Buster Keaton who was eager to try the format out as early as 1929. Buster floundered in the format (but that was due to studio intervention more than anything), but Chaplin an artist of his own finds ways to make the unfamiliar work to his advantage. Even if Chaplin can’t make a film in his preferred style we can always count on him to make a film that’s interesting. It takes balls of steel to take a real life situation where genocide was taking place and turn it into a comedy. At times the contextual reality of what was going on at the time makes The Great Dictator a hard pill to swallow, but Chaplin’s respect for the people who were being oppressed in Germany saves the film from being insensitive. It’s a witty and sharp dig at the one man who existed that got the entire world to hate him, and given Chaplin’s longtime image of sporting the exact same moustache his entire career one could say he was the exactly the right person to parody him. However I will say I will have a bigger soft spot for Moe Howard’s Hitler parody in the classic Three Stooges short You Nazty Spy simply because Moe’s harsher established on-screen persona worked better as a dictator-type character (and the moustache looked damn good on him too). Monsieur Verdoux – I love a good black comedy. From Arsenic and Old Lace to Bride of Chucky they sometimes get a better laugh out of me than a regular comedy. First time I heard of this movie and read Chaplin’s name attached to it, I raised an eyebrow and smiled. Oddly enough I wasn’t surprised, as I’m sure flexing his muscles in a more risky direction was very appealing and possibly quite amusing to him. Chaplin’s turn at a black comedy is excellently made if a bit lengthy. I like the quirky incidental music that tells us “Now, on the lighter side of murder…” I’d call it one of Chaplin’s lesser films but a solid one. Scene on the boat highlights. “You don’t expect me to eat a fish that’s been eating worms, do you?” Limelight[/i] – Of all the features I hadn’t seen I think this one was the one I was looking forward to most (though I admit Monsieur Verdoux had an intriguing premise). I liked the idea of the story and of course as a fan of the two silent film greats I was eager to see Chaplin and Buster Keaton share the screen, even if it was just a cameo. IT WAS THE AVENGERS OF ITS DAY I TELLS YA! It gets very melodramatic but for the most part I enjoyed it. I thought it was a wonderful tale of living with ones best years behind them. Tad overdone ending reminded me of another melodrama from the 1930s call Broadway to Hollywood, only this one was executed far less clumsily. I hope Criterion releases this one soon. I’d like to have a copy of it. A King of New York – Oh my goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood that phony Man or Woman? trailer made me laugh so damn hard. This movie gets a perfect 10 for that alone. And his mocking of Cinemascope in the same scene is brilliant. I enjoyed the rest of it as well. I thought it was a pretty funny mockery of the McCarthy hearings and Chaplin's own (sad) deportation. A pleasant surprise from late Chaplin. A Countess in Hong Kong – The conclusion of Chaplin’s unofficial “A Whatever of/in Some City” trilogy! Haven’t seen it, as it was the only film of the bunch that’s not on Hulu. Most accounts say it’s dreadful and/or mediocre though (mediocre may not be low praise, but it is for Chaplin). Not sure if I want to actively seek it out, though the DVD seems cheap enough. Maybe next year.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 5, 2015 16:21:13 GMT -5
wow, torgo! you made my day. i never really expect too many people to wander in here, though you've posted here before, i had no idea you would go on a chaplin binge! i am a sucker for the kid, too. as i've said here before, if i HAD to choose a favorite, it would be between the kid and city lights. the kid has an innocence to it, it being chaplin's first feature film, that i love. i hope you will get a chance to watch a woman of paris uninterrupted at some point, for i think it is one of his greatest films, though it didn't seem that way at the time. the sets and costumes are beautiful, the story was simple and tragic and the music was perfect for it. i watch it every year on chaplin's birthday. i'm fascinated with paris in the '20's, so i can't help but love it. i am glad you agree that the original silent version of the gold rush is the best one, otherwise we couldn't be friends anymore. you touched on something i never thought of before, in that most every other character is not really a nice person to the tramp, even his love interest. i tend to favor the cabin scenes as well. the circus? awesome. who wouldn't love seeing a guy on a tightrope, covered in monkeys?? city lights - AWESOME. 'nuff said. modern times - i love the concept of this movie more than the movie itself, i think. maybe it's because it was his last "silent" film - maybe it was because he was paired up with paulette, which shouldn't have bothered me - she was great, and i loved it when the tramp was teamed up with jackie coogan in the kid. there are so many things to love about this movie - the message itself, the funny moments - like the "nose powder" scene, the feeding machine and the iconic moment when we hear the tramp's voice for the first time. but i think it's chaplin's hair. he obviously had to dye it at that point, going gray early as he did, and it looked dyed to me. it sounds crazy, but it saddened me. i think it is something only chaplin himself would understand. every time i watch MT, i'm a little reluctant to do it, yet when it's over, i wonder why i don't watch it more often. it's weird. as far as the others - i am so glad you really enjoyed his later films, especially a king in new york. it's so funny, despite the overall weight of the witch hunt that was tearing through show business at the time it was made. chaplin's bitterness can be felt, if only slightly. comedy always came first to him and AKINY had it in spades. limelight can be a little heavy with the melodrama, but it was an important film for many reasons. it's hard to watch for it's honesty. i don't blame you for not pursuing a countess in hong kong. as i said, it would have been better if chaplin had made this when he originally wrote it, back in the '30's. it just didn't fit in the world of film anymore, sadly. i just wanted to watch it because i'm OCD and i couldn't go on not watching chaplin's complete library of films. as beautiful as sophia and marlon was in the film, it just wasn't enough. but it wasn't all bad - it meant something to me to see chaplin as an old man doing a silly cameo in his last film. and seeing his children, especially sydney, was a treat. if you ever get the opportunity, watch charlie: the life and art of charlie chaplin and/or unknown chaplin. both are excellent docs, not only on chaplin himself, but the art of silent films. and in unknown chaplin, you get to see silent gag reels, which is cool as hell.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 5, 2015 21:57:00 GMT -5
Every once in a while I get in this mood only classic comedy can cure. That's why I have a lot of box sets of old comedians (Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Marx Brothers, my beloved Stooges, ect.). Earlier this year I had purchased Kino's Ultimate Buster Keaton set and pretty much spent the first half of my year working through it and being in one hell of a good mood. (plus I punctured my eardrum around this time, so watching a silent movie was extremely appealing) I've really been wanting to collect Criterion's Chaplin releases along with it, but have been short on cash and only managed to snag a copy of City Lights which seemed like the obvious choice if I could only have one. Criterion's been releasing their Chaplin films at such a slow pace though, then I remembered Hulu had a deal with Criterion and sure enough all of the movies were there. I squeed like a school girl at a Twilight marathon and started watching.
I had also wanted to start watching Harold Lloyd, but it seems his sets are going out of print. Saw Safety Last and enjoyed it, so I'm a bit disappointed that I might not get to go very deep with him.
And I absolutely adore Paulette. Not only is she cute as hell but she's a damn good actress to. Her scenes with Chaplin in Modern Times really stood out for me, and I think I'd label her as the man's best leading lady.
And I agree King in New York was a delight. After the dark humor of Verdoux and the melodrama of Limelight it was such a kick of energetic wit and fun. It may not have a tremendous reputation but I'm glad it was made because it's damn funny and thoughtful.
I definitely intend on getting back to Woman of Paris eventually. I'm sure once I have a quiet night it will be the first thing I think of. Right now I'm doing rounds with my Laurel and Hardy discs and having a good chuckle, but Chaplin's stay on my TV was well treasured.
And I'll look into those docs. I always love hearing info on all these comedy icons. I noted Hulu has one on their sight as well so I was thinking of checking it out.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Jan 6, 2015 0:37:02 GMT -5
I just wanted to leave this post so I could see Chaplin, Keaton and Tati in a row. I grew up watching Laurel & Hardy so I have a soft spot in my heart for the two lovable innocents. I have the Harold Lloyd box set, but being double sided and a New Line Cinema release I have a baaaaad feeling some of the discs won't work. My favorite Lloyd film is Why Worry? where he"s a hypochondriac and believes he needs a vacation far south of the border on an island to get better. Of course, there's a revolution going on so he doesn't get much of a rest. I'm glad there's silent film lovers on this board, so when I mention a film like Sunrise I don't get a 'huh?' Oh, and Torgo, keep the Keaton Plus dvd if you have it. It's the only way to see the complete Hard Luck. The rights to it are owned by Lobster Films and they didn't give Kino the rights for it's blu-ray release so only the incomplete version is used on the Kino blu-ray. Hopefully Criterion will get Keaton one day like they have Chaplin, Tati and now Lloyd.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 6, 2015 1:17:45 GMT -5
I think Criterion should release The General personally. I fell in love with that film when I watched it. The Cameraman or Sherlock Jr. would be my second and third choice. But since I have decent blu-ray copy of those already, CRITERION NEEDS TO RELEASE THE KID. Or Limelight. Or King in New York. Or SOMETHING. There hasn't been a Chaplin disc since 2013.
I don't have the Keaton Plus DVD, but I'll put it on my wish list at Amazon along with Industrial Strength Keaton, which I've heard amazing things about. I've been looking at seeing more talkies for him, since I've just seen Free and Easy and his Educational and Columbia two reelers, but the reputations some of these films have is putting me off (plus I'm not sure I want to see him Jimmy Durante's foil...I like Durante, but still that idea sounds painful to me). But I'm a curious little minx when it comes to my passions, so I'll see them eventually.
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Post by nondescript spice on Jan 6, 2015 11:33:04 GMT -5
i have only come to appreciate harold lloyd in the last few years. i always knew if i really sat down and watched his films i would like him; i was just too besotted with chaplin to consider cheating on him. but hoo boy, do i love lloyd. what an amazing man he was. he didn't take it all so seriously the way chaplin did; once his audiences started dropping off he knew to get out and look to other interests. have you guys ever seen any of his photography work? just the story about the accident that made him lose a finger - and thumb? - amazes me. that would have ended most careers such as lloyd had, but it didn't even slow him down. safety last is probably what he's recognized most for - i recently watched it and it blows me away every time. i watched the freshman over the thanksgiving holiday and i have to say that is my favorite feature of lloyd's. it was broadly funny, but he had a talent for pulling at the heartstrings like chaplin did. he proved it in grandma's boy and the freshman. i talked about this either here or in my blog, but the scene in the freshman where harold finds out he isn't the big man on campus that he thought he was, that all his so-called friends had been making fun of him all along, he breaks down and sobs in front of his love interest, the lovely jobyna ralston. harold had decided to take that out of the film, thinking it was too sappy, but thankfully his granddaughter, suzanne lloyd had it put back in. it adds a depth to the story that it needed. suzanne is responsible for keeping lloyd present in film history - she has done a great deal by re-releasing his films, appearing at film festivals, TCM, etc. as far as his short films, i'd say hot water is my favorite. as i have said before, i have affection for keaton; i totally get what a genius he was in film too, but i just never got into his work the way i did chaplin, and lately, lloyd. i have tried to watch the general more than once but could never finish it. i've enjoyed some of his shorts, but i never felt that pull to invest more time into his work. one of these days i'm going to spend more time watching his shorts - the ones i've seen and the clips of ones i haven't seen all look pretty amazing. this alone gets me every time. and chicken, sunrise is one of my favorite silent films, ever.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 6, 2015 12:53:59 GMT -5
That shot is from Steamboat Bill Jr., I believe. The big hurricane scene is a showstopper, you gotta love it.
Of his shorts I think One Week is far and away his best. It's such a fun and creative Lego set of a film and I found it wildly fun to follow it at every turn. I showed a friend of mine The High Sign recently too, because One Week wasn't on Hulu (because of the briefest of shots of a woman's bare bosom I assume) and she was curious because she knew I liked him. Keaton wasn't really a fan of that one from what I gather, but if he had seen her reaction I think he would have changed her mind. At one point I thought she was choking, but it turned out she was trying (and failing) to stifle her laughter so she wouldn't wake up her boyfriend. She then got more curious of Keaton, so I told her my three Keaton must-sees were: One Week, The General, and The Cameraman (which is one of my favorite romantic comedies, next to It Happened One Night and City Lights). And if you wan't you're mind blown by flawless camera tricks, Sherlock Jr's theater scene will knock you out with it's technological achievement. But that's pretty much my Keaton starter kit, LOL.
I'd love to see more of Lloyd's work. Right now it seems Amazon only has the latter two volumes of New Line's sets of Lloyd's work in stock. I might get them eventually since I'm curious enough but a piece of me knows that if I have volumes two and three without volume one my OCD will be set on fire. He seems like he's got a fun resume and I did enjoy Safety Last a great deal.
BTW, I was going to ask you Groupie about Chaplin's short films. More specifically which run do you think is his best? I keep running through the short DVDs on Amazon and wondering which one I should target. Criterion has the ones they own on Hulu as well but they haven't released them.
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