The Gold Rush - 1925

Gold Rush Framed Art Print
32 in. x 44 in.
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The Gold Rush (1925) is the quintessential Chaplin / Little Tramp film, with a balance of slapstick comedy and pantomime, social satire and emotional and dramatic moments of tenderness. It was Chaplin's own personal favorite films, showcasing the classic character of Tramp (called the "small" in the version re-release) as a romantic idealist and one gold prospector at the turn of the century, with his cane derby, distinctive walk, tight clothes shabby, and mustache.

Classic scenes include the stage of famine two prospectors cabin blocked boil and eat a meticulously stewed shoe, vagabond's cabin-mate delirium, imagining his companion as a large chicken, the cabin teetering on the edge of a cliff, and Chaplin's lonely New Year Party fantasized the day (with dinner rolls dance routine), when he expects a girl who never comes.

Early working titles for the film included Lucky Strike and The History of the North. The film, partly inspired by the macabre story Donner Party, was shot (on a 15-month period from spring 1924-summer 1925) both on land of Hollywood and back in the studio in Truckee, California / Nevada, and premiered in New York, the Strand Theatre in mid-August 1925. Chaplin film was reissued in 1942 with narration added sound and music, both spoken and composed / arranged by Chaplin.

City Lights - 1921

City Lights Framed Art Print
12.5625 in. x 16.9375 in.
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City Lights (1931), subtitled "A Comedy Romance in Pantomime," is generally viewed as Charlie Chaplin's greatest film - a "silent film" released three years after the start of the talkies era of sound. The melodramatic film, a combination of pathos, slapstick and comedy, was a tribute to the art of body language and pantomime - a lone hold-out against the assault of the talking film.

It was well known that Chaplin preferred the silent art form to the advent of sound films. Chaplin was responsible for the film's production, direction, editing, music, and screenplay (although assisted by Harry Crocker, Henry Bergman, and Albert Austin). The episodic film includes a complete musical soundtrack and various sound effects - but no speech or dialogue. Incredibly, Chaplin's film was not nominated for a single Academy Award - to the pro-talking film Academy members, it must have appeared to be reversing the trend toward talkies and advanced sound films.

The tale of blind love again presents the famous Little Tramp character - an outcast, homeless man with his baggy pants, tight coat, cane, large shoes and small hat who first appeared in 1914 (and gave his final appearance in Modern Times (1936)). This 'silent' film is the quintessential Chaplin film - with superb examples of Chaplin's (the Tramp's) acting and artistic genius.

The film's theme concerns the consequences (and suffering) resulting from the Tramp's attachment and efforts to aid a blind girl (and restore her sight with money for an operation) and a millionaire, as he persuades both of them that life is worth living. Both characters cannot "see" him or recognize him for what he is. However, the Tramp functions as a savior and wish-fulfiller for the blind flower girl while masquerading as a wealthy duke. For the drunk millionaire, the Tramp repeatedly saves the man's life and provides a congenial friend. [Note: Baby-faced comic Harry Langdon's best feature film in a short four-year film career, that was also director Frank Capra's feature-film debut, was The Strong Man (1926) - it predated Chaplin's City Lights (1931) by several years with its plot of a meek man in love with a blind woman.]

Casablanca - 1942

Casablanca Art Print
Casaro, Renato
24.3 in. x 36.75 in.
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Framed


The classical and well-loved romantic melodrama Casablanca (1942), still on the top-ten lists of movies, is a masterful account of two men vying for the love of one woman in a love triangle. The story of political espionage and romantic backdrop of war conflict between democracy and totalitarianism. [The date given for the film is often given as 1942 and 1943. This is because its first was limited in 1942, but the movie does not play nationally, or in Los Angeles until 1943.]

With a rich atmosphere and smoke, propaganda anti-Nazi, Max Steiner score great music, suspense, characters unforgettable (supposedly 34 nationalities are included in its cast) and lines of memorable dialogue (eg, "Here's lookin 'at you, children, and misrepresentation of the city "Play It Again, Sam"), it is one of the most popular, magical (and flawless) films of all time - focused on themes of love lost, honor and duty, self-sacrifice and romance within a chaotic world.

Play It Again Woody Allen, Sam (1972) reverential tribute to the film, like the movies less Cabo Blanco (1981) and Barb Wire (1996), and Bugs Bunny animated short Carrotblanca (1995). The line "Play it again, Sam" appeared in the Marx Brothers' A Night in Casablanca (1946). References to films or videos have been used in Play It Again, Sam (1972), Brazil (1985), My Stepmother Is an Alien (1988) and When Harry Met Sally (1989).