Charlie Chaplin was born in 1889 in London, more than 130 years ago. He is among the most famous directors of all time. Its success was universal and reached audiences of all ages and generations. He is unanimously considered one of the greatest directors who ever lived.
His personal history will later influence his films. Raised in poverty amidst extreme hardships in London he lost his father at the age of 12 and later also his mother, suffering from psychiatric disorders.
It was his mother who passed on to him the love for singing and acting when Charlie was still very young. He began working in Fred Karno’s circus of traveling shows, where Stan Laurel (the future Laurel) also worked. The two actors were highly regarded and the company took them on tour around the world in 1909. It was in the United States that Charlie Chaplin was spotted by producer Mack Sennett: he signed him for the Keystone production company to shoot short films. comedians.
Charlie Chaplin and Charlot
Charlie Chaplin reaches the pinnacle of American production of the 1920s, and also provides one of the best critical analyzes of US society of that era.
The character that made Charlie Chaplin famous all over the world is Charlot and he was invented in 1914. A character who takes inspiration from the circus clowns with whom he shares huge shoes, extra large pants and expressiveness. But Chaplin adds to the clown what he lacked: the depth, poetry, marginalization and loneliness inspired by the difficult years of his childhood. Charlot is a character who moves with elegance and grace, in contrast to his condition of poverty. An outcast who does not suffer the tragedy of being so but lives it lightly, in a society made up of conflicts and class struggles.
Charlot became a hugely successful character with 35 short films made until 1918 when Chaplin left Keystone to go to the First National with the idea of becoming the director of his own films himself. With the new production company, one of the Hollywood majors, he made 10 other short films. Brilliant and independent character Chaplin operated as the first great pioneers of cinema like Méliès: an artist who totally took care of every part of his films: interpreter, screenwriter, musician, director and producer of his works. Charlie’s popularity was such that First National won him the richest film contract to date: a million dollars.
Charlie Chaplin and United Artists
But the big step towards that vision of independence that distinguishes him was taken in 1919 together with Mark Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks: the three artists founded United Artists together. With their new production house, the three artists could freely deal with all aspects of their films without being pressured by the producers of the larger studios.
The Kid (1921)
His feature film debut takes place in 1921 with a film that turns out to be a masterpiece: the brat. A film lasting 81 minutes. It is an American comedy film written, produced, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, with Jackie Coogan playing his adopted son. This was Chaplin’s first film as a director. It was a significant success, second highest-grossing film of 1921 behind The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
In much anguish, a mother abandons her son, loading him into an expensive car with a note on which is written: “Please love and take care of this orphaned child too.” Two thieves steal the car and leave the boy on a street, where he is discovered by The Tramp. After a few attempts to hand the young man over to passers-by, he spots the note and his heart melts. She brings the baby into his house, calls him John and rearranges the furniture for him. The mother, repentant, returns to look for him; when she discovers that the vehicle has been stolen, she despairs.
Pioneering in its mix of drama and comedy, the film is considered one of the best films of the silent era: it is an excellent mix of entertainment and drama and is perhaps Chaplin’s most autobiographical and personal work. The film made Coogan, then a vaudeville entertainer, a celebrity. Perhaps the depth of the relationship with the child portrayed in the film was aided by the death of Chaplin’s firstborn only 10 days before production began.
Chaplin does some of the finest and most delicately nuanced acting ever seen, and for every single slapstick gag there is a timeless and captivating scene. Chaplin is fantastically tragic and comical and the film was immediately considered a work of art. Chaplin’s first simple and crude slapstick shorts become a structured tale that hybridizes the Griffith and Dickens-modeled melodrama scheme with comedy. A contamination between forms and genres that favors the birth of that typical poetics of the pathetic and of sentiment, accompanied by social satire.
The Kid is a sort of extension of the short film A Dog’s Life, where the relationship between man and dog is replaced by that between man and child. Chaplin openly wants to subvert the structures of the comic with melodrama, the comic strengthens and makes the dramatic story anarchic, which does not end in a complete happy ending. The sequential gags of Il monello are for the first time creators of a strong and coherent narrative structure.
Charlie Chaplin international star
Already very famous Chaplin becomes a world-class star and begins to end up in the mundane news of gossip newspapers all over the world. Chronicles marked by a very eventful love life that will lead him to marry 4 times and have 10 children, and a number of other stormy relationships. From then on he will take care of every phase of his film production by himself, surrounded by a group of loyal collaborators.
Charlot is basically an anarchist and an anti-bourgeois who over the years remains more and more alone, making fun of the world around him, to the point of having his own political and ideological vision. Chaplin’s social criticism reaches various themes: pacifism, anarchism, social and political satire against capitalism and against dictatorship, in an increasingly heated conflict between the individual and the collectivity. A society that in your films always appears totalitarian, albeit in different ways.
United Artists continues its business for about 30 years and Charlie Chaplin produces 8 other feature films. After the advent of sound, the artist continues to prefer the expressiveness of silent films and creates masterpieces such as The Gold Rush and City Lights, using only a musical soundtrack.
The Gold Rush (1925)
It is a comedy film written, produced and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film stars Chaplin as Little Tramp, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman and Malcolm Waite. The idea that came to Chaplin looking at the slides of his colleagues Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford of a vacation in Alaska. The starting point is to write a dramatic and comic script at the same time, full of daring adventures. Chaplin also drew inspiration from the story of the Donner Party who, snowed in in the Sierra Nevada, were driven to cannibalism or ate the leather off their shoes.
Chaplin, who thought comedy and misfortune were not far from each other, was determined to integrate these tales of hunger and fright into entertaining ones. He decided that his popular character should be a gold digger with an optimistic outlook on dealing with all the risks associated with gold panning, such as ill health, hunger, cold, isolation or the possibility that at any moment could be attacked by a grizzly bear. A film full of unforgettable and particularly successful scenes that tell of Charlot’s poverty and humiliation on his journey, such as the famous gag in which he eats a shoe to feed himself, or the sequence of dancing with forks and sandwiches.
The film was very popular at the time of its release, and remains one of Chaplin’s most famous works; Chaplin himself mentioned it several times as the film he would like to be remembered for. In 1942, Chaplin re-released a version with audio, songs, and narration, which garnered an Oscar election for best score and also for best sound recording. In 1958, the film was voted number 2 at the 1958 World’s Fair, by a margin of only 5 votes behind Battleship Potemkin.
Huge Jim, a gold miner during the Klondike, Alaska Gold Rush, has just discovered a hefty deposit of gold on his stretch when a snowstorm hits. The lone prospector gets lost in the same snowstorm as he also searches for gold. He stumbles upon the cabin of Black Larsen, a wanted trespasser. When Jim stumbles inside as well, Larsen attempts to throw the Prospector out. Larsen attempts to terrorize both of them using his shotgun, but is subdued by Jim, and the three agree to an anxious truce that allows them all to remain in the cabin.
The film was a great commercial success everywhere, but marked a difficult period in the life of Charlie Chaplin: he impregnated the film’s 16-year-old co-star and made the front pages of the tabloids. To remedy the situation he decided to marry her but the relationship was particularly difficult and ended in divorce a year later. It was the longest and most expensive comedy film produced up to that point.
The Circus (1928)
It is a 1928 silent film written, produced and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film stars Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis and also Henry Bergman. An impoverished circus ringmaster employs Chaplin’s little tramp as a clown, but discovers that he can be incredibly funny.
The production of the film was one of the toughest experiences in Chaplin’s career. Countless troubles and robberies ensued, including a fire at a sound stage, the death of Chaplin’s mother, and Chaplin’s bitter separation from his second wife Lita Grey, as well as backlog problems. The Circus was the seventh-highest-earning silent film in motion picture history, grossing more than $3.8 million in 1928.
In a circus, the starving and poor tramp (Chaplin) is misidentified for a pickpocket and persecuted by both the authorities and the real scoundrel. Fleeing, the tramp stumbles right into the middle of a performance and unconsciously ends up being the hit of the show.
City Lights (1930)
It is a romantic comedy written, produced, directed by and also starring Charlie Chaplin. In 1927 cinema discovered sound. Films began to be made with the new technology and there was a period of great change in the film industry in which many silent film directors and actors fell into oblivion. New stars were born more suited to sound cinema and Chaplin was in crisis because he belonged to the first category and preferred silent cinema, more functional to his language and to his character.
Chaplin deliberately shot the film without a soundtrack, going against fashion and commercial demands of the time, risking commercial failure. The making of the film was very long and lasted 3 years due to the extreme perfectionism of Chaplin, who, it is said, shot one of the scenes as many as 342 times. Recording began in December 1928 and finished in September 1930. The main style, used as a leitmotif for the blind woman in bloom, is the melody “La Violetera” (“Who will buy my violets”) by Spanish author José Padilla.
The protagonist is once again his tramp character, who knows a blind flower girl and a drunken millionaire. The tramp meets the flower girl on the side of the road and while she buys a flower she also realizes that she is blind. When the door of a chauffeured car closes as she drives off, the woman mistakes the tramp for a wealthy man. She will try in every way to get the rich man’s money into the girl’s hands to allow her to do an expensive operation to regain her sight.
The film was an instant success upon its release on January 30, 1931, with favorable reviews and worldwide gross of over $4 million. Today, many critics consider it not only Chaplin’s highest achievement, but among the best films of all time. The film is not just a work of art by Charles Chaplin; it’s an act of defiance, as it premiered 4 years after sound films began.
2 weeks before the premiere, Chaplin decided to give an unadvertised screening at the Tower Theater in Los Angeles. It went badly, it brought in an uninterested and even small group. Much better results were seen at the premiere on January 30, 1931, at the Los Angeles Theater. Albert Einstein and his wife were the important guests, and the film received much applause.
Chaplin was worried about it since silent films were already running out of time, but the film has gone on to become one of Chaplin’s most famous and lucrative works. Chaplin went on a sixteen-day worldwide promotional tour between February and March 1931, beginning with a screening at London’s Dominion Theater on 27 February.
Modern Times (1936)
Over time, the cinematic style and themes addressed by Charlie Chaplin in his films change and become more mature. From acrobatic comedian to entertainment he became the director of more personal and dramatic films. An anarchist spirit came to light that could already be guessed from his first feature film, Il monello. Chaplin’s cinema discovers its political potential and its aversion to capitalism. If in City Lights this change is still embryonic in Modern Times, Chaplin tells directly about the clash between the working class and capitalists.
Charlot is an alienated worker forced to work like a machine with very fast and repetitive work rhythms that cause him a nervous breakdown. He participates in the strikes and protests that cost him his prison and is unable to keep his job because he helps the weakest to get around the law. Until he meets a little orphaned and desperate brat with whom he tries to change his life. A harsh criticism of the American capitalist lifestyle that will cost him expulsion from the United States a few years later, in the McCarthy era.
It is a 1936 partially spoken black comedy film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin in which his famous character of Little Tramp has a hard time withstanding the contemporary and developed world. The film is a parable about the alienation at work and the money problems many people encountered during the Great Depression, problems produced, in Chaplin’s eyes, by automation. The film stars Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford and Chester Conklin. It is significant for being the last time Chaplin played the Tramp, and for being the first time Chaplin’s voice was heard on film. The film is a reflection on the stress and anxieties created by modernity, which offers exceptional laughter.
The Great Dictator (1940)
The great dictator is one of the most important achievements of Charlie Chaplin ‘s filmography, which condenses all the experience accumulated since the 10s. It is his first sound film with dialogues and was released in cinemas in 1940. This time the protagonist he is no longer Charlot: Charlie Chaplin considered him a character inextricably linked to silent cinema. In The Dictator he tackles the theme of the Nazi dictatorship and plays a double role: a Jewish barber hero of the First World War persecuted by the Nazis and the dictator Adenoid Hynkel, clearly inspired by Adolf Hitler.
An exchange of person leads the dictator to prison and the barber to become head of state, with the possibility of making a speech in front of millions of people: Instead of speaking in an aggressive and dictatorial tone, he suggests humanitarian values and solidarity for a better future. The Dictator was also a great success with the public, especially in the United States and Great Britain, where it was distributed before the end of the Second World War. The film entered the history of cinema for the courage with which it described and ridiculed the European dictatorial regimes and for some exciting scenes such as the dance with the globe and the final speech of the dictator of Tomania.
The film was launched 9 months after Hollywood’s apology to Hitler, due to the short film You Nazty Spy! by the Three Stooges, which premiered in January 1940. Chaplin also began recording in September 1939. Hitler had previously been pilloried in the 1933 German film The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, by Fritz Lang.
The film was well received in the US upon its release, and was also a success in the UK, drawing 9 million to theaters, despite Chaplin’s concerns that wartime moviegoers would not appreciate a comedy about a totalitarian regime. The film was banned in a number of Latin American countries, where there were vigorous movements of Nazi sympathizers.
During the production of the film, the British federal government had revealed that it would definitely ban its performance in the UK, in line with its appeasement plan which concerned Nazi Germany, When the film was released, the UK was in battle with Germany and the film was released in the country for its obvious propaganda value, but was banned in many parts of Europe.
When the film was released in France in 1945, it ended up being one of the biggest films of the year, with admissions of 8,280,553. The film is considered among the best comedies in cinematic history, with a deft combination of politics, fun and wit. A German who had worked in the film department of the Nazi Ministry of Culture informed Chaplin that Hitler had seen the film twice, completely alone both times. Chaplin replied that he would certainly have given anything to know what he thought.
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
After The Great Dictator, the events of the Second World War will push him beyond the character of Charlot to create the merciless mask of the serial killer Monsieur Verdoux. Monsieur Verdoux is a 1947 American black comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, who plays a murderer inspired by serial killer Henri Désiré Landru. Taken from a subject by Orson Welles, it is the story of an employee who is fired from the bank where he works and is forced to reinvent himself as a killer of rich widows, to whom he has large sums withdrawn from current accounts with the excuse of the imminent financial crisis by offering them easy investments.
This was the first feature film in which Chaplin did not play the “Tramp”. The Great Dictator also did not include the tramp, however his “Jewish barber” bore some resemblance. While soon after the end of the Second World War a wave of films appeared on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, including in 1946 It’s a Wonderful Life and A Matter of Life and Death, which reassuringly recounted the experience of loss , Monsieur Verdoux had a dark tone, including as a main character a murderer who really feels entitled to commit his crimes. It was poorly received in America when it premiered. Chaplin’s public image was damaged by numerous criticisms and controversies prior to his launch.
Limelight (1952)
In 1952 he made a kind of touching and ironic autobiography with one of his most beautiful and moving films, Limelight, which tells the core of Chaplin’s own existential story, the story of a melancholic and generous variety artist on sunset boulevard. It is a 1952 American comedy-drama film written, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, based on a Chaplin novella entitled Footlights.
The film stars Chaplin as a comedian in decline who prevents a self-destructive professional dancer, played by Claire Bloom, from committing suicide, and both try to survive. Also starring Nigel Bruce, Sydney Earl Chaplin, Wheeler Dryden, Norman Lloyd, and Buster Keaton. Upon the film’s launch, reviews were mixed; it was strongly boycotted in the United States due to Chaplin’s avowed communist sympathies, and was unsuccessful. The film was re-released in the United States in 1972. This allowed the decades-old film to be in competition for the 45th Academy Awards, where Chaplin won his only Oscar. Today, the film is considered one of Chaplin’s finest works and is a cult film.
The film is set in London in 1914, on the eve of the First World War. Calvero (Charlie Chaplin), once a well-known comedian, and now a drunkard, saves a young professional dancer, Thereza “Terry” Ambrose (Claire Bloom), from a suicide attempt. Bringing her back to her well-being, Calvero helps Terry restore her self-esteem and resume her career as a dancer. Terry states that she intends to marry Calvero regardless of their age difference; however, he has befriended Neville (Sydney Earl Chaplin), a young author who Calvero thinks would surely be a much better fit for her.
A King in New York (1957)
It is a 1957 British comedy film directed by and also starring Charlie Chaplin which co-stars his son Michael. The film satirises McCarthy’s Communist-hunting era and details various other elements of US national politics and culture. The film, which was produced in Europe after Chaplin’s expatriation from the United States in 1952, was banned in the United States until 1972. It was shown on the island of Ischia, Italy.
“One of the little annoyances in modern life is change.” Deposed by reform in his home country of Estrovia, King Igor Shahdov (Charlie Chaplin) arrives in New York City, after his belongings have been stolen by his own Prime Minister. He tries to call the Atomic Energy Commission with the idea of using atomic energy to create a paradise. During a dinner party, many of which were broadcast to him without his knowledge, Shahdov reveals that he has had some experience in the theatre. He’s approached about doing TV commercials, but he doesn’t like the idea. Later, he does a couple of commercials to get some money.
The film was successful in Europe, but its lack of release in the United States seriously hampered its commercial success. The film took first place in the Cahiers du Cinéma’s list of the 10 best films of the year in 1957. Although the film addresses the political and social milieu of the 1950s, its satirical discourse is timeless. Regardless of its imperfections, the film continues to be an interesting research study of life in America through the eyes of its most celebrated expatriate.
Charlie Chaplin in Exile
In 1922 the FBI begins to control Charlie Chaplin ‘s life for his sympathies for leftist politics and alleged Jewish origins. They gave him no respite for 25 years, until he was brought before the commission for anti-American activities in 1947. In 1952 his visa was revoked and he could no longer return to the United States. So he decided in 1953 to settle in Switzerland, in Vevey, and never return to the United States until the early seventies when he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Oscar.
Her career will continue even after exile from the United States until 1967 with the film The Countess of Hong Kong. But it is Charlot’s mask from silent films and his gestural and mimic comedy that remain his most modern and universal trait. An icon that made him famous all over the world, exalted by avant-garde filmmakers, which has come down to our days. Rivers of written words, essays, drawn caricatures, inspirations for the films of avant-garde French filmmakers such as Louis Delluc, Jean Epstein and Fernand Leger.
A Countess from Hong Kong (1967)
It is a 1967 British humorous film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, and also the director’s last film. Sydney Chaplin (son of Chaplin), Tippi Hedren, Patrick Cargill and Margaret Rutherford co-star in important supporting roles; Chaplin also made a cameo, making his final display appearance.
The story is loosely based on Russian professional singer and dancer Moussia “Skaya” Sodskaya, whom Chaplin met in France in 1921. After their split from Paulette Godard for whom he wrote it, Chaplin continued to work on it until he was ready to production in the mid-60s. It was ultimately his only color film, and also one of two films in which Chaplin did not play a significant role.
The film premiered in London on January 5, 1967, receiving poor ratings from critics and was not a box office success. The film’s signature tune, “This Is My Song”, created by Chaplin and performed by Petula Clark, became a global hit, topping the charts in the UK, Ireland, Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium, while reaching number 3 in the US and number 4 in Canada. Since its release, the film has been re-evaluated and garnered much more favorable testimonials.
Charlie Chaplin’s Children
Charlie Chaplin had 11 children: the first, Norman Spencer Chaplin, was born in 1917 from his marriage to Mildred Harris, married in 1918, but the child died three days after birth. Chaplin and the woman divorced in 1921. Two others were born from his relationship with Lita Grey, his second marriage in 1924: Charles Chaplin Jr. , born in 1925, actor, who died at the age of only 42 from a pulmonary embolism, and Sydney Earle Chaplin , also an actor, starred with his father in Limelight. He gave many interviews about his father and passed away in 2009.
He had eight other children by Oona O’Neill, married in 1942, with whom he remained throughout his life. Many followed the family vocation and became actors: Géraldine Chaplin, born in 1944, famous interpreter of many famous films, including Doctor Zhivago. Michael John Chaplin, born 1946, actor in Limelight and A King in New York. Joséphine Hannah Chaplin, born in 1949, worked with Pierpaolo Pasolini on The Canterbury Tales and is still in business today. Victoria Chaplin, born in 1951, also an active actress, starred in her father’s last film The Countess of Hong Kong. Eugene Antony Chaplin born in 1953, is instead a producer of circus shows and documentary maker: he made a documentary about his father entitled A family tribute. Jane Cecil Chaplin, last born in 1957, is also an actress. Annette Emily Chaplin, born in 1959 is the only one who has not embarked on the path of the world of entertainment. Christopher James Chaplin, born in 1962 and is a composer and actor. He is the youngest child and appeared in the film “Poets from Hell” with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Charlie Chaplin’s death occurred on Christmas Day 1977 in the same Swiss town where he lived for more than 30 years. Two months after his death, criminals take his body away from the grave and ask the family for a ransom. But the police manage to thwart the extortion plan and recover Chaplin’s body, hidden near Lake Geneva.
Charlie Chaplin’s Filmography
In his career he made 11 feature films and many short films. Here is the complete filmography:
Making a Living – A Busted Johnny – Troubles – Doing His Best, directed by Henry Lehrman (1914)
Kid Auto Races at Venice, directed by Henry Lehrman (1914)
Mabel’s Strange Predicament – Hotel Mix-Up, directed by Henry Lehrman and Mack Sennett (1914)
Between Showers – The Flirts – Charlie and the Umbrella – In Wrong, directed by Henry Lehrman (1914)
Charlot makes cinema (A Film Johnnie – Movie Nut – Million Dollar Job, directed by George Nichols (1914)
Tango Tangles – Charlie’s Recreation – Music Hall, directed by Mack Sennett (1914)
His Favorite Pastime – The Bonehead, directed by George Nichols (1914)
Cruel, Cruel Love – Lord Helpus, directed by George Nichols and Mack Sennett (1914)
The Star Boarder – The Hash-House Hero – Landlady’s Pet, directed by George Nichols (1914)
Mabel at the Wheel – His Daredevil Queen – Hot Finish, directed by Mabel Normand and Mack Sennett (1914)
Twenty Minutes of Love – He Loved Her So – Cops and Watches – Lover Friends (1914)
Caught in a Cabaret – The Waiter – Jazz Waiter – Faking With Society (1914)
Caught in the Rain – At It Again – Who Got Stung – In the Park (1914)
A Busy Day – Militant Suffragette (1914)
The Fatal Mallet – Pile Driver (1914)
Her Friend the Bandit – Mabel’s Flirtation (1914)
The Knockout – Counted Out – The Pugilist (1914)
Mabel’s Busy Day – Love and Lunch – Hot Dogs (1914)
Mabel’s Married Life – When You’re Married – The Squarehead (1914)
Laughing Gas – Tunning His Ivories – The Dentist – Down and Out (1914)
Behind the scenes – The Property Man – Getting His Goat – The Roust About (1914)
The Face on the Bar Room Floor – The Ham Actor (1914)
Recreation – Spring Fever (1914)
The Masquerader – Putting One Over – The Female Impersonator (1914)
His New Profession – The Good for Nothing – Helping Himself (1914)
The Rounders – The Revelry – Two of a Kind – Oh, What a Night! (1914)
The New Janitor – The New Porter – The Blundering Boob (1914)
Those Love Pangs – The Rival Mashers – Busted Hearts ( 1914)
Dough and Dynamite – The Donut Designer – The Cook (1914)
Gentlemen of Nerve – Some Nerve (1914)
His Musical Career – The Piano Movers – Musical Tramps (1914)
His Trysting Place – Family House (1914)
Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914)
Getting Acquainted – Fair Exchange (1914)
His Prehistoric Past – The Dream (1914)
Mixed Up (1915)
His New Job ( 1915)
A Night Out (1915)
The Champion (1915)
In the Park (1915)
A Jitney Elopement (1915)
The Tramp (1915)
By the Sea (1915)
Work – The Paperhanger (1915)
His Regeneration (1915) – uncredited
A Woman – The Perfect Lady – Charlie, the Perfect Lady (1915 )
The Bank – Charlie at the Bank (1915)
Shanghaied (1915)
A Night in the Show – Charlie at the Show (1915)
Carmen – Charlie Chaplin’s Burlesque on Carmen (1915)
Police (1916)
The Floorwalker (1916)
The Fireman (1916)
The Vagabond (1916)
One AM (1916)
The Count ( 1916)
The Pawnshop) (1916)
The Essanay-Chaplin Revue of 1916 (1916)
Behind the Screen (1916)
The Rink (1916)
Easy Street (1917)
The Cure (1917)
The Immigrant (1917)
The Adventurer (1917)
A Dog’s Life (1918)
The Bond (1918)
Shoulder Arms (1918)
Sunnyside (1919)
A Day’s Pleasure (1919)
The professor (1919)
The Kid (1921)
The Nut (1921) – uncredited
Rich The Idle Class (1921)
Pay Day (1922)
Hollywood (1923)
The Pilgrim (1923)
A Woman of Paris – The Public Opinion (1923)
Souls For Sale (1923) – uncredited
The Gold Rush (1925)
The Circus (1928)
Show People (1928) – uncredited
City Lights (1931)
Modern Times (1936)
The Great Dictator (1940)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Limelight (1952)
A King in New York (1957)
A Countess from Hong Kong (1967)
