Chaplains History and Documented Materials: Silent Film - Essay Example

Publisher Silent Film Silent films were the main types of films that were produced during the period between 1915 and 1940. Among the most prominent were those produced by one hilarious Charlie Chaplin. The comedian became so rich and famous as he got invitations from big theatres at high market prices, while his own organized shows attracted crowds who were always left laughing out on Chaplain’s humor. Chaplain’s history and documented materials have been recorded in various databases, including magazines, videos and internet databases among others sources. While materials such as magazines and newspapers of the early 19th century period containing Chaplain’s content can be hard to trace, the internet provides these archives. Accessing these materials is, however, not a straightforward path, especially when investigating a new topic. Proper researching, though, leads one to find these archives that contain materials that are so much back dated. This paper, therefore, seeks to explore the archives bearing information on Charlie Chaplain with an aim of stating the lesson learnt from the topic. It will then explain how the topic was identified, the interest it raised over time, how the topic was narrowed, and the obstacles and dead-ends met during the research and the keywords searched that worked best and why they worked. Charlie Chaplain was a wealthy man who made millions through acting in the period of silent films. He was one of the funniest men during his era. He is a funny character who speaks better for himself even though his speech is of silent nature. He could send everyone who watched him into laughter, including those who did not want to laugh. Chaplain inhabited four hubs of jocularity between Fifth Avenue and Dearborn where he brought laughter to the shifting crowds (Kitty 10). His mode of dressing entailed a miserable pair of trousers and a bedraggled coat tails. He was also familiarized with an amusing midst of a minute mustache (Kitty 14). Chaplain was a big name, celebrated for the hilarious performances made in public concerts. He could receive several performance invitations, including the one mentioned in the Los Angeles Times. It provided, “Chaplain to shine: A citizen’s Vigilance Committee from Venice was out last night searching for one Charlie Chaplain, who is to be in the parade and catch the first ball in the opening game of San Francisco – Venice series.” (Green III1). Chaplain became so famous that at one time a crowd of about 500 people mistook Francis LaPlant and followed him down state street thinking that it was Chaplain. LaPlant thought the crowd wanted to lynch him and ran to a nearby medicine store where police ‘saved’ him by taking him to his home (Hartford Courant 9). Chaplain produced several humorous antics, which included ‘For the Commonwealth’, ‘Who Pays’ and ‘Work’. As a result of his fame, Chaplain’s value rose. According to the Madison Square Theatre Schedule in New York, Chaplain was valued at $12,500 per week by 1915. According to an article, the management of the theatre offered Chaplain a lump of up to $25,000 as salary in order to engage him (Kingsley III4). Charlie Chaplin was so funny that in some instances he was referred to as the funniest and most vulgar human in the entire universe. In his piece, ‘The Woman’, for example, decent people would be infuriated due to the vulgarity in it. Its nature left the audience angry in their own laughter. This, however, is seen as demeaning his work as he seems to have no self – limit. His talent enables him turn impossible crowds into sheers of laughter. When he gets his trousers down, however, mixed reactions will mostly likely fill the air, and parents might start restricting their children from attending Chaplin’s concerts. Harry Hamill was once quoted saying, “…In my judgment Chaplin descends to the lowest depths of vulgarity in almost every case.” Another man, A. C. F. said: Even the men will no longer think him funny or clever if he continues in his vulgar attempts. As one who has laughed heartily and often at Chaplin’s characterizations, I regret to methods that will surely relegate him to the ‘has been.’ It is surprising that S. & A. allow such pictures on their list. (Kitty 12) His vulgarity was later censored by warnings being issued to picture houses that they stop publicizing the works or the police would do so. In the beginning, Chaplin began by being the author of his work and directing them. He then turned into taking humorous plots and started aiding them by screamingly amusing fine articles. His popularity started dwindling as his works became more vulgar and rough – house dealings (Bownes III3). Charlie Chaplin is one of the most famous comedians of his time. This makes it easier to trace him, especially when one is looking for digital archives of the period between 1915 and 1940. While browsing through the silent film archives it was, therefore, notably easy to trace Chaplain and his work. As I researched on articles discussing Charlie Chaplain, I realized the fame he possessed and the kind of crowds he attracted. My interest gained as I realized his humorous nature and the way he could attract large audience, and even make those who did not want to express amusement break into laughter. What attracted my interest further was his unique nature of presentation, one of silence in his works. The silent films of the period between 1915 and 1940 were characterized by icons such as Chaplain. Since his films were of the silent nature, I narrowed my topic to focus on him, his nature and character, and what led him to be the icon he was in those days, especially with the kind of invitations he received, the market demand he attained and the monetary worth he came to be valued at. However, there were obstacles and dead – ends I met while looking into the articles. These mainly included looking into the many articles published in those days. The digital archives, however, were of great importance as they eased narrowing down of the relevant articles and even highlighting the searched words. Also, searching Chaplin’s articles brought other names that included either a different Charlie or Chaplin, hence make the search more difficult. Searching using the name ‘Chaplain’ brought a variety of irrelevant results, with a too general response to those pertaining to Charlie Chaplin. Similarly, searching ‘Charlie’ brought more than just Charlie Chaplin’s articles. The key words that worked best during the search were ‘Charlie Chaplin.’ This was because those were the specific words whose relevance I was searching. To get the information on the silent film, therefore, I had to use those specific words, no more or less. As seen above, the comedian who undertakes in silent movies, Charlie Chaplin was among the greatest of his time, and he earned repute in big theatres. This material has been obtained through archives that are amassed in digital archives. Digital archives are, therefore, consistent sources that can last for a long period of time and at the same instance, store information accurately. While use of other materials can be dreary and time – consuming, digital archives tend to ease the experience. Digital archives simplify research and ease maneuverability into unfamiliar or even inaccessible database, hence reducing the frustrations researchers meet. Works Cited Bownes, Leepson. “A Few Uncensored Remarks Concerning Charlie Chaplin” Los Angeles Times 14 July 1915. Green, Louise. “Charlie Chaplin To Catch First Ball Today: Big Joy Parade with Elephants, Calliope, Entertainers, Yama-Yama Girls and Rooters to Greet Arrival of Tigers for Opening Series Here – Twenty-four-piece Band to Toot at Game.” Los Angeles Times 21 April 1915. Hartford Courant. “Pursued by Crowd on State Street: Francis LaPlant, Mistaken for Charlie Chaplin, Thought Mob Was About to Lynch Him.” The Hartford Courant 26 July 1915. Kingsley, Grace. “Want Charlie in New York: Madison Square People Make Chaplin Offer; Knocks Spots Out of Highsalar…” Los Angeles Times 13 May 1915. Kitty, Kelly. “Flickerings from Filmland.” Chicago Daily Tribune 2 February 1915. Kitty, Kelly. “Flickerings from Filmland: Is Charlie Killing the Golden Goose?” Chicago Daily Tribune 16 July 1915. Kitty, Kelly. “Flickerings from Filmland: “Slapstick Wizard Gets the Uplift Bug.” Chicago Daily Tribune 1 April 1915. Kitty, Kelly. “Is Charlie Killing the Golden Goose?” Chicago Daily Tribune 13 July 1915. Read More