Movies, Mom & Me

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  Commentary:  Under construction.
    Roger Ebert reviewed this movie twice, the first time in 1972 and then, again, when he christened it one of his Great Movies, the review for which is attached to the title of this post.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Charlie Chaplin	The Tramp	Virginia Cherrill	Blind Girl	Florence Lee	Blind Girl's Grandmother	Harry C. Myers	Eccentric Millionaire
  Alan Garcia	Millionaire's Butler	Hank Mann	Prizefighter	Henry Bergman	Mayor	Robert Parrish	Newsboy

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1931
    Directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Labels: charlie-chaplin, comedy3, Criterion5, pre-code, romance5

# posted by gail @ 20:37    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    In addition to the very specific write-up of this movie attached to the title of this post, here is a wonderful essay on the legacy of this movie and its subject in the annals of film.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Charlie Chaplin	The Tramp	Jackie Coogan	The Kid	Edna Purviance	The Woman	Carl Miller	The Man

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    Release Date: 1921
    Directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Labels: adventure4, charlie-chaplin, goflexA

# posted by gail @ 16:52    0 comments    email......this post

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  Commentary:  The Roll Dance, a piece of music written for, and from, this movie, perfectly encapsulates what I love about this movie. For me, it doesn't just reflect the scene in which it's played. It reflects the entire ambience of this bio-pic: upbeat, with a hint of the unsettled, a hint of trauma, a hint of being provoked simultaneously to a need to be uplifting while also acknowledging the tragedy that dogs one's footsteps throughout life.
    Robert Downey, Jr., in my opinion, was the perfect actor to play Chaplin. He has the same tendency as Julia Roberts, to be "Robert Downey, Jr. playing ... ", but, while this irritates me in Julia Roberts it delights me in Robert Downey, Jr. Robert Downey, Jr. is, for instance, Iron Man, as he says in the movie Iron Man. He is Kirk Lazarus in Tropic Thunder. And, he is Chaplin in this movie.
    Granted, it is a bit disturbing to see Robert Downey, Jr. in the sequences where he is playing Chaplin as an old man; something about the make-up job. It's not bad and it's not good, but I guess aging make-up hadn't been perfected at the time of this production. Nonetheless, I believe him as old Chaplin.
    Finally, it is impossible for me to watch this movie and not be transported by the scintilating perfection of its production. I've been wanting to own this movie forever. I've had it for about three months, now, and, call me crazy, but I've watched it at least three times since I received it. In fact, I think I'll watch it again, tonight!
    A bynote: Roger Ebert (who's review is linked to the title of this post) did not like this movie. He considered it an insult to the man it portrayed. I have no quibble with his criticisms, but, damnit I really like the film. I've watched it a lot. I'm not opposed to Ebert's criticism, but neither am I swayed by it.
  Update 6/9/2022:  This post was originally published on 1/16/2021 but disappeared from public view. I am now reinstating it.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Robert Downey Jr.	Charlie Chaplin	Marisa Tomei	Mabel Normand	Geraldine Chaplin	Hannah Chaplin	Paul Rhys	Sidney Chaplin
  John Thaw	Fred Karno	Moira Kelly	Hetty Kelly	Francesca Buller	Minnie Chaplin	Nancy Travis	Joan Barry
  Anthony Hopkins	George Hayden	Dan Ackroyd	Mack Sennett	Penelope Ann Miller	Edna Purviance	Kevin Kline	Douglas Fairbanks
  Matthew Cottle	Stan Laurel	Maria Pitillo	Mary Pickford	Milla Jovovich	Mildred Harris	Kevin Dunn	J. Edgar Hoover
  Deborah Moore	Lita Grey	Diane Lane	Paulette Goddard	James Woods	Joseph Scott	David Duchovny	Roland Totheroh

  
    Here's the Wikipedia write-up for this movie.
    Release Date: 1992
    Directed by Richard Attenborough.

Labels: anthony-hopkins, biography1, charlie-chaplin, dramedy1, historical1, james-woods, kevin-kline, period1, political1, reflective, robert-downey-jr

# posted by gail @ 10:30    0 comments    email......this post

• 
  Commentary:  Under construction.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Charlie Chaplin	Monsieur Henri Verdoux	Mady Correll	Mona Verdoux	Allison Roddan	Peter Verdoux	Robert Lewis	Maurice Bottello
  Audrey Betz	Martha Bottello	Martha Raye	Annabella Bonheur	Isobel Elsom	Marie Grosnay	Marilyn Nash	The Girl
  Irving Bacon	Pierre Couvais	Edwin Mills	Jean Couvais	Virginia Brissac	Carlotta Couvais	William Frawley	Jean La Salle

  
    Here is the Wikipedia write-up on this film.
    Release Date: 1947
    Directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Labels: charlie-chaplin, comedy1, Criterion1, film-noir3, melodramaB

# posted by gail @ 12:46    0 comments    email......this post

• Who's watched:  M & G
• Mentions:  *1*
• 
  Commentary:  Both my mother and I tend to forget, between watchings of these movies, how riveting they are. Typically, we watch one of these movies when we want to watch something and have absolutely no idea what we want to watch.
    This collection, though, contains four films, listed below, very good mini-reviews at the site linked in the title of this post, but, if you're interested in more review material, here are more review resources:
  
  
  
  
  The Gold Rush - both the 1925 and the 1942 editions
    DVD Savant reviewed this movie twice, first when the DVD edition came out (that review is the immediately previous link; that is the edition I own) and again when the blu-ray edition hit the market. The reviews are not copies of one another, so I wanted to post both of them.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Charlie Chaplin	The Tramp/The Lone Prospector	Mack Swain	Big Jim McKay	Tom Murray	Black Larsen	Malcolm Waite	Jack Cameron
  Georgia Hale	The Girl	Henry Bergman	Hank Curtis	Tiny Sandford	Barman	Sam Allen	Dance Hall Man

  
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
  
  
  
  Modern Times - 1936  It's hard to pick a favorite; these are four of Chaplin's greatest, but judging from her reaction, I think Mom's favorite is probably Modern Times, she loves the man-in-the-cogs scene and never fails to say, "I wonder how they did that?!?"
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Charlie Chaplin	Factory Worker/The Tramp	Paulette Goddard	Ellen Peterson	Henry Bergman	Café proprietor	Stanley Sandford	Big Bill

  
  
  
  The Great Dictator - 1940  My favorite is The Great Dictator, for too many reasons to mention.
    Roger Ebert devoted more than his usual amount of space to reviewing this movie. He not only assigned it "Great Movie" status (that review is the immediately previous link), he reviewed it initially 35 years before he christened it a Great Movie, then published, without comment, a letter from a dissenter of Ebert's opinion of the movie. Interesting reading, all of them.
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Charlie Chaplin	Jewish Barber/Adenoid Hynkel	Reginald Gardiner	Commander Schultz	Paulette Goddard	Hannah	Jack Oakie	Benzino Napaloni

  
  
  
  Limelight - 1952
    

  Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role	Actor	Role
  Charlie Chaplin	Calvero	Claire Bloom	Thereza Embrose	Buster Keaton	Calvero's Partner	Nigel Bruce	Postant

  
    This film also includes several Chaplin relatives, lots of them children, mostly in uncredited, unnamed parts, including Oona O'Neill.
    Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
    All films in this collection were directed by Charlie Chaplin.

Labels: charlie-chaplin, comedy2, satire2, shared-favorite, silent

# posted by gail @ 20:31    0 comments    email......this post