22 January 2010 SIR CHARLIE CHAPLIN: THE FUNNIEST MAN IN THE WORLD by Sid Fleischman, Greenwillow, June 2010, 288p., ISBN: 978-0-06-189640-8
"I care not what the world may say,
Without your love there is no day,
So, love, this is my song,
Here is a song, a serenade to you."
-- written by Charlie Chaplin, sung by Petula Clark
"Chaplin walked into the costume room, and out came the Little Tramp.
"He wrote, 'I wanted everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large...Remembering Sennett had expected me to be a much older man, I added a small mustache...'
"And then, 'I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the makeup made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked on to the stage he was fully born.'
"Charlie searched out Sennett and gave the tramp a tryout. 'I assumed the character and strutted about, swinging my cane.'
"Sennett, whom Chaplin credits with the golden gift of enthusiasm, all but fell apart with laughter and approval. Chaplin quickly began to fix the character, never forgetting, 'Even the clown has his rational moments.'"
Ah, the joys of YouTube! I've been sitting here entranced by Charlie Chaplin on the computer screen. I haven't seen any of this stuff since the midnight movie days of college.
(Not that those were nights I've ever been able to recall very well.)
I'll be setting the table for booktalking the latest kid-friendly bio by Sid Fleischman by setting up an LCD computer projector and rolling a couple of the many Chaplin movie segments available online. If that is not enough to entice children to read about this immortal comic genius, I'll also explain a bit about how well the author paints the life and world of Chaplin, beginning with those tender years, a century ago, in and about London when Charlie was acting before he could read and was, in due course, being shuttled in and out of workhouses after his mother began making her lonely way in and out of insane asylums.
Given such circumstances, this was a kid who was motivated to succeed. And succeed he did:
"His audience is eternal, captivated by 'that whirling gust of joy' on TV, on tapes, and DVDs. Impersonators shuffle along the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard to amuse the tourists. Actors imitate him. Look-alike contests were common. Once, during a competition at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, so many mimics flocked in that Charlie, in full makeup, came in third."
What are, for me, the most eye-opening aspects of this intriguing biography involve the detailed look at the filmmaking industry into which Chaplin walked ninety-something years ago. I know so many adolescents who, in recent times, have gotten a hold of a digital movie camera, gathered up their friends, taken a couple of minutes to sketch a plot and grab some props, and then begun shooting. The resulting edited footage can be found all over social networking pages and on YouTube.
Back when Chaplin arrived on the scene, the movie cameras were not as mobile but the technique was essentially identical!
"Sennett told Charlie to go inside a nearby building, put together a costume, and be ready to shoot.
"Shoot? Where was the script?
"Keystone provided no scripts. Sennett would verbally fling forth a bare-bones storyline cobbled together by his writers, who rarely touched the typewriter. The director was expected to fill one or two reels of film -- a total of ten or twelve minutes of playing time per reel -- improvising from first take to last.
"Silent dialogue flashed on the screen to help the story along was regarded as a pox unless a laugh could be squeezed out of the text. Said D.W. Griffith, the Moses of early filmmakers, handing down one of his commandments, 'People don't come to the movies to read. They come to look at pictures.'"
Of course, there is a story behind why in such an environment it is Charlie Chaplin whose work we are still watching and reading about a century later (and, I dare say, will be enjoyed in the future and imitated by generations yet unborn).
This is that story that the author reveals.
There is no question that SIR CHARLIE CHAPLIN: THE FUNNIEST MAN IN THE WORLD is far more understandable and enjoyable when you can take breaks, be online, and watch exactly what Fleischman is talking about. There is little value in reading the book if you don't get to experience the choreography of the boxing scene from City Lights, the zaniness of the eating machine scene from Modern Times, the breathtaking lion's cage scene from The Circus, and the emotional rooftop chase scene from The Kid. And having done so myself with all of these scenes and many more, I'll tell you that it is quite a treat.
I do suppose that there is a bit of irony there -- that this book about Sir Charlie, who created true genius with the most rudimentary of communications technologies, is best enjoyed with the help of cutting edge Twenty-first century technologies that permit me to sit anywhere and watch him over and over again on demand. No doubt the Little Tramp would have something to say...err...show us about that.
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