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Marj
Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 3:43 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan
Good point on others opinions.

Still WoP is a Chaplin film. I love a lot of 1920's films, but his films have a certain uniqueness about them. But you know what? You've sparked my interest in seeing that Brownlow documentary I mentioned earlier. I'm going to watch it tonight. Thanks!!
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Marj
Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 4:24 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan
gromit -

This is the doc I was talking about. Not the one by Kevin Brownlow but this is by Richard Shickle and I think a much better one. Not only did it go into great detail about WoP, it convinced me to see it again. So did you. Thanks! Oh and Btw, if you can find this doc, pick it up. I promise it's worth your while.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379730/combined
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gromit
Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 8:49 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Marj, I believe I have that and have seen it.
I know I've seen a good Chaplin doc.
I'll have to dig around to confirm.

If Woman of Paris had fared well, Chaplin might have had an interesting career as a director of serious films. Would have been an interesting development. He really knew a lot about making films.

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Marj
Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:26 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan
gromit, I agree. One thing that was discussed was how well he directed his actors. And of course the sumptuous details are all Chaplin.
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marantzo
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:52 am Reply with quote
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The only drama that Chaplin directed, that I've seen is Limelight. Boring, sappy schlock. Didn't like the title tune either.

Comedians tend to get very schmaltzy when they attempt a dramatic project.
billyweeds
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 9:09 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
Was there a "title tune" to Limelight? I don't think so. What you're probably referring to is "Smile," which--like it or not, and I do--has become a Tony Bennett standard and the title song of the amazing comedy-drama Smile.

As for sappy, Limelight doesn't hold a candle to A Countess from Hong Kong, in which a much older Chaplin took Brando and Loren and turned them into crap. One scene, where they dance, has some flair. Otherwise, it's cinematically inept in every way.
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gromit
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:24 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
The song which became Smile when lyrics were added was written by Chaplin and used in Modern Times.

And here's a new release of his early short films form BFI:
Quote:

Chaplin at Keystone
A 4-disc DVD box set

This stunning collection of the 34 surviving Chaplin Keystone films is the result of an 8 year international restoration project to restore Chaplin's earliest films to as near to their original release versions as possible.

After being seen in Fred Karno’s touring vaudeville troupe, Charlie Chaplin joined Mack Sennett’s Keystone Film Company in late 1913. After a few initial uneasy steps, his rise was meteoric – making 35 films in a single year, directing more than half of them.

Reconstructed from the best surviving 35mm fragments from all over the world, the Chaplin Keystone films are a revelation, showing how Chaplin learned to apply his talent to film, how he developed the much loved 'Tramp' character and why he shot to stardom. A host of extras include the recent rediscovery of Chaplin's very first appearance on film in A Thief Catcher (1914).

This project is a partnership between the BFI National Archive, Cineteca Bologna/ L’Immagine Ritrovata and Lobster Films, with the cooperation of UCLA Film and Television Archive, Library of Congress, and the support of Association Chaplin.

The films in this collection are presented with new musical accompaniments by international musicians including BFI Southbank regulars Neil Brand and Stephen Horne.

Special features

- 58-page illustrated booklet written by the American film historian Jeffrey Vance which includes the essay ‘Chaplin at Keystone: The Tramp is Born’ and notes on every film
- A Thief Catcher (1914, 7 mins, extracts): a film recently rediscovered by Paul E Gierucki, with Chaplin as a Keystone Cop
- Charlie’s White Elephant (1916, 6 mins): an animation by John Colman Terry and Hugh Shields featuring Chaplin
- Inside the Keystone Project (2010, 10 mins): a short documentary about international restoration efforts behind the films
- Silent Traces (2010, 12 mins): historian John Bengston on several of the Keystone locations
- Stills gallery

Release date: 6 December 2010
RRP: £29.99 / cat. no. BFIVD826 / cert U
USA / 1914 / black & white / silent with music / 561 mins / DVD9 x 4 /
Original aspect ratio 1.33:1


Last edited by gromit on Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:30 pm; edited 1 time in total

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marantzo
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:26 pm Reply with quote
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Yeah, Smile must have been the tune I was thinking of. I do like the song but the tune by itself is pretty ordinary. I think it won an Oscar, didn't it?

I never saw A Countess from Hong Kong or Smile.
billyweeds
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 1:55 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
No Oscar for "Smile." Don't think it was even nominated.
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Marj
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:05 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 10497 Location: Manhattan
Here you go, Guys. The theme from Limelight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_x-E5BpC4o&feature=related
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Syd
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:12 pm Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
billyweeds wrote:
No Oscar for "Smile." Don't think it was even nominated.


The instrumental wouldn't have been eligible. The version with lyrics wasn't written till years later and wasn't originally part of a movie.

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marantzo
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:35 pm Reply with quote
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Marj wrote:
Here you go, Guys. The theme from Limelight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_x-E5BpC4o&feature=related


That's it. I'll Be Loving You Eternally. The name might be just "Eternally" The orchestration is far better than what I remember from the soundtrack. Not bad. I thought it was syrupy in the movie. I don't know why but I was sure that the score was nominated for an Oscar or even won. I think it was referred to as the theme from Limelight.

One of these days I'll have to see Unchained. It is supposed to be a good movie. Another theme that had words put to it later and what a blockbuster that turned out to be.
Syd
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 5:43 pm Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
The score won the Oscar in 1972, twenty years after the movie was released, but the year the film went into wide release in the United States.

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whiskeypriest
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 6:01 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 6916 Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
Syd wrote:
The score won the Oscar in 1972, twenty years after the movie was released, but the year the film went into wide release in the United States.
And won it primarily because the most notable score of the year was declared ineligible.

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marantzo
Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:01 pm Reply with quote
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I guess the release date in the US was because of Chaplin's tax problem with the government. I saw it when it was current. Funny that I never was puzzled by the two decade gap.

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