tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59325657587085882852024-03-04T22:29:25.673-08:00Time with Charlie ChaplinWelcome to Time with Charlie Chaplin.
This blog will bring something new and
interesting to the incredible lore and
history of Chaplin - his life, his times,
his films. Much of it will be pulled from
old magazines, newspaper articles
and books.
The mission is simple: Keep Charlie Alive.
Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-53556669883500925662022-09-21T18:51:00.000-07:002022-09-21T18:51:03.008-07:00Louise Brooks and Charlie - Part 2<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>Kenneth Tynan's article continues with Louise Brooks' appraisal of Charlie:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrmQEWKVFcnwreK3mbWifSSiuUnc2jjZhCwdV9Fc9EPJtin3od8togYSSvDX7lUzdLvFgTgEsxZJK6UybyIwAoqfZUMcWctgi9jnlxmfwOkZ3aCADEpzLN_4OuRYW04bT3VUehOPrMxNBhJ300MDF8gXXgkUA_aJ7eM26mKbH_MGPiEYCcYH16xkybA/s735/CC%20&%20Louise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="735" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIrmQEWKVFcnwreK3mbWifSSiuUnc2jjZhCwdV9Fc9EPJtin3od8togYSSvDX7lUzdLvFgTgEsxZJK6UybyIwAoqfZUMcWctgi9jnlxmfwOkZ3aCADEpzLN_4OuRYW04bT3VUehOPrMxNBhJ300MDF8gXXgkUA_aJ7eM26mKbH_MGPiEYCcYH16xkybA/w413-h276/CC%20&%20Louise.jpg" width="413" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /> </b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Louise is speaking:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">"Do you know, I can't once remember him still. He was always standing up as he sat down, and going out as he came in. Except when he turned off the lights and went to sleep, without liquor or pills, like a child. Meaning to be bitchy, Herman Mankiewicz said, 'People never sat at his feet. He went to where people were sitting and stood in front of them.' But how we paid attention! We were hypnotized by the beauty and inexhaustible originality of this glistening creature. He's the only genius I ever knew who spread himself equally over his art and his life. He loved showing off in fine clothes and elegant phrases - even in the witness box. When Lita Grey divorced him, she put about vile rumors that he had a depraved passion for little girls. He didn't give a damn, even though people said his career would be wrecked. It still infuriates me that he never defended himself against any of those ugly lies, but the truth is that he existed on a plane above pride, jealousy, or hate. I never heard him say a snide thing about anyone.. He lived totally without fear. He knew that Lita Grey and her family were living in his house in Beverly Hills, planning to ruin him, yet he was radiantly carefree - happy with the success of 'The Gold Rush" and with the admirers who swarmed around him. Not that he exacted adoration. Even during our affair, he knew that I didn't adore him in the romantic sense, and he didn't mind at all. Which brings me to one of the dirtiest lies he allowed to be told about him - that he was mean with money. People forget that Chaplin ws the only star ever to keep his ex-leading lady <i>(Edna Purviance) </i>on his payroll for life, and the only producer to pay his employees their full salaries even when he wasn't in production. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span> </span></b><span>"When our joyful summer ended, he didn't give me a fur from Jaeckel or a bangle from Cartier, so that I could flash them around, saying, 'Look what I got from Chaplin.' The day after he left town, I got a nice check in the mail, signed Charlie. And then I didn't even write him a thank-you note. Damn me."</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><b>Louise Brooks was one of the most fascinating and independent figures of old Hollywood. Here is the link to the complete Tynan article in the New Yorker of June 1979. It's an interesting look at this almost-forgotten star of silent film.</b> </span><b><span></span><br /></b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-27661090479967587742022-09-14T11:01:00.000-07:002022-09-14T11:01:19.818-07:00Louise Brooks, Kenneth Tynan, and Charlie<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> A recent New Yorker magazine carried an article written by Kenneth Tynan on June 11, 1979. It is about a famous silent film actress named Louise Brooks. Her story is fascinating, a Hollywood fable unlike any I've ever read. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvkeKPMQ4uB5jihhmRhOJUe09VBjTR_i5dWOxgmrpGW3A5661_fjqBGhIj4Qw1q2BUbjEnKxoc_df8DBiXo1KWAKGXJycZhP89CLsvt-ISsRkS0NKF6PUIhM6Vpy4j6bmOlDpXgs-e6cU39JHD0Sexw4DIPlw7L4tdr0d-PTCpzwdfeOjIdMuBBG9gQ/s262/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="193" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvkeKPMQ4uB5jihhmRhOJUe09VBjTR_i5dWOxgmrpGW3A5661_fjqBGhIj4Qw1q2BUbjEnKxoc_df8DBiXo1KWAKGXJycZhP89CLsvt-ISsRkS0NKF6PUIhM6Vpy4j6bmOlDpXgs-e6cU39JHD0Sexw4DIPlw7L4tdr0d-PTCpzwdfeOjIdMuBBG9gQ/s1600/images.jpg" width="193" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Louise was born in 1906, when Charlie was seventeen years old. She became well-known for her acting ability, her independent attitude towards studios and directors, and her hair style. Some referred to her as "the girl in the black helmet."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Towards the end of this article, Tynan quotes Brooks on her opinion of Charlie Chaplin. It made me like her all the more, because she glimpsed a trait of the famous man that others knew little or nothing about. This is from the article:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>"Of all the names that spilled out of Brooke's memories of America in the twenties, there was one for which she reserved a special veneration: that of Chaplin. In an article for the magazine <i>Film Culture, </i>she had described his performances at private parties:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span><i>He recalled his youth with comic pantomimes. He acted out countless scenes for countless films. And he did imitations of everybody. Isadora Duncan danced in a storm of toilet paper. John Barrymore picked his nose and brooded over Hamlet's soliloquy. A Follies girl swished across the room and I began to cry while Charlie denied absolutely that he was imitating me. Nevertheless I determined to abandon that silly walk forthwith.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEe6Lhv_72Imo7wuJHVYA8enyHdjXdXR_yWdvKNbGhjTI2izmzN_zd8ZLCZ7WjksSq5xeFf-pMH0rnmOboAM1f55QCNMVXSMgmL4ZYyMnJnTqwmNFNxqQCcXlO0BHLdvdbeYT9nPhtugJNXQhLw1W9SRSIDgesH7jO7MLN3bJTbByXrb2NMRdI6a1Ng/s900/Louise-Brooks-Pandoras-Box.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="734" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEe6Lhv_72Imo7wuJHVYA8enyHdjXdXR_yWdvKNbGhjTI2izmzN_zd8ZLCZ7WjksSq5xeFf-pMH0rnmOboAM1f55QCNMVXSMgmL4ZYyMnJnTqwmNFNxqQCcXlO0BHLdvdbeYT9nPhtugJNXQhLw1W9SRSIDgesH7jO7MLN3bJTbByXrb2NMRdI6a1Ng/s320/Louise-Brooks-Pandoras-Box.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><br /></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span> <span> </span></span></i><span>Tynan continues:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span><i><span> <span> </span></span></i>"For me, she filled<i> </i>the picture." <br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> <i> </i></span><i>I was eighteen in 1925, when Chaplin came to New York for the opening of The Gold Rush. He was just twice my age, and I had an affair with him for two happy summer months. Ever since he died, my mind has gone back fifty years, trying to define that lovely being from another world. He was not only the creator of the Little Fellow, though that was miracle enough. He was a self-made aristocrat. He taught himself to speak cultivated English, and he kept a dictionary in the bathroom at his hotel so that he could learn a new word every morning. While he dressed, he prepared his script for the day, which was intended to adorn his private portrait of himself as a perfect English gentleman. He was also a sophisticated lover, who had affairs with Peggy Hopkins Joyce and Marion Davies and Pola Negri, and he was a brilliant businessman, who owned his films and demanded fifty per cent of the gross - which drove Joe Schenck wild, along with all the other people who were plotting to rob him.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: courier;">I'll stop here. This is half of the section on Charlie. I'll pick up the other half on my next blog here. Thanks for reading...and commenting, please.<br /></span> </b><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span> <br /></span></span></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-2421628259205502642022-06-18T14:06:00.000-07:002022-06-18T14:06:03.727-07:00Thoughts from an esteemed critic on "City Lights"<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <b>In Film Comment, October 1972, the renowned critic Stanley Kauffmann gave his thoughts about Charlie's 1931 movie "City Lights." Here are some excerpts from that which I find interesting and thought-provoking.</b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chaplin had a lot of trouble with Virginia Cherrill and tried to replace her during the lengthy shooting. This backstage story makes the results all the more astonishing. Chaplin got an extremely good performance from her. Without it, the last scene would have been impossible. When the (even more) ragged Tramp stares happily at her through the shop window, she says to her assistant, "I've made a conquest," with just the right touch of haughty pleasure, the slight air of cruelty in the formerly maimed person made whole. A moment later, when she takes his hand and recognizes him by touch, she becomes her former self, but larger. He says, "You can see now?" Her face - on the reply, "Yes, I can see now" - is beautiful. The film has to end with a close-up of Charlie - we'd feel cheated otherwise - but, dramatically, the last scene is hers.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chaplin did not always succeed as a director, or discoverer, of actresses. Merna Kennedy in "The Circus" is a dud, as is Marilyn Nash in "Monsieur Verdoux." But when he succeeded, as with Georgia Hale in "the Gold Rush" and Cherrill here, he transformed them into something they never touched again.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>One more section of Kauffmann's article I want to include here:</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sentiment is the burden and the blessing of Chaplin's work. <i> </i>The durability of the sentimental passages may be a chief secret of
his survival. Of his one-time peers, only Keaton - who really is his
peer - is still as affecting. ... In the beginning of "City Lights," when he discovers that the girl is blind, the film seems to stop for a moment. In the last scene, when he gazes at her so selflessly, so happily, he says more than in that whole last speech of "The Great Dictator."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSbr6QNImEI9DozBQAiqsCEyrh2PFltm68KFPZy38sQObWTBuizxrHU_rILxiUZowVlVtJsVKtwevqnOGiU4LKvhK1HXRLBbnKGNf_Osw3jw47gJDonvDpbda14AeyzKxQn5rD713wvvokZIQzkQ3n3GJ3j5qZ2TMVVqdunkmLrNuOxPPx6u64keK4g/s634/charlie%20&%20cherrill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="634" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSbr6QNImEI9DozBQAiqsCEyrh2PFltm68KFPZy38sQObWTBuizxrHU_rILxiUZowVlVtJsVKtwevqnOGiU4LKvhK1HXRLBbnKGNf_Osw3jw47gJDonvDpbda14AeyzKxQn5rD713wvvokZIQzkQ3n3GJ3j5qZ2TMVVqdunkmLrNuOxPPx6u64keK4g/s320/charlie%20&%20cherrill.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw71f9IKobjpmh-Y0EImhOHCWXBQo2P8YIzPVzWEYvlVOh9daBSg2SD93AIJm0y045fVVTynnQGSav0vP3P9x802x9h5lwi8197me_SmHQXdEtgwsnQ8TJGNBRcliBLBI7YnGyhpJQIdCFMkfH7-A9X3-EbhiRD6cs954KMqlImWJgOdqgqn5ZY-ctLg/s1504/CITY%20LIGHTS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1292" data-original-width="1504" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw71f9IKobjpmh-Y0EImhOHCWXBQo2P8YIzPVzWEYvlVOh9daBSg2SD93AIJm0y045fVVTynnQGSav0vP3P9x802x9h5lwi8197me_SmHQXdEtgwsnQ8TJGNBRcliBLBI7YnGyhpJQIdCFMkfH7-A9X3-EbhiRD6cs954KMqlImWJgOdqgqn5ZY-ctLg/s320/CITY%20LIGHTS.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-36379605410694529212022-02-11T20:44:00.000-08:002022-02-11T20:44:32.096-08:00A Hard Look at "The Kid"<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEge5e8XnFnCll5EGz7JUs4KLgBu-XT8FmcHuodWQkWa-p8ULcVb8J8-4vs1CvaAX3_GdiLwZg90apATdZ9llTFBlfZ7JUWOCXEIUll2-4Ot9u9JoE5tsKtDjv9mJiv1Clz2QybQYEJcySrrV39XDTkHOKfeDVUmSxhglO4nCDjBwNXyKKGTH2jw_MwOOw=s640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="475" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEge5e8XnFnCll5EGz7JUs4KLgBu-XT8FmcHuodWQkWa-p8ULcVb8J8-4vs1CvaAX3_GdiLwZg90apATdZ9llTFBlfZ7JUWOCXEIUll2-4Ot9u9JoE5tsKtDjv9mJiv1Clz2QybQYEJcySrrV39XDTkHOKfeDVUmSxhglO4nCDjBwNXyKKGTH2jw_MwOOw=s320" width="238" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The next film up in Film Comment, Sept-Oct 1972, is “The Kid.”</span></span></b><p></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The author of the article is Gary Carey. I tried to find some information on him, but only came up with a rather long list of books he’s written, mostly about Hollywood stars and movies. I wanted to find out about him because he takes a strongly negative view of “The Kid,” one of the harshest assessments of the movie I’ve ever seen.</span></span></i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i> Here are some excerpts from his contribution to the Chaplin legacy.</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i> </i><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXeFdx7E9nqh_vcv3I5mGYx8cD0LDAjzJ0MvAbeetbSTZ0_MyyA66MuaTj933OHCFgcxAF8BE5fOOhMayj4aam1iWnOFZeM5rFP_tgZmdR2FFQ88TaEyDvXJUM5xS5VtMqmAa96YeMPttjbV2z82PFgsIMD1EN_VPYcamuCRgrnT2pkSow5pUfScanjQ=s284" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="177" data-original-width="284" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXeFdx7E9nqh_vcv3I5mGYx8cD0LDAjzJ0MvAbeetbSTZ0_MyyA66MuaTj933OHCFgcxAF8BE5fOOhMayj4aam1iWnOFZeM5rFP_tgZmdR2FFQ88TaEyDvXJUM5xS5VtMqmAa96YeMPttjbV2z82PFgsIMD1EN_VPYcamuCRgrnT2pkSow5pUfScanjQ" width="284" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;">“Legend tells us that Chaplin first conceived the idea for “The Kid” when Jackie Coogan wink at him in a hotel lobby. Perhaps this encounter did give him the specific idea for the film, but Chaplin had for some time been considering a project to win the approbation of American motherhood. “The Kid” has occasionally been dismissed as a shameless ploy to achieve this end…The charge of sentimentality often leveled against “The Kid” could be dismissed were it not for the frame story, which drips off the screen with mawkishness”</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><i><b>He goes on to pretty much rip the entire film.</b> After a description of several scenes, he lets loose with this:</i></span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“These scenes are further hampered by indifferent photography, awkward introduction of symbolic inserts, and the inadequacy of Miss Purviance. …”The Kid” also falls short of “A Woman of Paris” in story construction. (This was never Chaplin’s forte: In fact, A Woman of Paris: it arguably his best-constructed film.)”</span></span><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw6i9PA3jEPV0HtICCk0dS6_jzemlEmDKCIveQzaIFokIcF9KcDamiFvCK_BO9_llR8xp_V8kyhl0MaR33p8ZaOAokgKjvznChFPKPb-HTD5MeSxi5qPEEVPkmh0ANZukan6j9wr868vZgdeVrRLbNeADC_L88JRTIs3mc1DVQ5BQL2USGQb6vFDHVWg=s259" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="259" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiw6i9PA3jEPV0HtICCk0dS6_jzemlEmDKCIveQzaIFokIcF9KcDamiFvCK_BO9_llR8xp_V8kyhl0MaR33p8ZaOAokgKjvznChFPKPb-HTD5MeSxi5qPEEVPkmh0ANZukan6j9wr868vZgdeVrRLbNeADC_L88JRTIs3mc1DVQ5BQL2USGQb6vFDHVWg" width="259" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><i>Carey finds great fault in Chaplin’s inclusion of the “heaven” sequence. He calls the fantasy irrelevant to a plot and takes the idea too far. The article continues with some discussion of Jean Cocteau and how he used Chaplin’s heaven fantasy in one of his plays. Rather unsuccessfully. Then he concludes with this:</i></span></span><p></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“It’s hard to decide how much Chaplin consciously put into his films, and how much sprang from his unconscious - or our own. Cocteau, at least, believed Chaplin was in full control of his art.”</span></span><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><i>I’ll finish this blog with a few words which appear earlier in his article, and allows me to sign off on a more positive note, since <b>I think “The Kid” is a gem and a promise of the Chaplin that lay ahead.</b></i></span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“Still, even the most antipathetic mother must have succumbed to Chaplin’s genuinely sweet relationship with Coogan - the first and best of the cherubs with dirty faces - and been touched by the pathos of the child’s and the Tramp’s temporary parting. These scenes are imbued with an honest sentiment, something of a rarity in the history of the American film”</span></span><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb-cEZwGJcxutxmBVm8DshOLqSpinA1fc3hqYvaDX7AROU8Gih8accyOov_KjIcz0MB4_UZjHua3BabNw9JhVEvDU32WAHx28aI4WLlfz9pg_22r4QAgdHIdxIhAKTITY1vrm_NgD13TTNnbxOz_X1zfFIBoe4tnG0p5KAhjOrudkZ9qWJd_IjitER0g=s258" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="258" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb-cEZwGJcxutxmBVm8DshOLqSpinA1fc3hqYvaDX7AROU8Gih8accyOov_KjIcz0MB4_UZjHua3BabNw9JhVEvDU32WAHx28aI4WLlfz9pg_22r4QAgdHIdxIhAKTITY1vrm_NgD13TTNnbxOz_X1zfFIBoe4tnG0p5KAhjOrudkZ9qWJd_IjitER0g" width="258" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><i><b>If you know anything about the life/career/accomplishments of Gary Carey, please tell me about him. </b>He seems to know what he’s talking about, has an impressive store of information on Hollywood, and isn’t afraid to criticize a Chaplin classic.</i></span></span><br /><p></p>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-82819417579092168422022-01-24T19:51:00.000-08:002022-01-24T19:51:37.460-08:00When Charlie Returned While Buster Was Fading<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtOQ02u4ceWSOyaVfusK6XB-_n1y2hKnD97t2IUJ-owfIjyBvKyjiB_rAeUvm0oIicRHQZHC78qDa3nLSuVrQdqMkpLi3JXcZl25-1ouo-TYZTrq12tQxitMbGXtf8OiuIUGFNMHXp376hhKtjO9XTBuPGzzOvG9GwmKD3oh_osZnsMMqZLRwrPX_jMQ=s640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="475" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgtOQ02u4ceWSOyaVfusK6XB-_n1y2hKnD97t2IUJ-owfIjyBvKyjiB_rAeUvm0oIicRHQZHC78qDa3nLSuVrQdqMkpLi3JXcZl25-1ouo-TYZTrq12tQxitMbGXtf8OiuIUGFNMHXp376hhKtjO9XTBuPGzzOvG9GwmKD3oh_osZnsMMqZLRwrPX_jMQ=s320" width="238" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>I have this stack of magazines in the “Chaplin Section” of my office. They usually sit there, month after month, waiting to be opened, read, absorbed. The other day I was looking for an article in another magazine and came across Film Comment, Sept/Oct, 1972, with a special section on Chaplin. It contains 12 essays on Charlie and his films, by various writers and critics of that decade.<br /><br />Here is the first one. Or at least some excerpts from it. The title: ”The Second Coming” by Charles Silver.</i></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i> </i><br /><b>It starts off with a quote by Rollie Totheroh, Charlie’s cameraman.</b><br /><i>“When his mother came to this country…they had her over on Ellis Island. When she went over there, they started to question her. And they said, ‘Are you the mother of Charles Chaplin? And she said, ‘I’m the mother of Jesus Christ’…she was ‘shell-shocked,” or supposed to be.”<br /></i><br /><b>Silver writes:</b><br />I knew Chaplin was coming back to America before there was a public announcement. As the word got out, and as I subsequently discussed the visit with my friends in the film world, I am afraid I astounded a great many people by saying, in effect, that this would be the preeminent event of our lifetime. For my adult interest and ultimately my career in films had begun with the 1964 Chaplin retrospective at the Plaza Theater in New York. Never before or since have I been so shaken by an artist and his art, and it is unlikely that I will ever quite recover my bearings.<br /><br /><i>Silver goes on for awhile about looking for Charlie at The Plaza Hotel in New York, mentioning that Chaplin had stayed there in 1916 while waiting to sign his contract with Mutual. Now, after 56 years, he had come back. After another page and a half, he quotes Andrew Sarris. “The difference between Keaton and Chaplin is the difference between man as machine and man as angel.” Then Silver continues, writing about these two great comics. Sarris prefers Keaton over Chaplin. </i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Silver disagrees.</b><br /><br />As a body, Keaton’s films lend themselves far more easily to critical analysis than Chaplin’s. Everything is visible on the surface and simple to describe. There is a vigor and glory in Keaton’s films, but they lack the profundity, development and wholeness of great art. More often than not, they reflect the fact that Buster was still a young, unsure artist experimenting, learning - not yet mature. Films like BATTLING BUTLER, SEVEN CHANCES, THE THREE AGES, and GO WEST are only sporadically inspired, having a good sequence here, a dull one there. The other works, especially THE GENERAL are better; they are as good as anything Chaplin did before THE GOLD RUSH.<br /><br /><b>And finally, and I find this quite touching…</b><br /><br />The tragedy, the terrible pity of Keaton’s career can be seen in the collapse evident between the excellent THE CAMERAMAN and the quite bad SPITE MARRIAGE. Keaton was destroyed at thirty three, the age at which Chaplin had made nothing more formidable than THE KID. What Keaton might have accomplished had he been permitted to make his own films as a mature artist we will never know, and I mourn for those lost films as much as anyone. To consider him Chaplin’s equal on the basis of what actually exists, however, is wistful nonsense. <br /><br /><i>Other essays in the magazine cover THE CHAPLIN REVUE, THE KID, THE GOLD RUSH, among others. I’ll keep those in mind for future blogs on MY TIME WITH CHARLIE CHAPLIN.</i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDrVpWpHcR9Pi10uKe4aqZ8UM4iblLrvTP2wuRIf0mAjrtvWwTYYE5ZSuTf4AyZrB2BRN77BUrppPyxWuStmaPA4-P-zbsBd2fopmp2YtAzBGk8Fl83bsdgn5_akmIKvOVWpiTmsRnYtc2r73wGQga7U1v7dP3VKUdh8wauz3aEBpVuhTcdwmIUyhXxg=s640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiDrVpWpHcR9Pi10uKe4aqZ8UM4iblLrvTP2wuRIf0mAjrtvWwTYYE5ZSuTf4AyZrB2BRN77BUrppPyxWuStmaPA4-P-zbsBd2fopmp2YtAzBGk8Fl83bsdgn5_akmIKvOVWpiTmsRnYtc2r73wGQga7U1v7dP3VKUdh8wauz3aEBpVuhTcdwmIUyhXxg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirVfJtuu25LbbcgoOKXtatFhVzhkspZyI-OwKUBr4mY9rfGVnCZFbAtgfqjAMEDeZbIAIzRPtB-GyS20iirUrFXTawpv2njFt_ZBWvvV6zSFq1yNy09vLeHCux6rnEBLnrFbTfRoFjXUExztjZ8WJoxSPdKbdUuy6gRAv-PEd3JWPb0SrDbOHST__0mQ=s640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><br /><p></p>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-34226668808685367262022-01-19T19:42:00.000-08:002022-01-19T19:42:57.984-08:00Charlie, H.G. Wells, and the Russian Situation<p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZeJJolc_Z5-DNqj8hKHydPgTkBpX2TUnV_vy7u_n_GDtVQlz2P8unUcrZiTEYIZDX6V-fs2GIOzWJZX8zVbLzGi0cHDixm-0mzfxU9lvyS-zh6IzVqrz5azXr9AKe3HJJycLuYQRTz2_H2L24Hz3h8ndIYr9Yh2YTTYABTwvjLGIXuC74a2mB2Gp8zQ=s1280" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgZeJJolc_Z5-DNqj8hKHydPgTkBpX2TUnV_vy7u_n_GDtVQlz2P8unUcrZiTEYIZDX6V-fs2GIOzWJZX8zVbLzGi0cHDixm-0mzfxU9lvyS-zh6IzVqrz5azXr9AKe3HJJycLuYQRTz2_H2L24Hz3h8ndIYr9Yh2YTTYABTwvjLGIXuC74a2mB2Gp8zQ=w439-h225" width="439" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><i>Looking through some old books in my Chaplin collection, I came across "Six Men" by Alistair Cooke. In it, he profiles H. L. Mencken, Humphrey Bogart, Adlai Stevenson, Bertrand Russell, Edward VIII, and Charles Chaplin. So of course I had to re-read the Chaplin profile. <br /> <br /></i>Russell mentions Charlie's conversations with H.G. Wells on the subject of Russia, and references Chaplin's autobiography. In Russell's words, "In his autobiography, Chaplin is frank enough to leave in the recollection of a conversation with H.G. Wells, whose fears of dictatorship and the suppression of civil liberties in Russia are dismissed by Chaplin as growing pains or tactical 'mistakes' not to be compared in grossness with the repudiation of foreign lands."<br /><br />Given our times now, in 2022, of controversial political positions and conflicts, I thought it would be interesting to hear what Chaplin had to say about Russia in 1935, inspired by comments of Wells.<br /> <br />This is from Chaplin's "My Autobiography." Charlie had spent time with Wells in London in 1931, a trip for the opening of "City Lights." They maintained the friendship. This is an excerpt from Chaplin's book.<br /> <br />"When Wells visited visited me in 1935 in California, I took him to task about his criticism of Russia. I had read of his disparaging reports, so I wanted a firsthand account and was surprised to find him almost bitter about it.<br /><br />'But is it not too early to judge?' I argued. 'They have had a difficult task, opposition and conspiracy from within and from without. Surely in time, good results should follow?'"<br /><br />At that time Wells was enthusiastic about what Roosevelt had accomplished with the New Deal, and was of the opinion that a quasi-socialism in America would come out of a dying capitalism. He seemed especially critical of Stalin, whom he had interviewed, and said that under his rule Russia had become tyrannical dictatorship.<br /> <br />Charlie continues. "Of course Russia has made mistakes," I said, "and like other nations she will continue to do so. The biggest one, I think, was the repudiation of her foreign loans, Russian bonds, etcetera, and call them the Czar's debts after the Revolution."<br /> <br />Charlie has more to say, at least in his recollection of the conversation, some twenty years later. We all know that Chaplin became fascinated by world politics, especially events in Russia, which eventually caused him a great deal of trouble with Congress and the American public.<br /> <br />But there is one more quote I want to end this with. It's non-political, and is revealing about Chaplin. Again, from his Autobiography:<br /> <br />"Elsewhere I have said that sex will be mentioned but not stressed, as I can add nothing new to the subject. However, procreation is nature's principal occupation, and every man, whether he be young or old, when meeting any woman, measures the potentiality of sex between them. Thus is has always been with me.<br /><br />"During work, women never interested me; it was only between pictures, when I had nothing to do, that I was vulnerable. As H.G. Wells said, 'There comes a moment in the day when you have written your pages in the morning, attended to your correspondence in the afternoon, and have nothing further to do. Then comes that hour when you are bored; that's the time for sex.'"<br /> <br /><i>There you have it. A visit with Chaplin and Wells, and a wide ranging discussion on more than politics. </i><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><p></p>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-66017263179035467702021-06-30T14:49:00.001-07:002021-06-30T14:49:50.177-07:00Charlie, Jason and Me: An Occurance of Synchronicity <p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> Charlie Chaplin appears at the most surprising times in the most unusual places. </b>No rhyme or reason, other than the unknown forces at work in our universe that occasionally reach out to tap us on the shoulder. "Hey, wake up. Take a look at this."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Here's what I'm talking about. It begins in a Japanese restaurant on the main street of downtown Asheville, North Carolina. The main players are Jason Allin, Charlie Chaplin, and me. </span></p><p></p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikw8ftpZl-XZMKu18JY-0GDGghJBm2_z-LyDCsKKLYHYcYWs-mzrqQExb25m5K1ihE2oJaPx0lsuIn6GrkKI6w2sfFUsM1XPU9tAFMQql36AZ-Du4u3Uu-jarsfr2VmKN8w39aWLE383h9/s750/JASON+ALLIN.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikw8ftpZl-XZMKu18JY-0GDGghJBm2_z-LyDCsKKLYHYcYWs-mzrqQExb25m5K1ihE2oJaPx0lsuIn6GrkKI6w2sfFUsM1XPU9tAFMQql36AZ-Du4u3Uu-jarsfr2VmKN8w39aWLE383h9/w164-h246/JASON+ALLIN.jpg" width="164" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> Jason is The Chaplin Guy, </b>totally immersed in the performance and personality of The Little Tramp.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> You see him in Jason's movies, videos, personal appearances and
special events around the world. Jason is currently in the process of
transforming my novel about Charlie into an audiobook. It requires a
level of acting I had not imagined when I wrote it. So far, I've
been blown away by what Jason has done. <br /></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6bINea-ArIoXDHMSNS61IdkHIzGouMVBFWK5MlVoxc3sZHq9GW4SvWRuL9jA7GmRjU-i4jPe46EKpCXBJl49jFUE3hEElCvMD6T54OZwRIsqyUrwxygS00xtTyZLibPL_YjqAoppnIIB/s900/JASON+ALLINE+AS+CC.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6bINea-ArIoXDHMSNS61IdkHIzGouMVBFWK5MlVoxc3sZHq9GW4SvWRuL9jA7GmRjU-i4jPe46EKpCXBJl49jFUE3hEElCvMD6T54OZwRIsqyUrwxygS00xtTyZLibPL_YjqAoppnIIB/w209-h209/JASON+ALLINE+AS+CC.jpg" width="209" /></a><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> <br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> <span style="color: #3d85c6;"> <span> </span></span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">FYI: Title of the novel is "Shadow and Substance: My Time with Charlie Chaplin." If <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>you<span> </span>would like to buy a copy, email me at 503spidermandel@gmail.com. The cost is <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>$20, plus <span></span>$4 shipping.(End of commercial) </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>On this particular day,</b> Jason sends me a link to a recent conversation he and I had about the audiobook, the process, and Charlie...and the many voices required. I have not yet opened the link when I sit down for lunch at a Japanese restaurant, Wasabi. My girl friend - code named Zelda - and I sit at an outside table on this busy street. I order a tempura appetizer and udon noodle soup with chicken, in case you're wondering.<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span> </span>Charlie is a participant in this from a distance. Or so I think. The book is about him, the audiobook will bring him to life in words and sound, and Charlie Chaplin Days is taking place the following day by the Niles Silent Film Museum, in Niles, California. That's where Charlie had a studio, in his early days. And that's where he filmed "The Tramp." Bronco Billy also filmed many of his westerns here. My conversation with Jason is introduced in Niles as an on-line virtual event.<span> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span> <span style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span> </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;">FYI: Here is a link to that incredibly enlightening conversation between Jason and me: </span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span> </span><span> </span><span></span><span></span> https://nilesfilmmuseum.org/?tv=4997833899900928 Scroll down to the "Shadow <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>and <span> </span><span> </span><span></span><span></span>Substance" book cover, and click on Play Video. It's easy. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJC9RAImFFES6pd-weCkn-liyzZgxzueP7o3Ub8yNzQE1qcDH4Q-oCzaIpMdt7zCpBRVL934j0o7T-2jO_80u8ZHCuC40xFZIqWMz52DkgmBkss0f2K834OHyE7gT6qklO4e0r3FhVeO12/s2048/IMG_0993.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJC9RAImFFES6pd-weCkn-liyzZgxzueP7o3Ub8yNzQE1qcDH4Q-oCzaIpMdt7zCpBRVL934j0o7T-2jO_80u8ZHCuC40xFZIqWMz52DkgmBkss0f2K834OHyE7gT6qklO4e0r3FhVeO12/w182-h242/IMG_0993.JPG" width="182" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">While we are waiting for our lunch, during a break in our conversation, I glance across the street. No reason. Just "looking." On a brick wall I see - or think I see - a familiar face. "Over there," I say to Zelda. "Look at that drawing over there." She turns and looks. "It looks like Charlie," she says. We're both on a first-name basis with him. I just stare and wonder. Is it really a drawing of Chaplin?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUjyfXzp9cIjNSeGM7fz80j64b-V6SXZkve3tU-gv7Y-QcbHJzearKvNDb41jM3jeoDrlvZAq2x2ZJVG7Z9gn5pW0GpJwAnoSDwSNDvceBmiw-Be-QQLYs4N6t0nu1cJlO38TGeG-oHoN/s640/IMG_0994.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUjyfXzp9cIjNSeGM7fz80j64b-V6SXZkve3tU-gv7Y-QcbHJzearKvNDb41jM3jeoDrlvZAq2x2ZJVG7Z9gn5pW0GpJwAnoSDwSNDvceBmiw-Be-QQLYs4N6t0nu1cJlO38TGeG-oHoN/s320/IMG_0994.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">I excuse myself from the table. "I've got to take a closer look." I walk across the street. The wall is scarred and in disrepair, exposed brick and broken plaster. Still...<br /></span></span></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;">Other drawings are on the wall, but the one that stares at me is Charlie. On a busy street in downtown Asheville. Bold, simple, an iconic presence. I wonder, "Who. And why?" The building is closed. A poster in the window advertises an event for a comedy club. </span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="color: black;"> </span> <br /></span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFcSurvo63Ym6EQTheE0Jew_EUPdZZqlTKxpswahUOpmbKXWyRZKBcFAlifLGVjMIQNAQ4uJRflBh2y7PkbGu1367fsTrdhiPRP2pGgUmweSCT7Oo6l9HuwrCZSWusgXykI9aF9s3qbk_p/s640/IMG_0995.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFcSurvo63Ym6EQTheE0Jew_EUPdZZqlTKxpswahUOpmbKXWyRZKBcFAlifLGVjMIQNAQ4uJRflBh2y7PkbGu1367fsTrdhiPRP2pGgUmweSCT7Oo6l9HuwrCZSWusgXykI9aF9s3qbk_p/s320/IMG_0995.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">There I stand, on a busy street in Asheville, North Carolina, connected in some magical way to Charlie and Jason.</span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>That night I dream Charlie visits me. He sits on a chair in the corner and says to me, in a soft, reassuring voice, "I liked your book. I like what Jason is doing with it." He stands up, prepares to leave, then turns and says, "Thank you."</i><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">No, I'm kidding. That dream never happened. But it sure makes for a nice ending. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0grq2yvQJEeb-qNdVAhgcZb2IimO6V1g5SY3j5k1MxhyphenhyphenJGe8i-zkrf2NT7paqPgSv2MYUnjldkOojPqA9NsY5SgFbcwOyvcfFxauFZtamVPS1W0fCmevuN3yAUa6HKj0cH-dUtpJtWaGB/s2048/IMG_0008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1789" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0grq2yvQJEeb-qNdVAhgcZb2IimO6V1g5SY3j5k1MxhyphenhyphenJGe8i-zkrf2NT7paqPgSv2MYUnjldkOojPqA9NsY5SgFbcwOyvcfFxauFZtamVPS1W0fCmevuN3yAUa6HKj0cH-dUtpJtWaGB/s320/IMG_0008.jpg" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcL4UYFn44rPKvReWHJTwEZSvqrml1sI8y-8tLCMg5eo4zCYaW60SXHsEg0739L17UqbnsukAyX_wTdLFbH1H94cvYeWjac_oLkwxLG_Lu_Fz1lFlCj9sGkVkaEC2h33CVaocy1NzfYhb/s546/CC+Book+Cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcL4UYFn44rPKvReWHJTwEZSvqrml1sI8y-8tLCMg5eo4zCYaW60SXHsEg0739L17UqbnsukAyX_wTdLFbH1H94cvYeWjac_oLkwxLG_Lu_Fz1lFlCj9sGkVkaEC2h33CVaocy1NzfYhb/s320/CC+Book+Cover.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><br /><p></p><p><span> </span></p>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-84772347836100684882021-04-15T17:59:00.000-07:002021-04-15T17:59:49.874-07:00"A Hero's Lesson" - An Original Poem for Charlie Chaplin<p><b><i>On April 16, 2013, a group of us gathered to celebrate Chaplin's birthday..</i></b></p><p><b><i>Pam Beahan wrote the following poem for the occasion. </i></b></p><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><b>A Hero's Lesson</b></p><p>One of the many reasons that Charlie Chaplin is my hero</p><p><span></span>is because, by his example,</p><p>He taught us to insist on ourselves...</p><p>...no matter the resistance.</p><p><span></span><span>W</span>e must use our passions</p><p>to persevere toward the perfection of</p><p>the essence of who we are.</p><p><br /></p><p>Like Charlie, we must never quit -</p><p>no matter the obstacles -</p><p>until we achieve our goals.</p><p><br /></p><p>Without Charlie, we might never have learned</p><p>that <i>City Lights</i> could mean</p><p>an inner vision,</p><p>a bright, emotional path</p><p>out of life's many darknesses,</p><p>And that we all can be</p><p>ever rich in spirit and attitude</p><p>if only we will insist on ourselves.</p><p> # # # #<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphaCCRBBgYIFS4sbbDt0sYjDpkiGzC_ZSGa7YAjGx7zGIOXsKAkhp_sgKzswmrHBBf6DtHfn00TaM2nd9UbGruhTK4N9cMdKkce_KE_ZZ0pLzkI3tIdibWUi2m-fkvuT8uaxNLSalKxaD/s1330/IMG_7610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphaCCRBBgYIFS4sbbDt0sYjDpkiGzC_ZSGa7YAjGx7zGIOXsKAkhp_sgKzswmrHBBf6DtHfn00TaM2nd9UbGruhTK4N9cMdKkce_KE_ZZ0pLzkI3tIdibWUi2m-fkvuT8uaxNLSalKxaD/s1330/IMG_7610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDut9ZzXU1J-KRKRYgnH7yv7O-AF_FVAKLehOTwXobyAuFJXCjB6OuOMz_dZLk-8ogj8tHZfD_25iY6Cx4B0NLHnO5SSKuXKULg6_jmIs9cq_eGsZFN8o_uDMxc9Q8YpvS1h2BiteVNlE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDut9ZzXU1J-KRKRYgnH7yv7O-AF_FVAKLehOTwXobyAuFJXCjB6OuOMz_dZLk-8ogj8tHZfD_25iY6Cx4B0NLHnO5SSKuXKULg6_jmIs9cq_eGsZFN8o_uDMxc9Q8YpvS1h2BiteVNlE/w372-h209/maxresdefault.jpg" width="372" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIDut9ZzXU1J-KRKRYgnH7yv7O-AF_FVAKLehOTwXobyAuFJXCjB6OuOMz_dZLk-8ogj8tHZfD_25iY6Cx4B0NLHnO5SSKuXKULg6_jmIs9cq_eGsZFN8o_uDMxc9Q8YpvS1h2BiteVNlE/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1330" data-original-width="933" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiphaCCRBBgYIFS4sbbDt0sYjDpkiGzC_ZSGa7YAjGx7zGIOXsKAkhp_sgKzswmrHBBf6DtHfn00TaM2nd9UbGruhTK4N9cMdKkce_KE_ZZ0pLzkI3tIdibWUi2m-fkvuT8uaxNLSalKxaD/w201-h287/IMG_7610.jpg" width="201" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJam4msVYEeiTOumqfckrS-d8oRwTa2ZIHqN71yoc2x05WoBe2lHz2T79ZcyX_yFPCvcIN3jYnruy4-LGLLGBPnFfeVZwnp7yB2rrvRxhOgki-HhIAeLsGcdoH2DKmJ9DR_dxPqPf1co4L/s1221/Snowdon+1957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="923" data-original-width="1221" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJam4msVYEeiTOumqfckrS-d8oRwTa2ZIHqN71yoc2x05WoBe2lHz2T79ZcyX_yFPCvcIN3jYnruy4-LGLLGBPnFfeVZwnp7yB2rrvRxhOgki-HhIAeLsGcdoH2DKmJ9DR_dxPqPf1co4L/w270-h204/Snowdon+1957.JPG" width="270" /></a></div></div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-36617825942759781982021-04-12T11:54:00.000-07:002021-04-12T11:54:24.448-07:00An Amazing Meeting of Talented Artists<p><b> Granville Redmond, actor, painter, who worked with Charlie.</b></p><p>This article appeared in the New York Times, April 12, 2021. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHAOBZN3NvMl6FQQvckreWxtQGYTAOHucFOlWQKw_0C7dEiejkWzxxhT2gC75hfnfkBfp22vrBwji6F8az3NCWSzoL7EBkLP61n5wMPMl4q18DWRU-HJUxYNW5dYSst5w5zmwqvxNCS0k/s259/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="259" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHAOBZN3NvMl6FQQvckreWxtQGYTAOHucFOlWQKw_0C7dEiejkWzxxhT2gC75hfnfkBfp22vrBwji6F8az3NCWSzoL7EBkLP61n5wMPMl4q18DWRU-HJUxYNW5dYSst5w5zmwqvxNCS0k/w400-h301/images.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br />This article is part of Overlooked, a series of obituaries about remarkable people whose deaths, beginning in 1851, went unreported in The Times.<br /><br /><br />In the opening scene of the classic silent film “City Lights” (1931), Charlie Chaplin’s character, the Little Tramp, dangles comically from a statue while its sculptor watches in horror, raising his hand to his mouth in surprise and wiping his brow in distress.<br />The actor portraying the sculptor, Granville Redmond, appeared in seven Chaplin films, recognizable by his wild mane of hair. Redmond was deaf, and his performances were early examples of deaf representation in Hollywood. Some believe Redmond even taught Chaplin, famous as a pantomime, how to use sign language.<br />But Redmond was first and foremost ahttp://www.artinsociety.com/uploads/9/7/8/7/9787095/redmond-still-from-dogs-life_1_orig.jpgn artist, one who inspired Chaplin with paintings of California’s natural beauty: quiet, brown tonal scenes; lonely rock monuments jutting off an island peninsula; tree-dotted meadows lit by a warm sun; blue nocturnal marshes under the dramatic glow of the moon. His paintings are considered today among the best examples of California Impressionism.<br /><br /><br /><br />“California Poppy Field” — Redmond was admired for his landscapes depicting golden poppies, the state’s official flower. <br />Credit...<br />California School for the Deaf, Fremont, Gift of Edith Redmond<br /><br /><br />The Los Angeles Times art critic Arthur Millier wrote in 1931 that Redmond was “unrivaled in the realistic depiction of California’s landscape.” Yet his style was never uniform: Some paintings left sections of the canvas exposed and chunky deposits of pigment, while others took on a smoother look.<br />Above all he was known for his paintings of golden poppies, the state’s official flower. His poppies accented his renditions of the rolling meadows of the San Gabriel Valley, often accompanied by purple lupines. Sometimes they complemented a coastal scene with bursts of yellow highlights.<br />“He painted them better than anyone else; I don’t think that can be argued,” said Scott A. Shields, who curated a show of Redmond’s work last year at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. “You can feel the seasons. You can feel when it’s spring, you can feel when it’s winter, and you can feel when it starts to become summer.”<br /><br />His paintings of poppies became a popular keepsake for tourists, to Redmond’s chagrin; he preferred painting scenes of solitude.<br />“Alas, people will not buy them,” he told The Los Angeles Times. “They all seem to want poppies.”<br />Chaplin supported Redmond’s painting career, offering him a room to paint in the loft of an unused building on his studio lot. On breaks, Chaplin would visit Redmond there and quietly watch him work.<br />“Redmond paints solitude, and yet by some strange paradox the solitude is never loneliness,” Chaplin told Alice T. Terry in a 1920 article for The Jewish Deaf, a magazine.<br /><br />He had such an appreciation for Redmond’s paintings that he took down the photographs of film celebrities from his walls so as not to detract from the Redmond work that he placed over his mantel.<br />“You know, something puzzles me about Redmond’s pictures,” Chaplin was quoted as saying in 1925 in The Silent Worker, a newspaper for the deaf community. “There’s a wonderful joyousness about them all.”<br />“Look at the gladness in that sky, the riot of color in those flowers,” he continued. “Sometimes I think that the silence in which he lives has developed in him some sense, some great capacity for happiness in which we others are lacking.”<br />Grenville Richard Seymour Redmond was born in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 9, 1871, the oldest of five children of Charles and Elizabeth (Buck) Redmond. (He changed the spelling of his name to Granville in 1898 to differentiate himself from an uncle.) His father was a Civil War veteran in the Union Army and a laborer who worked across several trades.<br />Redmond lost his ability to hear when he was 2, after coming down with scarlet fever. The next year his family moved to San Jose, Calif., to live near a family member who owned a ranch.<br /><br /><br />In 1879, he enrolled in the California Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind (now the California School for the Deaf) in Berkeley. It was there Redmond found an affinity for drawing under the instruction of another deaf artist, Theophilus Hope d’Estrella, who introduced him to a Saturday art class at the California School of Design. He went on to enroll in the school. In 1893, he was selected by the faculty to create a drawing for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.<br />Redmond communicated through sign language and writing, but because of his focus on art he never mastered written English, a gap in his education that he came to regret. “In my early days in school I was always drawing, drawing,” he wrote.<br />After graduation, he studied in Paris at the Académie Julian. In 1895, his painting “Matin d’Hiver” (“Winter Morning”), depicting a barge on a bank of the Seine, was admitted to the Paris Salon, a high honor for an artist at the time. He painted in France for a few more years, hoping to enter another painting at the Salon and win a medal, but he struggled financially and returned to California, depressed, in 1898.<br />He married Carrie Ann Jean, who was from Indiana and also deaf, in 1899, and they had three children.<br /><br />Redmond’s paintings of poppies became popular among tourists — much to his chagrin. He preferred painting scenes of solitude. “Alas, people will not buy them,” he said. “They all seem to want poppies.”<br />Credit...<br />Collection of Thomas Gianetto<br />Redmond’s early works were Tonalist in nature, a nod to his training in San Francisco as well as to the artists of the 19th-century Barbizon school, whose landscape paintings he had come to know in France. Many of his paintings are scenes from Terminal Island, Catalina Island and Laguna Beach in Southern California. He returned to Northern California in 1908, living and painting in Monterey, San Mateo and Marin Counties.<br />“A lot of newspapers would write that he could see more than the average person because his sense of vision was heightened,” Shields, the Crocker museum curator, said in a phone interview. “Redmond kind of believed that himself.”<br />Redmond’s work was well received, but a lack of funds — partly because of an economic downturn at the beginning of World War I — led him to move back to Los Angeles and try his hand at acting.<br />In the silent-movie era Redmond’s disability, coupled with his artistic inclination, worked to his advantage. Chaplin saw him as a natural for small parts in his films because Redmond expressed himself through gestures, Shields said. The two men communicated on the set by signing to each other.<br /><br />Sometimes Redmond’s deafness worked its way into plotlines. In Arthur Rosson’s “You’d Be Surprised” (1926), Redmond played a coroner pretending to be a deaf valet. Only viewers who knew sign language could follow the conversation.<br />The movies also provided him with a new market for his art; buyers included the Hollywood elite, like Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.<br />Redmond died of complications of a heart condition on May 24, 1935. He was 64. (Chaplin died at 88 in 1977.)<br />Alice Terry, the writer for The Jewish Deaf magazine, saw artistic commonalities in the two friends.<br />“For more than two years now, these two have worked side by side,” she wrote in 1920, “Chaplin, silently and dramatically, by his ingenious trivialities, creating mirth and sunshine for millions of tired people; and Redmond, silently and none the less effectively, brightening the lives of all, by his radiant, appealing pictures on canvas.”<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbcXNihxzt0B6P5zi-6nO22YjkgAsASz-2i5UM57HB3W6GIJeCne3NPnqeK1jElZLRe7fXCV5K6-7v4L2MzbOjlgVJcSspDARfAnlqrSzYej9QtQS1HHxqdvvesxmNsNM7vXCXJ6nJ-BM/s512/Cy8Iv5coMpLHr5pr_OxO3kvm8YC5hXXxtEJ8IlfEth1y3qS0o4juE_ZuCt4TxoH00KU1x-wimUlottL_hN0eXMGgaUPSvoBjtKt5Qs_6Vb3qsZCuDAcgWULH_B8HmRuecSAKros1y9huHyTrHqzgIJDGfg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="512" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEbcXNihxzt0B6P5zi-6nO22YjkgAsASz-2i5UM57HB3W6GIJeCne3NPnqeK1jElZLRe7fXCV5K6-7v4L2MzbOjlgVJcSspDARfAnlqrSzYej9QtQS1HHxqdvvesxmNsNM7vXCXJ6nJ-BM/w400-h326/Cy8Iv5coMpLHr5pr_OxO3kvm8YC5hXXxtEJ8IlfEth1y3qS0o4juE_ZuCt4TxoH00KU1x-wimUlottL_hN0eXMGgaUPSvoBjtKt5Qs_6Vb3qsZCuDAcgWULH_B8HmRuecSAKros1y9huHyTrHqzgIJDGfg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><br /><br />Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-90876446640897574832021-03-29T13:20:00.000-07:002021-03-29T13:20:19.339-07:00A Little Pre-Birthday Experience.<p> Charlie's birthday is about 2 weeks away, on April 16 as you probably know. So I thought I'd go to my novel for a brief passage. I just got word that I will be appearing at a speaker series in mid-May, at Innsbrook Village, about an hour from St. Louis. The topic will be Charlie and my novel, "Shadow and Substance: My Time with Charlie Chaplin." I'll be going into a third printing, but have a few copies available for sale. $24...that includes shipping. End of commercial. The story briefly:<br /></p><p>Cooper, a documentary film maker, meets Charlie in present day Los Angeles. They go to the Alexandria Hotel, in downtown LA, which is where Charlie stayed when he first came to LA. </p><p>
</p><div class="page" title="Page 173">
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<p><i><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">FROM THE NOVEL:</span></span></b></i></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">Charlie walked to the front desk and returned with a room key. We
entered the tired elevator, pressed the button for the fifth floor, and creaked
and groaned our way up.
</span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">“Where are we headed?”<br />
“Room 437. We’re in luck. It’s not occupied.”<br />
We opened the door to the dark, sour room. Charlie stopped in the </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">doorway. For what seemed like a long time, he didn’t say a word. Then he
carefully closed the door behind him and switched on the light.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"> “They’ve changed the furniture. New wallpaper.” He moved like a
shadow around the room, touching, inspecting. He looked out the window
at the alley below and let out a short laugh. “They haven’t washed the
windows since I was here.” He took a deep breath, shook his head and
looked at me. “What do you think, Cooper?”</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">“About what?”</span></span><br /></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"></span></span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">
“About this room. What’s your impression?”<br />
I told him I found it depressing, sad. “But I didn’t live here eighty</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"> years ago, Charlie. I’m sure it must have been a lot more cheerful then.”
The room was just a square with a small bathroom attached. A single</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"> bed with a dark green blanket dominated the space, flanked by a wooden
frame chair with no padding, a narrow desk and a small closet near the
entrance. A glass jug lamp sat on the desk, while a ceiling light fixture
struggled to dissipate the shadows. Even in the middle of the morning it
was a losing battle.
</span></span>
</p></div><div class="column"><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">Charlie leaned against the desk, crossed his arms over his chest, and
surprised me with his next comment.
</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">“I was happy here, Cooper. Do you believe that?” He didn’t wait for
an answer. “I had just opened a new door in my life, and the view I saw
was breathtaking. I loved the movies. I was actually good at it. People
paid their dimes and quarters to see me, to laugh, to be moved. Anything
was possible. The Tramp had been born, an easy birth, and my mind was
bursting with ideas.” He walked around the room, his hands gesturing
with enthusiasm, as though he had stepped into the world of film for the
first time. “I loved what I was doing. I always loved it, difficult as the
creative process was at times. But at the start, before I was married, before
troubles began to hound me I was...I don’t know how to explain it.” He
walked over to me, placed his hands on my shoulders, looked me in the
eye, and said, “I didn’t have to measure up, Cooper. People had modest
expectations of me. Every success was a surprise, to everyone except
myself. I knew I could do it. With each new film, I made more friends,
more fans. With no controversy. It was a wonderful, blissful time.” He
let go of me, turned around and slowly ran his hand over the back of
the chair. “Of course, feelings like that are always in retrospect. I didn’t
realize just how exhilarating it was. But, oh, to have those days back. Just
one day.” His voice softened. “I would love to relive one evening, dinner
with Edna and Doug and Mary, in the restaurant downstairs, just the four
of us. Or Fatty and I relaxing over a couple of drinks after a day at the
studio.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I long for the freshness of it all,
that unexplored, everything-is-new feeling of adventure and promise that</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"> arrives only that first time and can never be repeated.”</span></span><br /></p></div><div class="column"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"></span></span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">
I stood near the door and tried to take in the whole room and Charlie. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">I could picture him as a man of twenty-eight in the Los Angeles of 1920, with
London behind him, the first World War just ended, the Roaring Twenties
still ahead, the Great Depression a decade away, to be followed by World
War Two, atomic bombs, suburbs and television.
</span></span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">This man in front of me was no longer the clown, the genius, the
icon. He was less, and he was more. He was a small and lonely man with
a deep-seated fear of poverty. He had physically left behind the slums and
deprivation of London, but still harbored the gnawing, painful memory of
his youth. Like so many others who start off life impoverished and become
rich, the scars of the street never completely heal.
</span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">One other facet of Charlie had yet to become known. That was still a
couple of days away, in a place that surprised me.</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"> The past that Charlie cherished was confined to a narrow stretch
of two years, preceding his meteoric rise, and the Alexandria Hotel had
become its focal point. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">There is no way for any of us to ever recapture that first breath of an
April morning again or the first taste of a vanilla ice cream cone.
</span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">The day was moving on. I had only this Sunday before I stepped back
into the all-too real world of Hollywood and television and Kevin. In spite
of revelations and possibilities emanating from Charlie, I had little for the
meeting.
</span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">“Charlie, is there anything here at the hotel that might be a help on
the project?”
</span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";">“You mean like secrets hidden in this room or in the lobby? Maybe a
contract or a photograph, or how about a hidden letter that sheds light on
the monster that dwells within?” An edge crept into his voice. “Nothing so
clean and simple,” he said. “We’re together because I want to be left alone.” </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "JansonText";"><i><b>Thanks for reading this. And an early birthday wish to Charlie. </b></i><br /></span></span></p>
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Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-50366382460864040682020-04-30T10:58:00.002-07:002020-04-30T10:58:44.097-07:00More from Red Letter Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Post #2 In a series:</span></b></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>This book has a series of articles in it from a British magazine called Red Letter. In 1916 it began a series of 37 articles about Charlie Chaplin.</i><br /><i><br /></i><span style="background-color: white;"></span><i><b>This is an excerpt from an article that ran on May 6, 1916.</b></i><br /><i>Thanks to Dan Kamin for bringing this book to my attention, and for putting it together. The articles were written by Fred Goodwins.</i><br /><br /><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>From Red Letter Days</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It wasn't long before the necessity of getting started in returned to Charlie in full force, for he came flying back to Los Angeles within three days of his departure to the mountains.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I happened to be on the stage when he walked into the studio, and I began forthwith to "kid" him strenuously upon his broken vows.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Did you take some good scenes up there, Charlie?" I asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> He looked at me vacantly. "Scenes?" he repeated."Scenes?" Then he got me. "Listen!" he grinned. "Are you trying to kid me, or just show me a good time?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Neither," I answered. "But I like the way you 'start in right away,' Charlie."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> He immediately felt he was losing his dignity, and tried to pull a solemn face. "Really, Goody," he said. "I went up to the mountains in the sacred cause."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Of charity?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Sure," he replied. "Harry" (his chauffeur) "was down with influenza, and I thought the trip would do him good."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> A volley of incredulous jeers greeted his diaphanous statement, whereat Charlie proceeded to look very much hurt. "You chaps don't believe I'm capable of doing a Christian act," he grumbled. But he couldn't keep it up any longer. That irresistible, twinkly smile came over his face, and he darted into his dressing-room.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> During the afternoon he unlocked his trunk, with its multitude of labels proclaiming the fact that he had but a short while ago travelled over the "Western Vaudeville Circuit" with the "Karno Company." Other labels betrayed him as having stopped at the So-and-So Hotel - - one dollar a night and up, with private bath one dollar 50 cents, in most of the big cities of the U.S.A. between here and New York City. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>These articles have given me insight into the Charlie Chaplin of the day, what his schedule and attitudes and thoughts were, plus observations by an accomplished journalist. I hope you enjoy these samplings.</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you would like to read a well-received novel about Charlie, and what he was like in the 1920's...and what might happen if he were in Hollywood today...I suggest you purchase a copy of "Shadow and Substance: My Time with Charlie Chaplin." Email me (spidermandel@charter.net), or reply to this post, and I will get one in the mail to you, for $20 plus shipping, signed if you like. Thank you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-22430255609984010482020-04-25T15:34:00.000-07:002020-04-25T15:34:24.708-07:00A Few Words from and about Charlie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>This book has a series of articles in it from a British magazine called Red Letter. In 1916 it began a series of 37 articles about Charlie Chaplin.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>This is an excerpt from an article that ran on April 29, 1916.</i><br />
<i>Thanks to Dan Kamin for bringing this book to my attention, and for putting it together. The articles were written by Fred Goodwins.</i><br />
<br />
<b>From Red Letter Days:</b><br />
<br />
I had scarcely returned from mailing my last article, and settled myself to a perusal of the English papers when the telephone bell rang. It was Leo White.<br />
"Come down to the office right away," he stammered excitedly. "Charlie gets in on the 4:30 train. There's a car waiting here to take us to the station!" And he rang off.<br />
<br />
Charlie coming back! It sounded too good to be true, but I knew White too well to suppose he was "kidding," so I hastened to the comedian's office on Broadway. Outside was Charlie's big, seven-passenger touring car, containing eight actors and a chauffeur. They sandwiched me in somehow, and the way we cut by those cross-town streets was a caution.<br />
<br />
Our waste was scarcely necessay, however, for when we arrived at the track and hurried into the station we were met by Harry Caulfield, the manager of the new Chaplin Mutual Company, who had arrived from New York the previous day.<br />
<br />
"What's your hurry, boys?" he questioned round the corner of a fat cigar, which was tucked, American fashion," into his face. "She not on time; you've got ten minutes to spare."<br />
..........<br />
"Here he is!" yelled one.<br />
"No, he's in the Pullman at the rear end."<br />
"Nonsense! That's a day-coach down there."<br />
Right in the middle of it, a small figure, all alone, alighted from the steps of the end coach, 'way down the line, and strolled up towards us at the station. There was no mistaking that quiet, thoughtful stroll or the neat hang of that nifty little New York suit upon his dapper frame. It was Charlie at last.<br />
It was fully ten seconds before he realized that we had come down to meet him, but when he finally "came to earth" and saw us - say, didn't he let out a whoop!<br />
"Hi!" he shouted, his high-strung temperament overcoming for the moment his habitual calm. "Hello, boys! Home again!" Then, as we started to run towards him, he greeted us all in rapid succession.<br />
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<i>The article runs on for another 2 pages in the book and is worth the read. I'll post excerpts from other articles in the book in the weeks ahead.</i>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-6300577519110636562020-04-14T20:12:00.002-07:002020-04-14T20:12:54.966-07:00Special for Charlie's Birthday - April 16 - My Novel<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now you can buy "Shadow and Substance"</span></h4>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for only $20, free shipping.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wrote a novel about Chaplin, about Hollywood in the 20's and today, about time travel and the amazing story of Chaplin. It's called "Shadow and Substance: My Time with Charlie Chaplin." Yes, it's a novel, which means it's fiction...but also built on fact...except for some imagination and the time travel part.</span></h4>
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<b><span style="color: blue;">Got some really good reviews, including this gem from Kevin Brownlow:</span></b></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>“I was impressed by your book. I enjoyed it so much I made it last as long as possible. It was fascinating to read <span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">a fictitious version of an event one has been through oneself. You are a very good writer and your imagination caught me to such an extent that I began to feel as though I had just encountered Chaplin myself!”</span></i></span></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: normal; white-space: pre;"> </span>Kevin Brownlow, Chaplin expert, author, documentarian, and winner of a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 2010</span></span></h4>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The special price for my novel - $20 - </span>is good until the end of April, 2020.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The reason, again, is to celebrate Charlie Chaplin's birthday, April 16.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He was born in 1889 and changed the history of movies, and was at one time the most famous man in the world. Not bad accomplishments for someone who grew up in poverty in the slums of London.</span></span></h4>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>You can pay by PayPal (spidermandel@charter.net) or mail a check for $20 to</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gerry Mandel, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">503 Taylor Young Drive, St. Louis MO 63122. Let me know if you'd like for me to sign the book. Thanks.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Free shipping only in U.S. Other countries, USPS rates apply.</span></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Available number of copies is limited.</span></b></span></div>
Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-50395578832061212072019-04-05T15:41:00.000-07:002019-04-05T15:41:06.354-07:00Born 130 Years Ago, He Still Makes Us Laugh<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; line-height: normal;">
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>He was born into poverty on April 16th in 1889. </b>His father abandoned him when he was a child. His mother began a long, gradual descent into madness. He lived on the streets of London by his wits, along with his half-brother Sydney. He fell in love with the magic of the English music hall when he was eight years old. Audiences loved this funny and talented youngster who made them laugh.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By the time he was 25, he was the most recognized and beloved figure in the world. And remained so for many years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">His name was Charles Spencer Chaplin. On screen he was The Little Tramp. Charlie referred to him as The Little Fellow, elevating him somewhat in social standing. Chaplin may have been the most influential film maker in history. He broke away from his early work in Mack Sennett's film factory of slapstick, a kick in the pants, chases and two-dimensional stories, to discover the </span>power of s<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">toryline, character development, connection with the audience, performance, nuance, use of pathos and, especially, humor. His films, both the shorts and the features, had immeasurable impact on those who followed. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>This year marks the 130th anniversary of his birth.</b> And, yes, Charlie is still alive in many ways. Activities and events are being held around the world, throughout the year and into 2020. The Chaplin Office in Paris, under the guidance of Kate Guyonvarch, recently posted a calendar of events in their newsletter. It’s impressive. Take a look at <a href="http://www.charliechaplin.com/"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">www.charliechaplin.com</span></a>, the official website. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Before I tell you more about this 130th celebration, a word about why I care. In 1960 I was living in San Francisco, somewhere between beatnik and aspiring writer. On Tuesday nights I’d head across the Golden Gate Bridge to Zack’s, a waterfront bar in Sausalito, where they showed Charlie Chaplin movies. Scratchy, old 16mm prints accompanied by the chatter of the projector. For me, it was magic! Over a scotch and water, and a hamburger, I fell in love with The Little Tramp, the beginning of a life-long obsession. I even wrote a novel about a guy who meets Chaplin today. Yes, time travel. Hollywood yesterday and today. The title is “Shadow and Substance: My Time with Charlie Chaplin.” If you would like to order a copy, send me an email, at <a href="mailto:spidermandel@charter.net"><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">spidermandel@charter.net</span></a>. Reasonably priced, signed at no extra cost. (End of plug.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back to the celebration. Here are some of the cities, countries and venues. For starters, Chaplin’s World in Vevey, Switzerland. That’s where Charlie lived after he left the U.S., and is now a museum (I was there two years ago, an unforgettable experience). Other event locations: London and Bristol, England. Paris. Slovakia. Japan. Italy. Israel. Turkey. United States. Germany. Austria. Switzerland. Spain. Maybe even St. Louis. I'm working on it. And more on the horizon.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Events and projects include a new documentary, a new album of Chaplin music by violinist Philippe Quint, new plays and adaptations, a revival of “Chaplin: The Musical” in various countries, a BBC Radio series, Chaplin feature films shown with live orchestral accompaniment, limited edition of art prints of photographs from the Chaplin archives. And the party continues into 2020.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In September of 2017, my wife and I visited Paris. We made plans to meet Kate for lunch. As we walked to the restaurant, Kate said, “I’ve invited someone to join us. I hope you don’t mind.” Of course I didn’t mind and said so. Then she told me who it was. Charlie’s grandson. Charles Sistovaris. His mother was Josephine, one of Charlie and Oona’s daughters. It was a lunch I’ll never forget. Charley was incredibly charming and gracious, with that magic Chaplin smile.The meal was delicious, the setting elegant, the company...one for the ages.</span></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I urge you to celebrate Chaplin’s 130th.</b> Go to Paris, London, NYC, DC, or wherever you find a Chaplin event on the website. Or watch a Chaplin movie at home. Maybe start with “The Kid” or “The Gold Rush.” Or his Mutual shorts. Chaplin considered these shorts some of his best work. You can buy them on-line or find them at the library. If possible, get a recent edition of the movie, where the image is sharp and the music track is crisp and clean. You’ll see why Charlie still makes us laugh and perhaps shed a tear. You'll understand why the world remembers his birthday. And rejoices.</span></span><br />
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Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-22755254632849701912019-02-21T20:20:00.000-08:002019-02-21T20:20:13.964-08:00The Ship Sails with Charlie And Stanley<div class="_5pbx userContent _3576" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_12" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 6px;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>September, 1910. One hundred and eight years ago.</b> That's when Charlie Chaplin and Stanley Jefferson, together with a dozen other actors, left England with the Karno Company to embark on a tour of the United States. Some of the names in that company are Albert Austin (who appeared in many of Chaplin's later films), Alf Reeves (who appeared in two of Chaplin's shorts, as well as acted as production manager on later films), Charles Griffiths, and Fred Palmer. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />The ship left Sout<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">hampton, England and docked 11 days later in Montreal. The company headed to New York. What an experience that must have been for them: The New World, a bustling, rapidly growing city, and a chance to make American audiences laugh. Here is what Charlie said about their arrival (from "My Autobiography"):</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br />"At ten o'clock on a Sunday morning we at last arrived in New York. When we got off the streetcar at Times Square, it was something of a let-down. Newspapers were blowing about the road and pavement, and Broadway looked seedy, like a slovenly woman just out of bed. On almost every corner there were elevated chairs with shoe lasts sticking up and people sitting comfortably in shirt sleeves getting their shoes shined. They gave one the impression of finishing their toilet in the street...However, this was New York, adventurous, bewildering, a little frightening..."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br />Stanley (later to become Stan Laurel) would eventually develop his own character and style. Chaplin, unaware of what movies held in store for him, was just four years away from the beginning of unprecedented fame.</span></span></div>
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Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-4299067474464373432019-02-15T12:05:00.001-08:002019-02-15T12:05:40.183-08:00New Solo Recording of Chaplin's Music An idea whose time has come. If not overdue.<br />
A new recording by a gifted violinist has just been released. I am attaching a link to the article that appeared on the San Francisco Classical Voice website. It's well written by a person who obviously holds Chaplin and his music in high esteem. I've attached a link to Philippe Quint's comments and portions of "Smile".<br />
Enjoy. And order the CD.<br />
https://www.sfcv.org/article/charlie-chaplin-gets-another-assist-in-realizing-his-musical-dreams<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDja_drO9wU6w&v=ja_drO9wU6w">Philippe Quint - Chaplin’s SmileLivePlaylist (0)Mix (50+)</a></div>
Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-79174210363391743552019-02-12T12:26:00.000-08:002019-02-12T12:26:06.548-08:00Charlie and Stanley - At The Beginning<div class="_5pbx userContent _3576" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_eh" style="color: #1d2129; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 6px;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the recent release of "Stan and Ollie" - an excellent film starring John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan - I wanted to see what Stanley (Jefferson, at the time) had said about Chaplin. They were both in Fred Karno's company when they arrived from England to tour the United States beginning in 1910. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's what Stanley said: "We had a lot of fun in those days. Charlie and I roomed together and I can still see him playing the violin or cello to cover the noise of the cooking of bacon I was doing on the gas ring, forbidden of course. Then we'd both take towels and try and blow the smoke out of the window."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charlie, of course, was hired by Mack Sennett in 1914 and went on to worldwide stardom. Stanley, who shortly thereafter changed his name to Stan Laurel, also achieved a world-wide audience, with Oliver "Babe" Hardy, though never one that equalled Chaplin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are two pictures of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel when they were traveling the U.S. with the Fred Karno company. </span></span></div>
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<a ajaxify="/timewithcharliechaplin/photos/a.583751735057549/1906612702771439/?type=3&eid=ARDjI27ZKwrKzUOrpedFKfOWjyLgJSnNFJGFMkxSVTlgTzwQpsOpxSC4HZxoEsg1FzQDI8vsIreaJ4iF&size=400%2C303&fbid=1906612702771439&source=13&player_origin=unknown&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCuIOdY7wl2iqA76g-LAsaJ7uwruD8f0xvp6wUXdF6_mdZ0gLEBJXP4S-UFTDJclmF9BjZ-RdRN-8drWVvLHCyyWY0QxLyCuDF_LQ9LhiqpnL54iCPYfOUn2bcexI9RkA5WmZ82Xja4zs0NN6kfzAN3Vf3DBAlbQP_diSTmT5cu07BAnhAysnQWVvJny9M7fXO2iOrkUX8CmNxZq41C_5JHUwxDGgs96p-p0JXclcoWvLsBkzjhl-iufeufm2n2POc5t7LhFguE3fqd2ScSq_3Idy--KXWN8uz6onhXRBRxzMLfnsV5kC7Lc1AeyPNcRS5BTEtDMYGbAZeuDdrLoKhA5Q&__tn__=EHH-R" class="_4-eo _2t9n" data-ploi="https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/51730808_1906612706104772_7915374033581899776_n.png?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=f455508b5329d3a2eb5ac9621c6f502a&oe=5D004CBA" data-render-location="homepage_stream" href="https://www.facebook.com/timewithcharliechaplin/photos/a.583751735057549/1906612702771439/?type=3&eid=ARDjI27ZKwrKzUOrpedFKfOWjyLgJSnNFJGFMkxSVTlgTzwQpsOpxSC4HZxoEsg1FzQDI8vsIreaJ4iF&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCuIOdY7wl2iqA76g-LAsaJ7uwruD8f0xvp6wUXdF6_mdZ0gLEBJXP4S-UFTDJclmF9BjZ-RdRN-8drWVvLHCyyWY0QxLyCuDF_LQ9LhiqpnL54iCPYfOUn2bcexI9RkA5WmZ82Xja4zs0NN6kfzAN3Vf3DBAlbQP_diSTmT5cu07BAnhAysnQWVvJny9M7fXO2iOrkUX8CmNxZq41C_5JHUwxDGgs96p-p0JXclcoWvLsBkzjhl-iufeufm2n2POc5t7LhFguE3fqd2ScSq_3Idy--KXWN8uz6onhXRBRxzMLfnsV5kC7Lc1AeyPNcRS5BTEtDMYGbAZeuDdrLoKhA5Q&__tn__=EHH-R" rel="theater" style="box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) 0px 1px 1px; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; display: block; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: 474px;"><div class="uiScaledImageContainer _4-ep" id="u_1f_k" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; height: 359px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 474px;">
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<a ajaxify="/timewithcharliechaplin/photos/a.583751735057549/1906612702771439/?type=3&eid=ARDjI27ZKwrKzUOrpedFKfOWjyLgJSnNFJGFMkxSVTlgTzwQpsOpxSC4HZxoEsg1FzQDI8vsIreaJ4iF&size=400%2C303&fbid=1906612702771439&source=13&player_origin=unknown&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCuIOdY7wl2iqA76g-LAsaJ7uwruD8f0xvp6wUXdF6_mdZ0gLEBJXP4S-UFTDJclmF9BjZ-RdRN-8drWVvLHCyyWY0QxLyCuDF_LQ9LhiqpnL54iCPYfOUn2bcexI9RkA5WmZ82Xja4zs0NN6kfzAN3Vf3DBAlbQP_diSTmT5cu07BAnhAysnQWVvJny9M7fXO2iOrkUX8CmNxZq41C_5JHUwxDGgs96p-p0JXclcoWvLsBkzjhl-iufeufm2n2POc5t7LhFguE3fqd2ScSq_3Idy--KXWN8uz6onhXRBRxzMLfnsV5kC7Lc1AeyPNcRS5BTEtDMYGbAZeuDdrLoKhA5Q&__tn__=EHH-R" class="_4-eo _2t9n" data-ploi="https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/51730808_1906612706104772_7915374033581899776_n.png?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=f455508b5329d3a2eb5ac9621c6f502a&oe=5D004CBA" data-render-location="homepage_stream" href="https://www.facebook.com/timewithcharliechaplin/photos/a.583751735057549/1906612702771439/?type=3&eid=ARDjI27ZKwrKzUOrpedFKfOWjyLgJSnNFJGFMkxSVTlgTzwQpsOpxSC4HZxoEsg1FzQDI8vsIreaJ4iF&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCuIOdY7wl2iqA76g-LAsaJ7uwruD8f0xvp6wUXdF6_mdZ0gLEBJXP4S-UFTDJclmF9BjZ-RdRN-8drWVvLHCyyWY0QxLyCuDF_LQ9LhiqpnL54iCPYfOUn2bcexI9RkA5WmZ82Xja4zs0NN6kfzAN3Vf3DBAlbQP_diSTmT5cu07BAnhAysnQWVvJny9M7fXO2iOrkUX8CmNxZq41C_5JHUwxDGgs96p-p0JXclcoWvLsBkzjhl-iufeufm2n2POc5t7LhFguE3fqd2ScSq_3Idy--KXWN8uz6onhXRBRxzMLfnsV5kC7Lc1AeyPNcRS5BTEtDMYGbAZeuDdrLoKhA5Q&__tn__=EHH-R" rel="theater" style="box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) 0px 1px 1px; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; display: block; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: 474px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From "Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy," an excellent biography by Simon Louvish, published by St. Martin's Press: </span></span></span></a><span style="font-size: large;"><a ajaxify="/timewithcharliechaplin/photos/a.583751735057549/1906612702771439/?type=3&eid=ARDjI27ZKwrKzUOrpedFKfOWjyLgJSnNFJGFMkxSVTlgTzwQpsOpxSC4HZxoEsg1FzQDI8vsIreaJ4iF&size=400%2C303&fbid=1906612702771439&source=13&player_origin=unknown&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCuIOdY7wl2iqA76g-LAsaJ7uwruD8f0xvp6wUXdF6_mdZ0gLEBJXP4S-UFTDJclmF9BjZ-RdRN-8drWVvLHCyyWY0QxLyCuDF_LQ9LhiqpnL54iCPYfOUn2bcexI9RkA5WmZ82Xja4zs0NN6kfzAN3Vf3DBAlbQP_diSTmT5cu07BAnhAysnQWVvJny9M7fXO2iOrkUX8CmNxZq41C_5JHUwxDGgs96p-p0JXclcoWvLsBkzjhl-iufeufm2n2POc5t7LhFguE3fqd2ScSq_3Idy--KXWN8uz6onhXRBRxzMLfnsV5kC7Lc1AeyPNcRS5BTEtDMYGbAZeuDdrLoKhA5Q&__tn__=EHH-R" class="_4-eo _2t9n" data-ploi="https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/51730808_1906612706104772_7915374033581899776_n.png?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=f455508b5329d3a2eb5ac9621c6f502a&oe=5D004CBA" data-render-location="homepage_stream" href="https://www.facebook.com/timewithcharliechaplin/photos/a.583751735057549/1906612702771439/?type=3&eid=ARDjI27ZKwrKzUOrpedFKfOWjyLgJSnNFJGFMkxSVTlgTzwQpsOpxSC4HZxoEsg1FzQDI8vsIreaJ4iF&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCuIOdY7wl2iqA76g-LAsaJ7uwruD8f0xvp6wUXdF6_mdZ0gLEBJXP4S-UFTDJclmF9BjZ-RdRN-8drWVvLHCyyWY0QxLyCuDF_LQ9LhiqpnL54iCPYfOUn2bcexI9RkA5WmZ82Xja4zs0NN6kfzAN3Vf3DBAlbQP_diSTmT5cu07BAnhAysnQWVvJny9M7fXO2iOrkUX8CmNxZq41C_5JHUwxDGgs96p-p0JXclcoWvLsBkzjhl-iufeufm2n2POc5t7LhFguE3fqd2ScSq_3Idy--KXWN8uz6onhXRBRxzMLfnsV5kC7Lc1AeyPNcRS5BTEtDMYGbAZeuDdrLoKhA5Q&__tn__=EHH-R" rel="theater" style="box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) 0px 1px 1px; color: #365899; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; width: 474px;"><div class="uiScaledImageContainer _4-ep" id="u_1f_k" style="display: inline !important; height: 359px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 474px;">
<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"When Stanley Jefferson met Fred Karno in November 1909, Karno had been a name in British music-halls since 1895. He is mentioned often, as an early discoverer of Stan Laurel, but mainly as the power behind Charles Chaplin, Stan's senior contemporary. However, the significance of Karno in both these actors' inheritance goes deeper than merely that of a mentor, the man who set them forth on their careers."</span></span></div>
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Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-35153336293137999942019-02-07T11:12:00.001-08:002019-02-07T11:27:25.919-08:00Charlie and Chasen's<div style="color: #1d2129; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the most popular restaurants of "Old Hollywood" was Chasen's. It was at 9039 Beverly Boulevard on the edge of Beverly Hills. Chasen's opened in 1936 and closed its fabled doors in 1995.<br />Charlie Chaplin was among the many stars who frequented it. A collector in LA had several memorable items connected with old Hollywood restaurants. Among them was a match-book cover signed by Charlie. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirF7M_neHO9L_mcHB19AzlsBYOa3kqefd8XTwscrIrzKvevOnBaudHrK2KxVuH6tnYDthm6iyEIKn0vZBodtFRuXQu0WO9FjLrq3O6L8-ab9tGr02sv0u2AHvbo1gX61JZsX_O8Pf6Cvho/s1600/IMG_4712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirF7M_neHO9L_mcHB19AzlsBYOa3kqefd8XTwscrIrzKvevOnBaudHrK2KxVuH6tnYDthm6iyEIKn0vZBodtFRuXQu0WO9FjLrq3O6L8-ab9tGr02sv0u2AHvbo1gX61JZsX_O8Pf6Cvho/s200/IMG_4712.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifzdNfrSsZQa_8NLAfTVYeerrCj-6cHWGrQeP3-ctN7BTZ3P3b67NkO4jDyfrPU8OyQd9VK1la5qSaqqFU7yOClg2y8PlbHi30aB5-tSIN89_r8zH7WcQeHhhGDJnA0IBt47YiwyObRxPp/s1600/IMG_4699_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1065" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifzdNfrSsZQa_8NLAfTVYeerrCj-6cHWGrQeP3-ctN7BTZ3P3b67NkO4jDyfrPU8OyQd9VK1la5qSaqqFU7yOClg2y8PlbHi30aB5-tSIN89_r8zH7WcQeHhhGDJnA0IBt47YiwyObRxPp/s320/IMG_4699_2.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppN0-ePniYK9RvB0EyHnFQ5oaqUorimC_PLqu7AJDuzIRWqVR67463h2Axf0928ojvJPg9YvzFjXjTLFf4dA2pZKBHlLPFguYqEHrmMgXu6Zx7QdYpp04prZMppuGwUNwvZO7CBGu6GYX/s1600/IMG_4712_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1259" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppN0-ePniYK9RvB0EyHnFQ5oaqUorimC_PLqu7AJDuzIRWqVR67463h2Axf0928ojvJPg9YvzFjXjTLFf4dA2pZKBHlLPFguYqEHrmMgXu6Zx7QdYpp04prZMppuGwUNwvZO7CBGu6GYX/s320/IMG_4712_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My son found it and gave it to me several years ago on Charlie's birthday. I'd love to know the story behind it...whose was it? When was this signed? Did Charlie say anything? What did he have for dinner? Who was he with? What car was he driving? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One can only imagine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Here is a link to a short YouTube video about Chasen's and other iconic Hollywood restaurants. Enjoy.</span></div>
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqx0rWg5X7Q</div>
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Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-65505395790134591932017-12-31T08:46:00.002-08:002017-12-31T08:46:56.974-08:00Charlie's 1936 Packard Twelve For Sale<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioccQqVwH8dEoStK3cyyuEoOA7mNTkFAxUF_RB2FotuZkr02lS5fiQx3rqGOoI5OAnYfKVxjrGpqZYLkT7NLpModlIW099MPc3Yd8hFIgMHXtXb4_c3jGa8J6G9oqIRpqiQm93MXSlzRkg/s1600/1936-Packard-Twelve-All-Weather-Cabriolet-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioccQqVwH8dEoStK3cyyuEoOA7mNTkFAxUF_RB2FotuZkr02lS5fiQx3rqGOoI5OAnYfKVxjrGpqZYLkT7NLpModlIW099MPc3Yd8hFIgMHXtXb4_c3jGa8J6G9oqIRpqiQm93MXSlzRkg/s320/1936-Packard-Twelve-All-Weather-Cabriolet-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I just learned that this fabulous Packard, which was owned for awhile by Charlie Chaplin, is for sale. It's at a vintage collector's dealer here in St. Louis. It's yours for only $139,900. If I had that kind of money, I'd buy it...plus some extra for the insurance.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I plan to go to the dealer's as soon as we get past the holidays freezing weather and take an in-person look at it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Here's a link.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">https://www.schmitt.com/inventory/charlie-chaplins-1936-packard-twelve-all-weather-cabriolet-by-lebaron/</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One thing for sure: Charlie had good taste in automobiles. </span>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-48872957865207981032017-12-25T12:03:00.000-08:002017-12-25T12:03:11.499-08:0040 Years Ago on Christmas DayOn Christmas Day of 1977, I was sitting on the floor of our home at #6 Westwood Forest, playing with my two kids, Holly and Gregg. We had just finished opening all the presents, the living room floor was strewn with shreds of colorful wrapping paper, ribbons, to/from cards, empty boxes. The phone rang. Mary Lee answered it, then came in and told me, "It's your mom." That was how I learned that Charlie had died. Mom knew of my love of Chaplin, frequently bought me Chaplin things: a painting, a book, a magazine.<br />
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Yes, Charlie Chaplin had died in Vevey, Switzerland, at his home at Manoir de Ban. You probably know the story as well as I do. This is simply a fond remembrance of his life, films and legacy on this day.<br />
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<br />Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-88265879257904385032017-08-14T15:25:00.004-07:002017-08-14T15:25:47.627-07:00<br />
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<span data-offset-key="7ihao-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Here are some more observations by Charlie's favorite cinematographer, Roland Totheroh. This is from an interview he did with Timothy Lyons in <i>Film Culture</i> in 1972. Chaplin was an undisciplined film maker, but maybe that's what went into his genius. </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7ihao-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Roland Totheroh:</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="7ihao-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">"Pretty near everything prior to </span></span><i style="color: #1d2129; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Great Dictator</i><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> was ad lib. He didn't have a script at the time, didn't have a script girl or anything like that, and he never checked whether the scene wasin itsright place or that continuity was followed. The scriptwould develop as it went along. A lot of times after we saw the dailies the next morning, if it didn't warrant what he thought the expectation was, he'd put in some other sort of a sequence and work on that instead of going through with what he started out to do... In a lot of his old pictures, he'd make that separation by using titles about the time: 'next day' or 'the following day' or 'that night' - these would cover the script gaps in-between.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7ihao-0-0"><span data-text="true"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">"He didn't want people to think that he didn't know what he was doing. He'd turn around and think overnight. 'Jesus Criminy, this is what I should have done. I didn't do it.' Now he'd dismissed all the people and had sets torn down. But, it was his own money, so what the deveil - 'Call the people.' He'd look for some excuse, something wrong, somebody else to be at fault for it; he'd have to call them down. You'd breakany company the way he'd shoot. Of course, it was his own money. But the way he shot the scene over and over he'd wear out all the actors and actresses. But he was patient with everyone who was acting. Even though, he'd confuse them by doing something so many times and so many different ways, they got so they didn't know which way they'd done it at any one time. Lydia Knott in <i>Woman of Paris</i> - he wore her out. Finally she said, 'Oh, Mr. Chaplin, please tell me what I'm doing wrong and what you </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">want. I'm worn out. I don't know what to do.' He said, 'You're doing all right, it's just some little thing I want you to do.'"</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Rollie worked with Charlie from 1915 until 1947. He was an "advisor" on <i>The Great Dictator," </i>not an easy role for him, I'm sure. Rollie died in 1967.</span></span></div>
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Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-49546557533168508902017-08-06T13:51:00.000-07:002017-08-06T13:51:18.744-07:00The Man Who Shot Charlie Chaplin<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9nuvPpS-PICiDgGGVNO48dI7hUnAu9LSj0TmYSgqga-Hfp1XQ-QP7dG5sjPg-idPb3V07q5-xHpJj8J6kPMEUbTZ5qrqgXcBNBWapKDubuJTkMNzP9aRqRq8QIQNlDUSy1jZSdb1sZQT/s1600/Unknown-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9nuvPpS-PICiDgGGVNO48dI7hUnAu9LSj0TmYSgqga-Hfp1XQ-QP7dG5sjPg-idPb3V07q5-xHpJj8J6kPMEUbTZ5qrqgXcBNBWapKDubuJTkMNzP9aRqRq8QIQNlDUSy1jZSdb1sZQT/s1600/Unknown-2.jpeg" /></a><br />
If you're a fan of Charlie, then you know the name Roland Totheroh and that he was Chaplin's principal cinematographer from 1916 to 1952. He was relegated to the position of advisor for the filming of "The Great Dictator" in 1939-40. Until then, he and Charlie worked together on over 30 films.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiob1lK6O9bOduVfRR31kf8sGoUEdxL_PEy8JL2JwLUeg6H0AKPn1qtOUOt4gZg_eO16PAxvCVav6klehiNZ2rqJSLSMrKDXevUc5XD9MuS2fsv06KgIwBXarjUYWD7qs_LDK8Nja3Gf2Qo/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="246" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiob1lK6O9bOduVfRR31kf8sGoUEdxL_PEy8JL2JwLUeg6H0AKPn1qtOUOt4gZg_eO16PAxvCVav6klehiNZ2rqJSLSMrKDXevUc5XD9MuS2fsv06KgIwBXarjUYWD7qs_LDK8Nja3Gf2Qo/s200/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a>He died in 1967.<br />
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I recently came across an interview that Totheroh did with Timothy Lyons in <i>Film Culture</i> (1972).<br />
Here is an excerpt from it, where he recounts how Charlie developed his ideas.<br />
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"When Charlie was working on an idea, often he would call me in. There were always a lot of his own people around. He'd hit on a certain situation where there was something he was building on and he'd want conversation more or less. And there'd always be someone there to write things down. Every time he'd speak, 'Put it down. Don't lose it. We'll go back to that, I'll lose my train of thought.' He'd dictate so darn many things that, unless you're pretty clever and keep them in sequence, you could lose it easy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpr9Zom4HGh8HbOOQiDJpeIooRkVpMw9fct4rscY8r94YpBG0ThNER8wFPqi2l6FexlI5VdzJjI7UOQDYswNdlrlwv3s5joYZ3CgGxjcu-As1ox9SPXC-y3Xxibt_yynZhdQPxCCoYhfwg/s1600/Unknown-1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="254" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpr9Zom4HGh8HbOOQiDJpeIooRkVpMw9fct4rscY8r94YpBG0ThNER8wFPqi2l6FexlI5VdzJjI7UOQDYswNdlrlwv3s5joYZ3CgGxjcu-As1ox9SPXC-y3Xxibt_yynZhdQPxCCoYhfwg/s200/Unknown-1.jpeg" width="200" /></a>"But the basic idea on all his films would often change; it did on pretty near everything we took. After running with the dailies, then he'd be inspired and it would give him another idea, another thought. If not, he'd throw it out and do it from another angle. sometimes after a set had been torn down, he'd get a new idea and we'd have to reconstruct the whole set exactly as it was before so that he could reshoot some shots for a scene."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc-ybZGNz6dixru2LR_05HVGwyZ-OqllAQNqtcxMW7BP1HpFVuILZ3HFH8zT4Vn9RJs820VoP6khAT6Ryr4I0dsO_ym6e3kikVyp_wHa_GKLB2G6WdhaOWsMLJvcA9FE5RCglqt_02B7Ku/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc-ybZGNz6dixru2LR_05HVGwyZ-OqllAQNqtcxMW7BP1HpFVuILZ3HFH8zT4Vn9RJs820VoP6khAT6Ryr4I0dsO_ym6e3kikVyp_wHa_GKLB2G6WdhaOWsMLJvcA9FE5RCglqt_02B7Ku/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a>So far, I have been unable to find a biography of Roland Totheroh. If it hasn't been written, then it certainly deserves to be.<br />
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<br />Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-21422471487035230772016-11-19T10:29:00.002-08:002016-11-19T10:52:03.400-08:00Eating Where Charlie Ate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpIYn5cvj9wcX81ITM8hmnZyPgpvM7HLPfoLsp7-qqsvJduMvnTwsPzKK5WuoCbNqoCdbDBVR1pZ-4iGrWHeH50Kfwk44PkXQj286w_n9olh9WAOvS9oxfPlgSmWpQr29rifs4vaX0smtm/s1600/restaurant-since-1919.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpIYn5cvj9wcX81ITM8hmnZyPgpvM7HLPfoLsp7-qqsvJduMvnTwsPzKK5WuoCbNqoCdbDBVR1pZ-4iGrWHeH50Kfwk44PkXQj286w_n9olh9WAOvS9oxfPlgSmWpQr29rifs4vaX0smtm/s1600/restaurant-since-1919.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Charlie still lives in Hollywood.</b> At least he does at Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard. That restaurant opened in 1919 and is still going strong. A very classy place, delicious meals, an incredible staff with waiters in their time-honored red jackets, managers in coats and ties. You don't see that often these days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I had the good fortune to have dinner at Musso & Frank last week.</b> I had been there many times before, but that was in the 1970's, 80's and 90's, when I travelled to LA a lot on business (advertising, shooting commercials). Happy to say, the restaurant has aged gracefully with not a hint of wrinkles. I had phoned for reservations and requested the booth where Chaplin used to sit. Front room, front booth, by the window. The maitre d told me someone else had already reserved it, but if they didn't show, I would get it.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgViXJbKW2OH1HdlYwSSvD4Vsm5cck9FlXRB0rXLWqsdjNTO0fGZ6fZx5zG4s_AMVjbu8X1fN9sneQJnZJPHMbqwVmLNojIr1FE-NANsVe3ZAKamSaGSI1AFmY4Am-x31n8ERVC1EgRZ6bR/s1600/Musso2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgViXJbKW2OH1HdlYwSSvD4Vsm5cck9FlXRB0rXLWqsdjNTO0fGZ6fZx5zG4s_AMVjbu8X1fN9sneQJnZJPHMbqwVmLNojIr1FE-NANsVe3ZAKamSaGSI1AFmY4Am-x31n8ERVC1EgRZ6bR/s320/Musso2.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We (my wife and son and I) arrived at 7:00 and were immediately shown...to the Chaplin booth. That made my evening, regardless of the meal or service. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>This was one of Charlie's favorite places.</b> He, along with a roster of Hollywood legends, would eat there frequently: lunch, dinner, brunch. Among the famous: Doug Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, Budd Schulberg (glad they served writers there), Greta Garbo, the Warner brothers, Bogie and Bacall, Sinatra, Paulette Goddard with Charlie, and the list goes on through today: Depp, Clooney, Pitt, Hopper, etc.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimakZ5vWEjfmFw-VqFQ-MWBNzjYzmOqlvvh1opl9kyQtsgWzr7acuP3alL9in3OrcsT996Mf-owsI18y3QPI5mZqTFmxoUFh2Cg3KHeZ1Hs2kddEu_nvqjm49i6U4LEgP20IUdGVmPBMX0/s1600/VintageMusso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimakZ5vWEjfmFw-VqFQ-MWBNzjYzmOqlvvh1opl9kyQtsgWzr7acuP3alL9in3OrcsT996Mf-owsI18y3QPI5mZqTFmxoUFh2Cg3KHeZ1Hs2kddEu_nvqjm49i6U4LEgP20IUdGVmPBMX0/s320/VintageMusso.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was told that the interior had not been changed, upgraded, "improved" in the almost 100 years since it opened, except for minor repairs and seat cover replacements. Here's what really hit home though. The wood around the back of the booth was the same as 1919. Not even painted or stained. Just the bare wood, worn smooth by decades of arms and hands and hats and coats being placed there during luxurious dinners and glamorous events. Which meant, when I put my hand on that wood behind where I was sitting, I was touching the same wood that Charlie had touched.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHVWwYSVQCBcfVqAbuZYH3B3X4zwzthqiEIVfdrFRkSanHFZ23NxcsGhGnSrg3WKqPGWphB8skqmV-RYIcz4Q2NL-HRDNtlnF3v4c5__oRsh83ulbjq3z_txFO7u0ubo4SsReoGDaKw-U/s1600/musso-gallery-5.0.0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHVWwYSVQCBcfVqAbuZYH3B3X4zwzthqiEIVfdrFRkSanHFZ23NxcsGhGnSrg3WKqPGWphB8skqmV-RYIcz4Q2NL-HRDNtlnF3v4c5__oRsh83ulbjq3z_txFO7u0ubo4SsReoGDaKw-U/s320/musso-gallery-5.0.0.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I closed my eyes, rested my hand on that worn wood,</b> and reached deep into the past to touch Charlie. I think I did. Really. No great inspiration or idea for a new novel, but - this is a matter of faith - I knew I had touched him back in the 1920's, when he had become the most famous person in the world and still had many years and films ahead of him. Call me weird, but some things <u>are</u> possible, even in today's digital world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The meal was outstanding. I had calves liver and onions, one of Charlie's favorites. I didn't have the courage to try the lamb kidneys, which was his favorite. Dedication can only take you so far. The waiters were absolutely perfect. I talked to one of the maitre d's, a fascinating guy named Bobby with a long resume' in the restaurant business, also a writer. I sent him a copy of my novel. He sent me 3 stories he's working on. He's a good writer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>They say you can't go home again. Wrong. You can. Just get the corner booth at Musso and Frank and you're home in Hollywood almost a hundred years ago.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyuPg6bjXbOmDIO1QRPtZWOMnk4DN3rTMY5xkR9aJ1uZlSkrSGYZECwU3-Nlyz1AB0eESwwcFzIhNMBnfOkMj3jJnqEDIffzb4r2Bgapz-ZNcRGwpPDITDmbJBdJqoKVKYfwDbSQLhmjC0/s1600/14993472_10211170341714579_1203203773724371744_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyuPg6bjXbOmDIO1QRPtZWOMnk4DN3rTMY5xkR9aJ1uZlSkrSGYZECwU3-Nlyz1AB0eESwwcFzIhNMBnfOkMj3jJnqEDIffzb4r2Bgapz-ZNcRGwpPDITDmbJBdJqoKVKYfwDbSQLhmjC0/s320/14993472_10211170341714579_1203203773724371744_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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For more about this restaurant:</div>
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<a href="http://www.lamag.com/longform/the-secret-of-hollywoods-oldest-restaurant/">The Magical Legacy of Musso and Frank Grill</a></div>
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<br />Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-44204305584930708432016-11-19T10:29:00.000-08:002016-11-19T10:50:15.884-08:00Eating Where Charlie Ate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpIYn5cvj9wcX81ITM8hmnZyPgpvM7HLPfoLsp7-qqsvJduMvnTwsPzKK5WuoCbNqoCdbDBVR1pZ-4iGrWHeH50Kfwk44PkXQj286w_n9olh9WAOvS9oxfPlgSmWpQr29rifs4vaX0smtm/s1600/restaurant-since-1919.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpIYn5cvj9wcX81ITM8hmnZyPgpvM7HLPfoLsp7-qqsvJduMvnTwsPzKK5WuoCbNqoCdbDBVR1pZ-4iGrWHeH50Kfwk44PkXQj286w_n9olh9WAOvS9oxfPlgSmWpQr29rifs4vaX0smtm/s1600/restaurant-since-1919.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Charlie still lives in Hollywood.</b> At least he does at Musso & Frank Grill on Hollywood Boulevard. That restaurant opened in 1919 and is still going strong. A very classy place, delicious meals, an incredible staff with waiters in their time-honored red jackets, managers in coats and ties. You don't see that often these days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I had the good fortune to have dinner at Musso & Frank last week.</b> I had been there many times before, but that was in the 1970's, 80's and 90's, when I travelled to LA a lot on business (advertising, shooting commercials). Happy to say, the restaurant has aged gracefully with not a hint of wrinkles. I had phoned for reservations and requested the booth where Chaplin used to sit. Front room, front booth, by the window. The maitre d told me someone else had already reserved it, but if they didn't show, I would get it.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgViXJbKW2OH1HdlYwSSvD4Vsm5cck9FlXRB0rXLWqsdjNTO0fGZ6fZx5zG4s_AMVjbu8X1fN9sneQJnZJPHMbqwVmLNojIr1FE-NANsVe3ZAKamSaGSI1AFmY4Am-x31n8ERVC1EgRZ6bR/s1600/Musso2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgViXJbKW2OH1HdlYwSSvD4Vsm5cck9FlXRB0rXLWqsdjNTO0fGZ6fZx5zG4s_AMVjbu8X1fN9sneQJnZJPHMbqwVmLNojIr1FE-NANsVe3ZAKamSaGSI1AFmY4Am-x31n8ERVC1EgRZ6bR/s320/Musso2.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We (my wife and son and I) arrived at 7:00 and were immediately shown...to the Chaplin booth. That made my evening, regardless of the meal or service. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>This was one of Charlie's favorite places.</b> He, along with a roster of Hollywood legends, would eat there frequently: lunch, dinner, brunch. Among the famous: Doug Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, Budd Schulberg (glad they served writers there), Greta Garbo, the Warner brothers, Bogie and Bacall, Sinatra, Paulette Goddard with Charlie, and the list goes on through today: Depp, Clooney, Pitt, Hopper, etc.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimakZ5vWEjfmFw-VqFQ-MWBNzjYzmOqlvvh1opl9kyQtsgWzr7acuP3alL9in3OrcsT996Mf-owsI18y3QPI5mZqTFmxoUFh2Cg3KHeZ1Hs2kddEu_nvqjm49i6U4LEgP20IUdGVmPBMX0/s1600/VintageMusso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimakZ5vWEjfmFw-VqFQ-MWBNzjYzmOqlvvh1opl9kyQtsgWzr7acuP3alL9in3OrcsT996Mf-owsI18y3QPI5mZqTFmxoUFh2Cg3KHeZ1Hs2kddEu_nvqjm49i6U4LEgP20IUdGVmPBMX0/s320/VintageMusso.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was told that the interior had not been changed, upgraded, "improved" in the almost 100 years since it opened, except for minor repairs and seat cover replacements. Here's what really hit home though. The wood around the back of the booth was the same as 1919. Not even painted or stained. Just the bare wood, worn smooth by decades of arms and hands and hats and coats being placed there during luxurious dinners and glamorous events. Which meant, when I put my hand on that wood behind where I was sitting, I was touching the same wood that Charlie had touched.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHVWwYSVQCBcfVqAbuZYH3B3X4zwzthqiEIVfdrFRkSanHFZ23NxcsGhGnSrg3WKqPGWphB8skqmV-RYIcz4Q2NL-HRDNtlnF3v4c5__oRsh83ulbjq3z_txFO7u0ubo4SsReoGDaKw-U/s1600/musso-gallery-5.0.0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHVWwYSVQCBcfVqAbuZYH3B3X4zwzthqiEIVfdrFRkSanHFZ23NxcsGhGnSrg3WKqPGWphB8skqmV-RYIcz4Q2NL-HRDNtlnF3v4c5__oRsh83ulbjq3z_txFO7u0ubo4SsReoGDaKw-U/s320/musso-gallery-5.0.0.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>I closed my eyes, rested my hand on that worn wood,</b> and reached deep into the past to touch Charlie. I think I did. Really. No great inspiration or idea for a new novel, but - this is a matter of faith - I knew I had touched him back in the 1920's, when he had become the most famous person in the world and still had many years and films ahead of him. Call me weird, but some things <u>are</u> possible, even in today's digital world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The meal was outstanding. I had calves liver and onions, one of Charlie's favorites. I didn't have the courage to try the lamb kidneys, which was his favorite. Dedication can only take you so far. The waiters were absolutely perfect. I talked to one of the maitre d's, a fascinating guy named Bobby with a long resume' in the restaurant business, also a writer. I sent him a copy of my novel. He sent me 3 stories he's working on. He's a good writer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>They say you can't go home again. Wrong. You can. Just get the corner booth at Musso and Frank and you're home in Hollywood almost a hundred years ago.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyuPg6bjXbOmDIO1QRPtZWOMnk4DN3rTMY5xkR9aJ1uZlSkrSGYZECwU3-Nlyz1AB0eESwwcFzIhNMBnfOkMj3jJnqEDIffzb4r2Bgapz-ZNcRGwpPDITDmbJBdJqoKVKYfwDbSQLhmjC0/s1600/14993472_10211170341714579_1203203773724371744_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyuPg6bjXbOmDIO1QRPtZWOMnk4DN3rTMY5xkR9aJ1uZlSkrSGYZECwU3-Nlyz1AB0eESwwcFzIhNMBnfOkMj3jJnqEDIffzb4r2Bgapz-ZNcRGwpPDITDmbJBdJqoKVKYfwDbSQLhmjC0/s320/14993472_10211170341714579_1203203773724371744_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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For more about the restaurant and its legacy:</div>
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<a href="http://www.lamag.com/longform/the-secret-of-hollywoods-oldest-restaurant/">The magical history of Musso and Frank Grill</a></div>
<br />Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5932565758708588285.post-10379932958102426242016-10-20T08:46:00.000-07:002016-10-20T08:49:37.491-07:00Geraldine Chaplin honored at the Chicago Film Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuFH55GsiVVG2BXSIq3RgCUBnLUJj6f3pheo_ujZ8UraQ4pfnbyf_kfQR94EHBFmprIQ-AVK5m8QjuZ4h1esGW4KjU45YDVQmyxPv96NsebA3r8LLA6d9J56WW_ZBKpA3ShuiAAZW-XQpU/s1600/14656287_10157712746240492_7900457392190656780_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuFH55GsiVVG2BXSIq3RgCUBnLUJj6f3pheo_ujZ8UraQ4pfnbyf_kfQR94EHBFmprIQ-AVK5m8QjuZ4h1esGW4KjU45YDVQmyxPv96NsebA3r8LLA6d9J56WW_ZBKpA3ShuiAAZW-XQpU/s400/14656287_10157712746240492_7900457392190656780_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charlie's daughter arrived at Essanay Studios, where her dad made one of his earliest films ("His New Job") for Essanay a hundred years ago. Here's a link to some info and photos on this special event.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=chicago%20international%20film%20festival">Geraldine at Chicago Film Fest</a></span>Gerry Mandelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08516124652849272879noreply@blogger.com0