The Real Charlie Chaplin

The Real Charlie Chaplin is an earnest attempt to characterize the legendary silent film star Charlie Chaplin, showing more about the man behind the Little Tramp character, and explaining his significance. At times this documentary's somewhat bland narration and spotty coverage of Chaplin's life seem to undermine the actor and his legacy.

Almost everyone knows who Charlie Chaplin is, at least by his image: The bowler hat, scraggly coat, thin cane, and trademark mustache are well-known symbols of the first landmark actor of Western cinema. The Real Charlie Chaplin does its best to do the impossible - capture the essence of Charlie Chaplin - using archival footage and tape-recorded interviews. It's a compilation of perspectives and personal impressions, told in dramatic fashion, rather than a linear storyline. Really, The Real Charlie Chaplin is all about Chaplin's rise and fall to and from fame, his political opinions, and his contributions to film history (which have been surveyed in a slightly haphazard fashion, only grazing the surface of some of Chaplin's works).

The film draws on rarely-heard recordings made by Chaplin, his family, and Effie Wisdom, a childhood friend who grew up with him in London. It's surreal to hear all these voices talk about one of history's most-loved personalities. Directors Charles Middleton and James Spinney orchestrated reenactments of these recordings, with actors lip-synching and emoting precisely to the audio. It's an approach that works for some and may not for others, since it entails actors adding gestures or expressions that the original speakers weren't able to, and so feels a bit unnatural at times. Wisdom's recording is by far the clearest, and this reenactment method begins to fall apart when Chaplin's recording is introduced, as Chaplin's voice is grainy and the tape recorder makes him sound strained. Many scenes of Chaplin's films are dissected by narrator Pearl Mackie, as is his family life through a series of photographs accompanied by the aforementioned recordings. Her narration slows the pace of the film quite dramatically, and it may have been a better idea to have the recordings guide the film more, instead of the narration. In all other aspects, though, The Real Charlie Chaplin is a well-made film.

The Real Charlie Chaplin is all about individualism, perspective, and devoting yourself to your craft. There are some mature themes like domestic abuse and manipulation to watch out for.

I give The Real Charlie Chaplin 3.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 14 to 18, plus adults. The Real Charlie Chaplin begins its theatrical run at Cinema Village (New York) and Laemmle Santa Monica (Los Angeles) on Friday, November 19, 2021.

By Eshaan M., KIDS FIRST!

Charles Chaplin was the greatest comic actor, writer, producer and director of his time - from the infancy of film to the collapse of the studio system in the 1950s. For a long period, he was the most famous person on earth. His creation, The Tramp, was so flexible that he could find himself in a factory, a circus, a boxing ring, a gold rush - the list is endless. And it never didn't work. Wherever the Tramp went, he found himself immersed in the business of being human. This documentary wants us to know the man behind the Tramp facade. In many ways, they were very similar. Chaplin came from dire poverty in the hovels of late Victorian London. In many respects, he never left there. His politics were never very precise except that he was always for the underdog, for the Tramp. During the shameful period of American history when the FBI spied on every prominent person (probably still do) and tried to ruin the careers of all those who were sympathetic to working people (again, they probably still do) Chaplin was forced to leave the US and prevented from returning. He never fully recovered from the shock.

A current Showtime doc about the master of silent film. Told from actual archival audio reels by Chaplin & key players in his life, this film is a welcome intro which gets at the heart of where his genius stemmed from (his poor upbringing in a working class section of England), where it would take him (he became the preeminent filmmaker of his generation w/crowds in the thousands flocking to his appearances) & how life humbled him (his persecution by the FBI for his communist leanings & his predilection for wooing young girls). Using actor portrayals to animate the archival audio gives the spoken words a perfect concreteness since there isn't any talking head interviews (Chaplin's son & daughters are interviewed be we only hear them). Probably not the definitive word on Chaplin (even 1992's Chaplin w/Robert Downey Jr. Scratched the surface a bit) but considering Showtime's stellar documentary presentations, this one will stand for the moment.

As "The Real Charlie Chaplin" (2021 release; 114 min.) opens, it is December, 1916, and Chaplin-mania is in full swing. We then go back in time, and visit London, where Chaplin was born in 1889 (4 days apart from a certain fella named Adolf Hitler). The film makers have dug up a 1983 interview with the Chaplin family's neighbor from the early days, and the woman reflects on Charlie as a boy. At this point we are 10 min into the film.

Couple of comments: this documentary is co-directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney ("Notes On Blindness"). Here they reassess the man, the myth and the legacy of Charlie Chaplin. It appears that this film received the full cooperation of the Chaplin estate, as the film features tons of archive home footage. As is noted by several talking heads: Charlie Chaplin's the Tramp character is just that: a character, and not Charlie Chaplin himself. Chaplin the film maker was a genius. Chaplin the man was a deeply flawed person. Meanwhile the US doesn't come out great in this either, and that's a serious understatement. After years of a smear campaign led by the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover, to boot Chaplin and his family out of the country in 1952 at the height of McCarthyism was simply petty and vindictive (and unfounded I might add). The movie also contains a large segment as to the parallels between Chaplin and Hitler. None of it is "new" but to see it laid out as it is here, is startling nevertheless. One thing about the documentary that bothered me (perhaps more than it should) is the reenactment of various interviews that were audio-taped only, but shown here in full stage reenactments, as if these events were filmed (which they were not). It is completely unnecessary and frankly misleading. Aside from that stain, this documentary is a timely reminder of the genius and shortcomings at the same time that befell Charlie Chaplin.

"The Real Charlie Chaplin" recently premiered in Showtime, and is now available on SHO On Demand (where I caught it). If you have any interest in movie history or are simply a fan of Charlie Chapin, I'd readily suggest you check it out, and draw your own conclusion.

I did not learn anything new about him.... But it was nice to see all those old clips. Especially the home movies of him and Oona and kids in his later years. My fav movie of his is Monsieur Verdoux.... The 'tramp' was interesting but repetitive. Chaplin wanted to become 'famous' and he did. And wealthy. It's too bad his love for way too young girls led him and his career astray....