Unknown Chaplin
Unknown Chaplin
| 05 January 1983 (USA)
Unknown Chaplin Trailers

A documentary series examining the film making methods and techniques of Charles Chaplin. Featuring previously unseen footage from Chaplin's private film archive.

Reviews
Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Michael_Elliott Unknown Chaplin (1983) **** (out of 4) Unknown Chaplin: My Happiest Years Incredibly interesting documentary from Kevin Brownlow uses outtakes, behind the scenes footage and other goodies to tell the story of Charles Chaplin during his Mutual years of 1914-1917. Since most silent "extras" are gone it's rather amazing they were able to find all of this stuff, which really puts a face on the rumors surrounding Chaplin's work methods. It is known he was a genius but no one ever saw how that genius came to be. Some said he was sadistic and others said he was a terror to work for. With these outtakes we see why people would feel this way as Chaplin takes little scenes and runs off fifty to one hundred takes. But we also see the genius this creates especially during outtakes of The Immigrant where the same scene is shot over and over using different actors, clothing and other things to pull the scene off. This was part one of a three part series.Unknown Chaplin: The Great Director Part two of Kevin Brownlow's documentary about Charles Chaplin, this one taking a look at the making of The Kid, The Gold Rush and City Lights. Once again you get a perfect idea of who Chaplin was and how he was able to create the masterpieces that he did. The alternate ending and footage from City Lights is certainly the highlight here.Unknown Chaplin: Hidden Treasures Final segment in Brownlow's brilliant documentary is a real treat for fans as it contains to deleted scenes from The Circus, both of which are among the best stuff Chaplin has done. Also included is the deleted opening sequence to Modern Times, which was also quite nicely done. Home movies and other goodies are scattered throughout this part as well. Overall this is certainly a brilliant documentary and highly rated to those who enjoy Chaplin's work.
Cineanalyst "Unknown Chaplin" is an interesting program--from two authorities on film history and preservation, Kevin Brownlow and the late David Gill, two men I'm thankful to for many of the restored movies I've seen. I consider Charlie Chaplin one of the greatest filmmakers ever, in addition to being the funniest man I've ever seen. This three-part television series shows cut footage from Chaplin's films, providing a unique look at the filmmaker's perfectionism and improvisational approach.The first two episodes are especially telling. "My Happiest Years" features cut footage from his Mutual shorts "The Immigrant" and "The Cure", where Chaplin repeatedly retook scenes, improvising the comedy and narrative in front of the camera. And, "The Great Director" includes a nice look at the struggle between Chaplin's perfectionism and his unprofessional leading actress during filming of "City Lights". The last episode, "Hidden Treasures", shows a comedian who continued to work when not filming movies for release and how some of the gags in his films evolved over time. There's also a sequence from his aborted film "The Professor" and cut scenes from more of his films. Overall, "Unknown Chaplin" is worth watching for everyone seriously interested in Chaplin's art.
theowinthrop When the series Hollywood was made in the late 1970s, it's producers had more than enough material for a series of over 10 episodes (as it was shown). Especially the material dealing with interviews of silent film period survivors. The producers decided to do several follow-up documentaries. Three eventually were made, about Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd. This was the first. Taken from the Chaplin family film vaults, it showed (in three episodes) scenes that were filmed by Chaplin from movies that were actually finished but re-cut (like CITY LIGHTS, THE CIRCUS, and THE CURE), as well as films that were made for private viewing (a film with visitor Sir Harry Lauder), and film that was created for projects that did not work out. It was a wonderful series, and all too brief - mostly due to the tragic fact that Chaplin did not save all the cut material from all his projects and films. Try to catch this on DVD.
billabong_usa its almost ironic to call charlie chaplin unknown, but you truely learn how much you don't know about him with this series. It is getting you inside the mind of genius. The rare footage and personal interviews show you how secretive and personal chaplin was in life. If you are a silent film lover, this is a program you won't want to miss!