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Information

Charles Chaplin, independent
producer and Hollywood
renegade.

Charles Chaplin

SIMPP Member (1941-1947)

Charlie Chaplin: Biography—Independent Profile

by J. A. Aberdeen

Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London on April 16, 1889, the
son of two music hall entertainers. Charlie and his elder
half-brother Sydney were raised in a broken household by their
mother, whose mental stability was aggravated by poverty and
deprivation. When his mother was committed to an infirmary,
seven-year-old Charlie was sent to a workhouse outside of London,
and suffered from the loneliness of a Dickensian childhood. He
dreamed of freedom and wealth, and discovered the performing arts as
a vehicle for his ambitions.

Charlie Chaplin. Portrait
1920.

Chaplin's Theatre Days

Chaplin attracted the attention of the manager of a traveling
music hall troupe and became one of The Eight Lancashire Lads. With
his mother recently committed to asylum, young Chaplin depended on
making his own living or faced returning to the orphanage.
Augmenting his income with odd-jobs, he gained a reputation and
assumed leading stage roles at age twelve. Together with Sydney, who
also pursued a stage career, Charlie joined the legendary comedy
troupe of Fred Karno, a former music hall acrobat who became one of
Charlie Chaplin's important mentors. He debuted with Karno on
February 3, 1908 at age seventeen, and quickly rose to prominence as
a principle in the cast. In 1910 Karno selected Chaplin as one of
the leading comics to accompany the troupe on a touring engagement
of America leaving for the States in September.

The knockabout comedy of the Karno Speechless Comedians,
combining satire with pantomime, was successful in the United States
where vaudeville was then the staple of American entertainment.
Precise and thoroughly rehearsed, the Karno routines provided
Chaplin with his comedy apprenticeship. Several conspicuous examples
from Chaplin's Karno days invaded his later motion picture work. The
roller-skating performed with balletic control in The Rink
(1916) was perfected in a Karno sketch Skating, as was his
highly original portrayal of an intoxicated man-about-town in
Karno's Mumming Birds, incorporated into several later films
including One A.M. (1916) and The Cure (1917). His
captivating portrayal of the drunkard brought public acclaim, and
also provided Chaplin with his entry to the movies with Mack Sennett
and the Keystone Film Company.

Charlie Chaplin (with violin) - and
Alf Reeves, who later became an important manager at the
Charlie Chaplin
studio.

Early Film Ventures

Documentary evidence suggests that Chaplin's entrepreneurial
instincts turned his interest to film production years before his
film debut at Keystone. Alf Reeves, manager of the Karno tour in
America, listened to Charlie throughout the extended tour as he
spoke of his desire to enter the movie business. In 1910 Chaplin
proposed a partnership with Reeves. With their finances combined,
Chaplin devised a plan to purchase a motion picture camera,
photograph the comedy troupe during rehearsals, and then market the
film. The visual comedy of the troupe seemed a natural for the
silent film, with scenery consisting of already-existing stage sets.
The breakneck touring schedule of the troupe precluded Chaplin's
plans, however his interest in film continued to evolve. Reeves'
association with Chaplin became lifelong. He later served as manager
of the Chaplin film studio, and played a key role in helping to
establish the company independently.

This early film project significantly reveals Chaplin's ambitions
of rising above the status of mere performer. Completely
inexperienced in the motion picture field, he was already finding a
way to become his own producer, and orchestrating his limited
resources to enter the fledgling film industry as his own boss.

Charlie Chaplin's first trip to America with the Karno troupe
lasted two years, a coast to coast schedule, playing the major
cities of the United States and Canada. As the company planned its
return to England, Alf Reeves accepted the offer of William Morris,
the owner of the American Music Hall in New York City, to play an
unexpected six-week engagement on Forty-second Street. Morris, later
the namesake of the influential talent agency, was then an
independent theater owner battling the large vaudeville trusts. The
Karno troupe presented one of their British reparatory hits
Mumming Birds, renamed A Night in an English Music
Hall for the American tour. This high-concept play showed a
series of faux vaudeville acts with pretend audience members as part
of the performance. One of the cast members watching the
play-within-a-play was Charlie Chaplin, portraying with great
exuberance his specialty the Inebriated Swell.

Mack Sennett

Mack Sennett's Keystone studio in
Edendale,
California.

This particular New York engagement gave Chaplin's show-stealing
performance the exposure that brought him to the attention of the
movie industry. Frequent retelling of the incident has led to
confusion over some of the facts. Allegedly, Mack Sennett of the
Keystone Film Company, who supplied Chaplin with his first movie job
offer, attended the play, and spotted Chaplin among the Karno cast.
In his ghost-written autobiography, Sennett was on a date with Mabel
Normand during a business trip to New York in late 1912 when he saw
"A Night in a London Music Hall" at the American Theatre. Chaplin
confirms this story in his own autobiography, but more accurately
places Sennett's attendance at least six months earlier while
Sennett was a comic actor for D. W. Griffith at Biograph's Manhattan
studio, before the formation of Keystone in 1912. In early 1913,
when Sennett had contractual problems with one of his Keystone Cops,
Sennett remembered the British comic from months earlier (which
speaks wonders of Chaplin's first impression on Sennett). Although
the name of the comedian eluded him, Sennett gave instructions to
the New York office to locate the comic. In the spring of 1913
during a Karno performance in Philadelphia, Alf Reeves received a
telegram from Kessel and Baumann of New York asking about the
comedian.

Adam Kessel, Jr. and Charles O. Bauman, as described by Sennett,
were two bookies who entered the film business as exchange operators
after inheriting a collection of films from a debtor. They became
independent film producers in 1909 with the formation of the New
York Motion Picture Company. They opposed the Patents
Company monopoly and partnered with Laemmle and others in a
preemptive attempt to dominate independent production with the Sales
Company of 1910. When the Sales Company was reorganized as
Universal, Baumann, the largest of the independents, briefly became
its first president, before breaking away from Universal.

In addition to their flagship studio the New York Motion Picture
Company, Kessel and Baumann formed several other companies and
tradenames to specialize in certain kinds of films. For features,
they founded the Majestic Motion Picture Company. Bison 101 (later
Bronco) released Westerns. Other labels included Kay-Bee (taken from
their initials) and Domino. Already among industry's most active
film producers by 1912, Kessel and Baumann decided to form a company
to specialize in comedies. Sennett said that he lost money on
horseracing owed to Kessel and Baumann when he convinced them to
form Keystone. Sennett was given a one-third interest in the new
company, based in his reputation as a comic actor and director at
Biograph, and in forgiveness of his previous gambling debt to his
new partners. Sennett defected from Biograph with several key
performers including Mabel Normand, Ford Sterling and Henry "Pathé"
Lehrman. Sennett moved the studio to Los Angeles, and continued to
build his roster of comedy performers. By the time Sennett
instructed Kessel and Baumann to find Chaplin, Keystone had
developed into Hollywood's preeminent fun factory of slapstick
comedy.

Chaplin traveled to New York in 1913 where he met with Adam
Kessel. Kessel offered Chaplin a one year contract at Keystone for
$150 per week, double his Karno salary. Chapin even bargained for,
and received, an additional $25 per week after the first three
months--before he and Sennett had even made personal contact.
Chaplin was given until the end of the year to finish his Karno
tour, then instructed to report to the Keystone Studios in Los
Angeles December 1913.

When Chaplin and Sennett finally met, Sennett was shocked. "What
I had seen in New York was a deft, experienced, knockabout,
roughneck, middle-aged comedian of the music-hall type. In Los
Angeles, I met a boy. Chaplin was only twenty-four years old."

Chaplin with Henry "Pathé" Lehrman
in
1914.

By the end of his first month at Keystone, Chaplin was assigned
to director Pathé Lehrman for a staring role in his first motion
picture appearance. Chaplin's earliest Keystone films display his
ability and exuberance. But dressed in excessive make-up and
costuming, his inaugural work with Sennett was inauspicious Keystone
fare. At Karno Chaplin's reputation was as a back-stage introvert,
always reading, and pensively spending quiet moments alone. At
Sennett, Chaplin displayed a similar seriousness off-camera, which
was not helped by his British mannerisms that contrasted with the
brashness of the Keystone comics.

In order to individualize his on-screen character, Chaplin
assembled the Tramp costume that quickly attained mythic status.
Collecting a miss-match of clothing from several different comics,
Chaplin toned down the costume in order to highlight the personality
of his new creation. The new character, commonly known as The Little
Fellow, or the Tramp, debuted in Chaplin's second Keystone film, the
Lehrman-directed Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914). In one
masterstroke, Chaplin created the image that would forever be
associated with his name. From the earliest appearance, the Tramp
would remain fundamentally the same in both appearance and character
over the next thirty years, though Chaplin's refinements would allow
the character to attain unprecedented acclaim for a screen
image.

The high-reconcilability factor of Charlie Chaplin's tramp
outfit, allowed his popularity to grow steadily, and begin to
eclipse the other Keystone players. Chaplin was not content to
survive as actor alone, no matter how popular. Chaplin's desire to
be more in control, to become more of a filmmaker than merely an
actor, lead to argument's with directors. In one instance, when
Mabel Normand was directing, Chaplin refused to appear before the
camera after his gag ideas for the film were rejected. Frequently
Sennett was called on to intercede.

During the incident with Mabel Normand, Chaplin petitioned
Sennett to be elevated to the status of director. The director
position at Keystone was exclusive and highly coveted by many of the
talented names to come through the studio. Usually the job was
reserved by Sennett for only his most trusted and experienced
employees, though Normand in whom Sennett had a romantic interest,
was only nineteen years old when she was directing. Undeniably
Chaplin was a film novice in Sennett's eyes. However, Chaplin's
circumstances were also unique. Demand for Chaplin prints (the states'
rights barometer of success) were escalating. In only three
months time Charlie Chaplin became one of Keystone's most important
assets.

Chaplin's bold maneuver was to personally accept financial
responsibility for the films he directed. Chaplin offered to deposit
his entire savings of $1500 into a bank account as collateral. If
the Chaplin-directed picture failed to make a profit, Chaplin's
money would cover the balance. Chaplin returned to the set to finish
the current Mabel Normand picture, then Sennett allowed Chaplin the
privilege of directing his own films. Charlie Chaplin, as he was
later accustomed to, began risking his own money when it became
necessary to further his career. In this case, it enabled him to
take greater control over his filmmaking, and became another step
towards his desire to be his own producer.

With four months left to go on his one-year Keystone contract,
Chaplin began to renegotiate with Sennett. Chaplin, aware of his
rapid rise to prominence, asked for $1000 per week, in other words,
more than Mack Sennett himself made. Instead of the inflated salary,
Sennett offered to make Chaplin a partner at Keystone. It is not
known how sincere Sennett was with the offer of a partnership, or
for that matter, if it really was offered to Chaplin. Not mentioned
by Chaplin, the offer was likely a Sennett fabrication for his
memoirs. Instead Sennett, in discussion with Kessel and Baumann, was
unable to make a successful counter offer, and stalled for the
remaining four months that Chaplin played at his original
salary.

Coming to the end of his contract with Sennett, Chaplin began to
worry about his career. While he wanted freedom from the
factory-like conditions at Keystone, he was in a vulnerable position
as a free-lance comedy actor-director. The careers of several other
Keystone graduates took a down-turn after their film failed to
appear with the Keystone name. Chaplin and Sennett both knew this,
and Sennett hoped this fear would keep Chaplin from leaving
Keystone. Carl Laemmle called on Chaplin, making him an offer at
twelve cents for each foot of film that Chaplin made for Universal.
But Chaplin wanted greater control of his pictures, and more time to
improve the quality.

Chaplin began to contemplate forming his own company and becoming
an independent producer. But he was concerned about the
administrative burden. He tried to interest his brother Sydney
Chaplin in a partnership. Sydney's career showed promise, and
Charlie valued his skill as a manager. "All we need is a camera and
a backlot," Charlie told his brother. But Sydney Chaplin, who had
followed Charlie to Keystone, and was still contractually obligated
to Sennett.

Essanay Red Letter Photocard No. 4:
An early example of Chaplin merchandise. Notice the
Essanay Indian logo in the bottom right
corner.

Essanay

Shortly before the expiration of his Keystone contract, Chaplin
accepted a lucrative offer from the Essanay Film Manufacturing
Company. Essanay started out as the Peerless Film Manufacturing
Company in 1907, and was named Essanay after the initials of the
founding partners, a prominent Midwest film exchange-man George K.
Spoor and Western star Gilbert M. Anderson. The company was an early
Edison licensee, and was the youngest of the founding members of the
Motion Picture Patents monopoly. Already a leading producer of
Westerns (on-screen Anderson was known as Wild West star "Bronco
Billy"), Essanay became the slapstick comedy mainstay before the
advent of Keystone. Spoor hoped that Chaplin would help restore
Essanay's domination of film comedy, and authorized a company
executive Jess Robbins to handle the Chaplin negotiations.

Charlie Chaplin signed with Essanay on January 2, 1915 for a
weekly salary of $1250, and a signing bonus of $10,000. Although the
power of the Motion Picture patents company was virtually
eliminated, Essanay was an important film producer when Chaplin
joined. In addition to Essanay's established Chicago studio, the
company had a ranch outside San Francisco where a new Bronco Billy
westerns was made each week. Also Essanay's promotional capability
would be perfected suited for Chaplin's Tramp character.

Producing his first films for Essanay was not pleasant for
Chaplin. He was unhappy during brief periods at Chicago and Niles,
and requested that he be allowed to film in Los Angeles. Also
Essanay delayed his $10,000 bonus. Spoor stalled in an effort to
gauge Chaplin's value to the company. Several films into his Essanay
contract, Chaplin received his bonus check and was allowed to move
his crew to Hollywood. This maneuver put Charlie in proximity to
Sydney, whose contract with Keystone was expiring. Sydney
relinquished his acting career to become manager and business man
for his brother's growing enterprise.

Sydney Chaplin proved to be astute and inventive. Aware of the
distribution changes being introduced by Hodkinson
at Paramount, Sidney made some recommendations for Essanay. In the
spring of 1915, Essanay combined its distribution offices with three
other former trust companies, to form VLSE. With Essanay's new
distribution leverage, Sydney convinced the studio to scale their
film rental terms according to seating capacity. With rentals more
clearly reflecting box office receipts, Essanay generated more than
$100,000 on each Chaplin comedy short. Sydney helped Charlie
renegotiate his contract, which brought in a $10,000 bonus for each
film.

Essanay Red Letter Photocard No.
1.

Chaplin Merchandise and Tramp Imitators

During 1915, the Charlie Chaplin craze stormed the United States.
Essanay vigorously promoted Chaplin's image, creating merchandise
from photocards to books to toys, sheet music, fan cards,. All
authorized merchandise stamped with Essanay name, and where possible
the studios Indian-head logo. Star system at its most acute: studio
being identified by its star. Chaplin ran over) into other media:
animated cartoons where alliterative names of cartoon characters
followed suit--trend of alliterative cartoon character proliferate
throughout animation, Sunday comic strips. Star paraphernalia as an
idea was not new, but the body of Chaplin merchandise was unlike
anything seen in film before, pointing to a new direction for movie
paraphernalia.

Charlie Chaplin amateur contests brought local recognition to a
new generation of young talent. Over thirty New York theaters
sponsored Chaplin amateur nights in the summer of 1915. Notable
teenage participants included Walt
Disney in Kansas City, actor Bob Hope in Cleveland, and director
Mervyn LeRoy in San Francisco.

Quality Over Quantity

More importantly, this windfall allowed Chaplin to spend more
time on writing, directing, and acting -- giving him time to improve
quality. He knew that the only way to preserve his career in the
long-term would be to continually hone his skills rather than cash
in for immediate profit. His film output became less and less
frequent, until, as a feature producers, he could would spend years
concentrating on each prestige project.

At Essanay, Chaplin continued to develop both as an artist and as
a businessman. Liberated from the breakneck studio schedules imposed
at Keystone, Chaplin began to display a meticulousness on the set
that would accelerate over the years. No longer was a performance
suitable; Chaplin always trying to capture a better take. Movies
during this time, though many still showing some of the Sennett
vulgarity, were more refined, like The Tramp (1915)
historically recognized as Chaplin's first masterpiece. Certainly
influenced by the success of Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin
developed ways to inject heart and intelligence into comic
characters. He theorized that the addition of pathos would enhance
the comedy--and give the picture more emotional impact. Chaplin was
also burned by Essanay when they re-edited one of his movies, after
he left the company. Essanay as owners of the copyrights were
legally within their limits, but Chaplin said he was crushed for
days after the incident. Thereafter he would make all future
contracts contingent on his creative control, and would eventually
retention the copyrights for all his work. Thus Chaplin displayed
one of the hallmarks of the SIMPP independent producers -- their
obsession with creative control to the extent that they retain as
much ownership of the picture as possible, and willing to make
sacrifices to do so.

Chaplin asked Spoor for a half-million dollar contract upon
expiration of his current Essanay deal. While Spoor hesitated,
Sydney Chaplin went to New York to find another studio that would be
interested in sweetening the deal. By the time Charlie joined his
brother in the East, Sydney had already closed a deal with
Mutual.

Mutual

The history of the Mutual Company goes back to the days of the
united front of independent production companies known as the Sales
Company which included Laemmle, Kessel and Baumann, and others. Harry E.
Aitken, owner of the Majestic film studio, defected from the
Sales Company after a dispute with Carl Laemmle. Aitken formed
Mutual in March 1912 as a consortium of independent studios, and
interested other independents in joining, including Kessel and
Baumann, seriously weakening Laemmle's empire. Mutual remained
Universal's chief independent rival during the time the Motion
picture Patents trust was unraveling.

D. W. Griffith, photo taken
while operating as an independent producer for the
Mutual Film Corp. (Aberdeen
Collection). To purchase Aberdeen photos for reprint
purposes click
here.

Aitken's most important gambit was luring D. W.
Griffith from Biograph. With Mutual's backing, Griffith produced
the expensive Birth of a Nation for Mutual, until the studio
board became alarmed at Griffith's cost overruns. Mutual ousted its
founder from the presidency and forced Aitken to pay $40,000 to
cover the Mutual investors interest in Birth of a Nation. As chief
investor of one of the most profitable movies of all time, Aitken
made a fortune and left behind Mutual, taking Kessel and Baumann
with him to form Triangle Pictures.

Aitken, Kessel and Baumann combined their three chief producers
(arguably the three most important filmmakers then working in film),
Griffith, Ince and Sennett. The Wall Street-funded attempt at
vertical integration was auspicious but ultimately unsuccessful. The
colorful history of the studio showcased the talents of William S.
Hart and early Douglas Fairbanks, but Triangle suffered from
mismanagement and overextension. When Triangle collapsed around
1917, most of its high-profile contracts were acquired by the newly
integrated Paramount. Artcraft, a prestigious subsidiary of
Paramount formed to capitalize on Mary
Pickford's success, took in Griffith, Ince, Hart, and Fairbanks.
And the Triangle shaped Culver City property belonging to Ince
became the home of MGM.

When Chaplin joined Mutual, the company was one of the most
impressive distributors in the industry--over fifty distributing
offices in the United States, and a tremendous foreign presence that
would make Chaplin the most famous individual in the world. Part of
Mutual's success rested on the constant reissue of the Keystone
Chaplin shorts, until the 1915 power struggle resulted in the loss
of Kessel and Baumann who controlled the backlog of early Chaplin
films at Sennett. When Aitken left Mutual in 1915, Kessel and
Baumann took their collection of Chaplin films away from Mutual. The
new president John Freuler sought to replenish his inventory of
Chaplin pictures. Freuler also knew that Chaplin would enhance
Mutual's status, since Chaplin was the biggest draw in the industry
(with the possible exception of Mary Pickford).

Chaplin's half-million dollar deal included a $10,000 weekly
salary and $150,000 signing bonus, costing Mutual $670,000 when it
signed Chaplin on February 27, 1916. Mutual rented Chaplin a studio
in Hollywood and allowed him a great degree of freedom with his own
production unit. Recognizing his brother Sydney's role in bringing
their mission one step closer to his dream of film independence,
Charlie voluntarily ceded half his bonus to his brother. His
hard-work, influence and guidance, helped Chaplin realize his vision
as an independent artist.

Beginning his tenure at Mutual at age twenty-six, Chaplin
embarked on one of the most outstanding creative periods of his
career--resulting in probably the most well-conceived and expertly
executed comedy shorts of his life, and the most illustrious series
of comedy short ever to come out of Hollywood.

His inventive use of set pieces, such as an escalator or
revolving door (from The Floorwalker (1916) and The
Cure (1917), respectively) were benchmark film comedy. He began
to lavish production value, unusual for a two-reel short -- like the
gritty sets of Easy Street (1917) reminiscent of his
childhood. Chaplin also continued to inject poignancy in films like
The Immigrant (1917), and experimented with narrative
structure. He seemed to master the chase (his final Mutual film
The Adventurer (1917) begins and ends with a chase), but
Chaplin envisioned a new direction for screen comedy.

Look magazine advance cover
story for Chaplin's "The Dictator" (released as The
Great
Dictator).

Chaplin Goes Independent

Mutual's terms for contract renewal were excellent, $1 million
for his next twelve films, and indeed Chaplin found Mutual
artistically conducive ("the happiest period of my career" he later
said). However, Chaplin wanted to make longer, more expensive
pictures--and fewer of them. Chaplin formed an independent
production company, and authorized Sydney to negotiate with one of
the major distributors that would give his new company a window for
feature film developments and a share of the profits. "Hereafter the
Chaplin pictures will take from two to three times longer to produce
than they do now," Sydney Chaplin announced to the press. "The
settings and stage properties will be the finest. It is quality, not
quantity that we are after."

Jesse
Lasky matched Mutual's million dollar offer to bring the Charlie
Chaplin films to Famous Players-Lasky, and its massive Paramount
distribution network. Instead, Zukor's newly-formed rival, First
National bid an unprecedented $1.25 million for Chaplin, permitting
him to become an independent producer in a vertically integrated
distribution-exhibition combine. In the First National agreement
reached on June 17, 1917, First National was obligated to pay
$125,000 for each two-reel film, plus $115, 000 for each additional
reel, thus making feature length comedies economically feasible. As
an independent producer, Charlie Chaplin Productions would finance
its own filmmaking, retain complete creative control. First National
would act as traditional distributor, with a thirty percent
distribution fee, and cover all cost of prints and advertising.
After cost of film was covered, profits would be divided fifty-fifty
between producer and distributor.

At last, Charlie Chaplin could cement his creative vision by
becoming an independent producer. He built a production facility
from scratch. By financing his own films and controlling al the
rights, he proved to be one of the most independent of all Hollywood
filmmakers.

Chaplin's bright future was soon interrupted by rumors of massive
change in the industry. Signing Chaplin had been one of the greatest
steps for First National, bringing instant prestige to a promising
Hollywood studio. The company subsequently hired Mary
Pickford away from Adolph Zukor, and attracted other producers
by offering lucrative and inflated terms in an effort to spite
Zukor's Paramount.

That is when Chaplin's independent problems began. Chaplin's
first two films for First National cost more than expected. But when
Sydney Chaplin went to renegotiate their contract, First National
was unexpectedly disinterested. Chaplin personally confronted the
First National board to convince them that quality films not only
enhanced both their interests, but was also the basis with which
Chaplin signed with the distributor in the first place.

Chaplin became suspicious when Mary Pickford (at First National)
and Douglas Fairbanks (at Paramount) faced similarly disingenuous
attitudes from the two largest film companies.

Charles Chaplin, independent
producer and United Artsits
founder.

The Merger Conspiracy and the Formation of United
Artists

According to the Charlie Chaplin memoirs, Sidney became aware of
rumors of a secret Paramount-First National merger, intended to
monopolize distribution and exhibition in an effort to swallow up
the independent production companies and dominate the industry like
no one had since the days of Edison. During the First National
Exhibitors Circuit motion picture industry convention at the
Alexandria Hotel in January 1919, the Chaplin brothers conferred
with Pickford and Fairbanks and decided to hire an attractive young
female detective to investigate. Three days later the report
delivered to the independents indicated plans for a $40 million
dollar merger that would rock the foundation of the industry.
Performers salaries would be capped. Furthermore, independent
production companies like Chaplin's, already on the wane in the face
of consolidation, would be squelched.

The triumvirate planned a surprise of their own for the
convention They partnered with D. W. Griffith and William S. Hart,
and planned to announce that the five united artists would form an
independent distribution combine in an effort to stave off the
merger. Indeed, Charlie Chaplin later claimed that he never intended
on going through with the proposed company. He intended merely to
confuse the exhibitors, and scare the mighty studios into calling
off their plans. The independent believed that a show of defiance
would prove to the studios that if a massive merger took place, it
would be ineffectual without the talent anyway.

The announcement took place at a press conference the
night before the start of the Alexandria Convention. The press
conference became the dominant event of the convention, and became
one of the most significant moments in film history. The reaction
convinced Chaplin to take the plan to the next step. Thus United
Artists was formed, and Chaplin spent the next several years playing
the role of the reluctant studio boss.

Further Difficulties As an Independent Filmmaker

With six films left to go on his First National contract,
Chaplin's unfortunate unavailability hindered the early history of
United Artists. His strained relationship with First National and
troubled first marriage to Mildred Harris, also deteriorated his
creativity.

At one of the Goldwyn parties:
Samuel Goldwyn, then known as Sam Goldfish (left), and
Charlie Chaplin, serving "root beer" (right) to Will
Rogers
(center).

Chaplin met seventeen year old Mildred Harris at a party given by
Sam
Goldwyn at his beach house in late 1917. The Chaplin-Harris
wedding took place the following year, and their mismatched
marriage, only three months old at the time Chaplin co-founded
United Artists, was already deteriorating. Chaplin moved out of the
Los Angeles Athletic Club, where he taken up a comfortable residence
since 1914. He built a house for himself and his wife (and his
mother-in-law), only to find himself back at the Athletic Club when
he separated from Mildred in 1920.

Problems in his personal life seeped into his film work. During
1919 Chaplin released only two shorts, both unexemplary,
Sunnyside and A Day's Pleasure. His restlessness in
his First National contract brought hostility between Chaplin and
his distributor-exhibitor. First National accused Chaplin of acting
like a lame duck producer at First National which had no hope of
renewing the Chaplin contract with UA waiting for his services. But
Chaplin blamed his slackening creativity on personal problems that
broke his focus and made movie making like "pulling teeth." Paying
the costs of his own movies and the overhead of a production company
with a brand new studio weighed heavily on Chaplin and increased his
anxiety.

The Move to Feature Films

His films were getting longer, typically running around three
reels, and Chaplin was overdue for a feature film. Rather than delay
his ambitions, he planned his first feature while at First National.
And out of this bitter personal and professional time, he produced a
masterpiece.

The resulting six-reel comedy The Kid (1921) developed out
of Chapin's discovery of the talented child-actor Jackie Coogan.
Convinced of the necessity of pathos in a film in order to highlight
the comedy, Chaplin envisioned a feature staring the child, a
combination of slapstick and sympathy that was considered innovative
at the time. Though unconventional, the formula became
revolutionary, providing comedy features with a breakthrough
format.

The original lobby card from the
first Charlie Chaplin feature film "The Kid"
(distributed by First National): "six reels of
joy."

Before the film was completed, the editing process was nearly
jeopardized when relations broke down with both First National and
his wife. Mildred and Charlie had decided to split amicably, but
First National became involved in the separation in an effort to
wrestle control of Chaplin's feature film. Chaplin's half-million
dollar expenditure alarmed the distributor. Though Chaplin financed
the film himself, ultimately, First National would be contractually
bound to pay far more than the cost of the negative to release the
six-reel feature. Instead they tried to accept the film on the terms
of three two-reelers, offering only $405,000. They knew that
Chaplin's exit to United Artist was imminent, and they sought to put
the screws to The Kid, the first feature film from the
world's most famous entertainer. While this would seemingly put
Chaplin two films closer to the end of his First National contract,
such a deal would relegate him to economically unacceptable terms
for a film that took eighteens months of his time and seemed to be a
sure-fire box-office event. Chaplin refused.

In desperation First National acted in concert with Chaplin's
soon-to-be ex-wife to attach the assets of the Charlie Chaplin
Studio, including the raw film negative for The Kid.
Operating on instinct, Chaplin secretly took five hundred rolls of
film out-of-state with Alf Reeves and trusted cinematographer Rollie
Totheroh to complete the film editing. Chaplin, in disguise, holed
away in a Salt Lake City hotel room disregarding safety regulation
that prohibited the highly inflammable film nitrate. He held a sneak
preview for the film in Salt Lake to an enthusiastic test audience.
He then completed the editing and traveled to New York to turn the
tables on First National.

With his divorce agreement settled, Chaplin insisting on a $1.5
million advance against rentals, with usual terms (fifty percent of
the profits, and possession of the film copyright after five years).
When First National hesitated, he gave them a one week ultimatum.
First National accepted, releasing The Kid early in 1921 to
an amazing reception and box office smash hit. The gross has been
estimated at around $2.5 million in its initial release.

Eager to fulfill his First National contract, Chaplin
concentrated on several short films. First National even allowed
Chaplin final four-reel films to be counted at two films. But he
learned much from his fight with the studio bosses calling them
"inconsiderate, unsympathetic and short-sighted."

Back at United Artists

The First National contract fulfilled, and now past the first of
his four marriages, Chaplin planned for his first films with
partners Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, the couple whose
pictures sustained the company in the early 1920s. Charlie Chaplin
took up residence in the neighborhood of his partners, building a
new home on a six acre Beverly Hills lot below Pickfair.

United Artists was then weathering its infancy, and with Chaplin
aboard, the partners hoped for financial stability. He surprised his
partners and the public when his next film, his inaugural feature
for United Artists, was a psychological drama The Woman of
Paris (1923), which he produced, wrote and directed, but did not
star in. Critically acclaimed and cinematically influential, The
Woman of Paris was not a box office success, and brought further
uncertainty to United Artists financial health.

Chaplin protested many of the management reforms that came when
Joseph
Schenck was brought in as the new president of United Artists in
November 1924. Chaplin reluctantly submitted to an increase in UA's
distribution fee -- now at twenty five percent, which was still
lower than most major distributors charged. However, Chaplin
resisted expansion at United Artists in an effort to avoid the
potentially poisonous influence of outside investors. During
Schenck's first year, he attempted a merger of United Artists with
the newly formed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Chaplin was among the most
outspoken dissenting voices, egged on by his friend Samuel Goldwyn
(who left the studio on bitter terms before it became MGM). Chaplin
characterized the merger as a trust, railing against MGM's block
booking practice which he, like most of the independents, despised.
The merger failed.

The success of The Gold Rush
brought Chas. S. Chaplin to the cover of Time - 6 July
1925.

The Gold Rush

As independent producer, Chaplin frequently considered a variety
of unconventional projects. One of his unfulfilled ambitions which
he seriously considered at this time was a film about the twenty-six
year old Napoleon Bonaparte: Chaplin himself in the starring role.
But after the peculiar The Woman of Paris, Chaplin was
motivated to produce a comedy to outdo the success of The
Kid. His mind drifted to epic settings with a rugged backdrop
for the Tramp. During a weekend at Pickfair, he settled on the
Klondike gold rush, which evolved into the story for the Tramp and a
dance-hall girl to be portrayed by his real-life love-interest Lita
Grey. However, after several months of principle photography, Grey
was replaced in the starring role after she became pregnant
(eventually to give birth to Charlie Chaplin, Jr.). Lita Grey became
the second wife of Charlie Chaplin in November 1924 during a break
in his filming schedule. The film known as The Gold Rush
(1925) became his most successful silent film, grossing $4 million
within the first few years.

Unfortunately, his second marriage was even more disastrous than
the first.

Trying Times

The attorney for Lita Grey filed a divorce complaint on January
10, 1927. Seeking a great deal of community property against
Chaplin's complex finances, the complaint was brought against
Chaplin, his studio, Alf Reeves, and United Artists. Devastating
details leaked to the press, including Chaplin's miserliness,
neglect, and sexual degeneracy. By January 12, mimeographed copies
were being sold on the street.

Charlie Chaplin and Lita Grey's
mother look on as Lita signs her Chaplin studio
contract.

Public fallout was sudden and reactive. National women's
organizations denounced Chaplin's failure to support his youthful
wife and two small boys. Regional outcry led to a boycott of Chaplin
films. Theater owners tried to counteract the boycott without
bringing scorn upon their own heads. To avoid further negative
publicity, Chaplin quietly wrote to United Artists' legal department
not to sue to lift the boycott to avoid generating further
publicity.

To add to his difficulties, in January 1927 Chaplin traveled to
New York to take part in an injuncture against Pictorial Review
magazine which sought to serialize an unauthorized biographical
account written by a former Chaplin Studio employee. The injuncture
proved unsuccessful, and "Charlie Chaplin: His Real Life
Story" was published in February 1927, characterizing Chaplin as a
moody, demanding despot, bent on perfection, and subject to
insurgent parsimony.

An unrelated predicament during the trip to New York complicated
matters even more when federal authorities accused Chaplin of tax
avoidance, seeking $1.3 million going back to 1918. The money was
placed in receivership, resulting in a lien against United Artists
on January 28, 1927, and a lengthy settlement not resolved for over
a year.

Dealing with personal difficulties and anti-Chaplin public
opinion, Charlie Chaplin suspended studio operations and halted
production on his latest feature The Circus (1928). He
suffered a nervous breakdown, as reported by doctors in January. His
salt-and-pepper hair color turned stark white, to the shock of his
staff who observed this occurrence over the course of a very short
time.

The final month of principle photography for The Circus
resumed in September. The divorce settlement had been reached late
that summer. [In fact, a happy accident of the divorce payment and
tax difficulty was its compelling Chaplin to sell his vast stock
investments at a market high before Black Monday.] Out of this
uneasy time, Chaplin produced another memorable comedy. It was
successful at the box office ($3 million gross), and it brought
industry recognition: The board of the newly formed Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted unanimously to remove The
Circus from competition to bestow a special award, one of the
first ever awarded in recognition of lifetime of accomplishment.

The Sound Era

During the Hollywood transition to sound movies, Chaplin's
resistance classified him as a silent film aesthetic. Subsequent
historical pigeonholing has recognized Chaplin as a cinematic
reactionary whose failure to recognize the inevitability of progress
left him the only producer of silent films in Hollywood in the
1930s. This sweeping characterization ignores Chaplin's high level
of literacy and pre-talkie devotion to sound. Chaplin shared the
intrepidation of many silent film purists who knew that advent of
talking pictures would undermine the universality of the silent film
as an art. But also Chaplin realized this could be devastating from
an economic standpoint, for Charlie Chaplin was one of the only
producers in Hollywood at this time (as Disney would be later) whose
films generated more revenue overseas than domestically.

Chaplin rightly saw his Tramp character as unavoidably
non-speaking, and continued making non-talking films. He thought he
would be one among a number of several producers who would create
films for a niche silent film market. As it turned out, all others
either adapted, or after a short time retired, like Mary Pickford
and Douglas Fairbanks. Instead Chaplin's two final Tramp films
City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) became
anachronistic anomalies (albeit with great success) in an era
dominated by talkies.

The immediate benefit that Chaplin discovered with sound film was
his long-cherished idea of marrying musical score with film action.
Music, aside from being one of his inherited talents from his early
comedy days in London, was also a staple of his full-range of
abilities.

CLICK
HERE to read about the Charlie Chaplin Music Publishing Company,
1916.

In 1916 his formative musical compositions ("two very bad songs,"
Chaplin later remarked) became the foundation of his own short-lived
music publishing company. Headquartered in Downtown Los Angeles, the
Charlie Chaplin Music Publishing Company formed in 1916 sold few of
the two thousand copies of sheet music it had printed, and shortly
went out business. But, significantly, this musical venture that
bore Chaplin's name preceded his own film studio by more than two
years. These early independent ventures provide real insight into
Charlie Chaplin's natural gravitation toward the business side of
his art.

As Chaplin's filmmaking and music skill improved, he regularly
included a musical score of his own composition to be played by
theater accompanists. With the advent of sound-on-film, Chaplin was
able to attach his old music to his old films. Often this triggered
successful re-releases of films that even only a decade old, were
considered classics. For instance The Gold Rush was playing
in theaters as a popular sound film with music and narration around
the time that was SIMPP formed in 1942.

Charlie Chaplin's on-screen
personna, at the time that he made the transition into
the sound era. (Movie still from The Gold
Rush)

City Lights

City Lights the first post-silent era Chaplin film proved
a difficult shoot. Knowing his subject matter to be well-conceived
for silent medium, Chaplin said, "I had worked myself into a
neurotic state of wanting perfection." On-set experimentation and
incessant retakes delayed production to 534 days of paid working
days, only 166 of them actual shooting (as recounted by historians
Kevin Brownlow and David Gill in their fascinating documentary
The Unknown Chaplin).

The management at United Artists,
including Joseph Schenck, treated the film coldly. The idea
of a silent film in 1931 raised skepticism, and a wait-and-see
attitude among the major chains. So Chaplin, after spending $2
million of his own money to produce the non-talking movie, decided
to kick-off the release of the movie on his own in a special road
show engagement. In the past the special engagement had been
done for prestige and profits, for City Lights it was done out of
necessity.

Chaplin rented the George M. Cohan Theatre in New York City,
supplied his own theater management and staff. Though principal
stockholder of one of Hollywood's Big Eight film distribution
companies, Chaplin the independent producer still putting his own
money into production, and now overseeing the distribution and
exhibition on his own. Even more frustrating was the notoriously
weak UA publicity department. When Chaplin became convinced that his
distributor dropped the promotional ball, he took out his own
advertisements for $30,000 out-of-pocket money.

Exhausted from work and worry, Chaplin slept through opening day
February 6, 1931, to discover ticket lines around the block. City
Lights completed a lucrative twelve-week run at the Cohan Theatre,
grossing over $500,000 at this one situation. He repeated this
success in a Los Angeles road show, one of the sole silent film
successes during this time. Time magazine wrote that Charlie
Chaplin "will be doing business after talkies have been traded in
for television."

Encouraged by the City Lights triumph, Chaplin settled on
yet another silent movie vehicle as his next project. Chaplin's
Modern Times (1936), a satiric commentary on the Industrial
Age, provided him a final silent forum for his tramp character, and
an opportunity to elaborate on some his celebrated comedy routines
from roller-skating to escalator hopping.

The film stared his ambitious and talented third wife Paulette
Goddard. The couple first met aboard UA chairman Joe Schenck's yacht
in 1932 while Goddard was under contract with independent producer
Hal Roach and coming off a minor role for Samuel Goldwyn. Chaplin
crafted the lead role of Modern Times around her gifted
acting ability, proving well-suited for dramatic performance as well
as for pantomime. Following the premiere of the movie, they were
allegedly married on a vacation to the Orient under suspiciously
undocumented circumstances. Their marriage lasted for several years
before they began to drift apart, and a divorce was finalized in
1942.

The Great Dictator

Though Modern Times made money, it was Chaplin's first
feature not to attain blockbuster status. Five years elapsed between
City Lights and Modern Times; and as Chaplin's film
production pace slowed, his enthusiasm also dwindled. He deplored
the tangle of machinery and sound equipment that destroyed the
free-spirited film production of the silent era. And he bemoaned the
new order of business and vertical integration that had matured
along with the introduction of sound: "Overnight it had become a
cold and serious industry." His brother retired from the Chaplin
Studio and went into repose on the French Riviera. Charlie
continually waffled between serious consideration of retirement, and
his impossible-to-ignore urges to continue in film production.
Disinterested in making another silent film, Chaplin desperately
awaited a lightening bolt of inspiration.

Charles Chaplin (1940) arriving in
New York for the premiere of The Great Dictator.
(Aberdeen
collection). To purchase Aberdeen photos for reprint
purposes click
here.

In 1937 his United Artists partner, and soon-to-be SIMPP
co-founder, Alexander
Korda observed the similarity in appearance between the Little
Tramp and Hitler. Korda suggested that Chaplin film a story of
mistaken identity. Chaplin prepared his production company to make
an anti-Nazi satire on political aggression to be called The
Dictator. The film presented Chaplin's studio with something of
a risk in an atmosphere of American isolationism, where Hollywood
studios were frequently called on the carpet for propagating
anti-isolationist views. Chaplin began shooting the film before even
England declared war on Nazi Germany. The title role gave Chaplin an
opportunity to feature the brilliance of his long-concealed verbal
comedy skills, while the dual role of a soft-spoken Jewish peasant
allowed Chaplin to skillfully and safely adapt his tramp character
to sound. The movie
retitled The Great Dictator opened in October 1940 to a
fantastic reception and a successful release. It grossed $5 million
worldwide, the most successful Chaplin film ever, landing on
Hollywood's unofficial list of all-time box office hits. His
anti-war speech from the end of the movie brought critical acclaim,
and speaking engagements for Chaplin.

Why
Chaplin's original title for The Great Dictator was changed -
CLICK HERE.

Chaplin as United Artists Owner

Whenever possible, Charlie Chaplin had always lavished time on
his features. He now became accustomed to long breaks in an effort
to find new material. He was also by this time the only United
Artists founder still actively producing films (definition of
"activity" being relative), and he shared administrative duties
with, among others, Mary
Pickford. However for years Chaplin had opposed the management
reforms of the other producers, and subsequently United Artists fell
behind during the corporate amalgamation of the other major studios.
He refused to become part of the United Artists Theatre Circuit upon
its formation in 1926, then objected when his partners sought to
integrate the theater chain with the United Artists distribution
company. Pickford complained to Chaplin that because of his protest,
this tremendous theater asset went wasted and in the mid-1930s was
"turned over to the West Coast Theatres to be used as a stick
against the United Artist producers." Chaplin insisted that United
Artists was not intended to become a vertical corporation, but was
created by the independents as a distributor "for the purpose of
exploiting our own pictures without block booking from other
sources." Ironically when Sol
Lesser, the founder of West Coast Theatres, sold out his West
Coast stock in 1927 to become an independent producer, his close
friend Charlie Chaplin then became one of the main stockholders in
Lesser's independent Progressive Theatres chain. When the business
strive engendered by the UA partners became severe, Chaplin became
frustratingly reticent, and sometimes his reclusive attitude made
him impossible to contact.

Chaplin's Relationship with Other SIMPP Members

In spite of the harrowing UA partnership, Chaplin enjoyed the
company of his independent producer peers. The genesis of his later
films, as well as several unrealized projects, developed out of his
relationships with the other independents, as, for instance, with
the suggestion from Korda that lead to The Great Dictator.
Chaplin worried that, although that film had proved his adeptness at
sound film comedy, he still had not fully retired the tramp
character. Essentially he had played no other character in films for
years, and he was gradually breaking ties with the Tramp. Chaplin
considered producing films for others to star in. One afternoon he
invited the fiery young actor James
Cagney to his home along with his brother, producer William
Cagney, to discuss a staring role in Chaplin's pet project about
the life of Napoleon. Cagneys, at the time on a preemptive break
from his Warner contract had plans for he and his brother to produce
their own films independently, and, not caring much for the title
role in Chaplin's film, politely turned him down. Napoleon was never
filmed. And the Cagneys were soon back at Warners--later to return
to independent production as early members of SIMPP.

Chaplin also established a friendship with newcomer Orson
Welles, whose similar political views teamed them on the lecture
circuit together. (They shared top billing at the infamous Carnegie
Hall meeting in 1942 where the public began to view Chaplin's
politics in a more controversial light.) Having a great deal in
common with the multi-talented independent producer, Chaplin briefly
considered relinquishing his director-producer responsibilities to
star in Welles' Mercury film project about the French wife murderer
Désiré "Bluebeard" Landru. Chaplin became interested when Orson
Welles visited his home in July 1941. So Welles continued his
writing and research with Chaplin in mind. Though intrigued by the
idea as an excellent departure from the Tramp, Chaplin knew
intuitively it would be impossible to submit to the direction of
another. So instead, he convinced Welles to sell the story idea to
the Chaplin Studio as the basis for a black comedy. The Orson Welles
suggestion became Chaplin's next movie, Monsieur Verdoux,
which would not be completed for six more years.

Charlie Chaplin also had a prolific relationship with Walt
Disney. This is discussed further using the link below.

CLICK
HERE for The Disney-Chaplin Connection

When Charles Chaplin cofounded SIMPP in 1942, he was at another
high point in his career. The box office for The Great
Dictator was stellar. The re-release of The Gold Rush was
wildly successful. His move to reach outside his classic Tramp
character seemed successful. Unfortunately, within the next few
years, a combination of personal and professional difficulties would
signal the end of his membership in SIMPP, and later bring about the
wane of his filmmaking career in Hollywood.

CLICK
HERE to go to Charlie Chaplin—The SIMPP

SOURCES:

The unrealized Chaplin-Reeves film venture from 1907
is described by Alf Reeves in a 1916 letter. Jim Tully, "Charlie
Chaplin: The Real Life Story," Pictorial Review, February
1927. Chaplin briefly mentions his idea in Chaplin, My
Autobiography.
Sennett at
Chapin's American Music Hall performance: Sennett, King of
Comedy, pp. 147-148. Chaplin's retelling: Chaplin, My
Autobiography, pp.129-130. The variance in dates have led some
to speculate that it was not Sennett at all but a talent scout, and
possibly Kessel himself, see Balio, United Artists, p. 17;
Lynn, Charlie Chaplin and His Times, p. 105. The incident
quickly became legend following Chaplin's rise to popularity, see
Goldwyn, Behind the Screen, pp. 98-100.
Kessel and Baumann, and the formation of Keystone: Sennett,
King of Comedy, pp. 77-85. Bowser, The Transformation of
Cinema, pp. 75-76, 80, 181;
Chapin's
meeting with Adam Kessel: Chaplin, My Autobiography,
pp.129-130. (Chaplin erroneously refers to him as Charles
Kessel.)
"What I had seen in New York":
Sennett, King of Comedy, p. 152.
Chaplin's gag suggestion refused by Mabel Normand: Chaplin,
My Autobiography, pp. 148-149; Brownlow and Kobal,
Hollywood: The Pioneers, p. 143.
Chaplin accepts financial responsibility for directorial
debut: Chaplin, My Autobiography, p. 150.
Sennett offers Chaplin a one-sixth interest in Keystone:
Sennett, King of Comedy, pp. 188-189.
"All we need is a camera": Chaplin trying to interest his
brother in a partnership in 1914: Chaplin, My Autobiography,
p. 160.
Essanay history: Musser, The
Emergence of Cinema, p. 486. Essanay as slapstick comedy force:
Essanay launched the career of cross-eyed vaudevillian Ben Turpin,
who later became a Keystone mainstay. Editorial appearing in MPW, 4
December 1909, p. 837 classifies "Essanay slap-stick." (see Bowser,
The Transformation of Cinema, p. 179.)
Chaplin's deal with Essanay: Maland, Chaplin and American
Culture, p. 9.
VLSE: "'Big Four' Feature
Combine," New York Dramatic Mirror, 24 March 1915, p. 24.
Sydney Chaplin revamping Essanay distribution: Chaplin, My
Autobiography, p. 173.
Chaplin amateur
contests: In New York City, Maland, Chaplin and American
Culture, p. 11; Disney in Kansas City, Schickel, Disney
Version, p. 59 and Thomas, Building A Company, p. 31;
Hope in Cleveland, Maland, p. 10; and LeRoy in San Francisco, LeRoy,
Mervyn LeRoy: Take One, p. 29.
Aitken, the Mutual Film Company, and Triangle Pictures:
Koszarski, An Evening's Entertainment, pp. 66-69, and Bowser,
The Transformation of Cinema, pp. 221-222.
"Fulfilling the Mutual contract was the happiest period of my
career. I was light and unencumbered, with fabulous prospects and a
friendly, glamorous world before me." Chaplin, My Life in
Pictures, p. 154. Also see Chaplin, My Autobiography, p.
188.
"Hereafter the Chaplin pictures": see
Robinson, Chaplin: His Life and Art, p. 221.
Rumored Paramount-First National merger, and the formation of
United Artists: Chaplin, My Autobiography, pp. 222-223;
Balio, United Artists, pp. 3, 12-13.
Sam Goldwyn (then Goldfish) beach party: Chaplin, My
Autobiography, p. 227.
"Pulling teeth":
Chaplin, My Autobiography, p. 231.
Fist National as "inconsiderate, unsympathetic and
short-sighted": Chaplin, My Life in Pictures, p. 156.

Joseph Schenck reforms at UA: Balio, United
Artists, pp. 54-56, 62-63; Chaplin, My Autobiography, pp.
295-296.
Chaplin's unrealized Napoleon
project: Chaplin, My Autobiography, p. 297.
Genesis of The Gold Rush: Chaplin, My
Autobiography, p. 303.
Lita Grey divorce
complaint excerpt and divorce proceedings detailed in Lita Grey
Chaplin, My Life With Chaplin, pp. 250-263. "Cleverly,
shockingly enlarged upon or distorted": Ibid, p. 252.

The anti-Chaplin movement of 1927 and Chaplin's
public defenders summarized in Maland, Chaplin and American
Culture, pp. 98-105. Chaplin's letter to United Artist's legal
department: Ibid, p. 99, 387. Nervous breakdown: NYT, January
16, 1927, p. 5. White hair color: McCabe, Charlie Chaplin, p.
165.
"I had worked myself": Chaplin, My
Autobiography, p. 326.
Road show release
for City Lights: Chaplin, My Autobiography, pp.
329-333.
"Doing business after talkies have
been traded in for television." Time, February 9,
1931.
"Overnight it had become": Chaplin,
My Autobiography, p. 380.
Alexander
Korda and The Dictator: Chaplin, My Autobiography, pp.
391-392.
The Great Dictator
box-office figures: Balio, United Artists, p. 64.

Pickford-Chaplin debate - transcript from UA
Stockholders Meeting: Balio, United Artists, p. 194-197.
Chaplin as stockholder in Sol Lesser's Progressive Theatres:
Daily Variety Forty-Sixth Anniversary Issue (1979), p.
238.
Cagney meeting with Chaplin: McCabe,
Cagney, pp. 154-155.
Chaplin-Welles
lecture: "ARTISTS FRONT TO WIN THE WAR" Advertisement for the
Carnegie Hall "Win The War Meeting," October 16, 1942.

Origin of Monsieur Verdoux: Conflicting
accounts given in Welles and Bogdanovich, This Is Orson
Welles, pp. 134-136, and Chaplin, My Autobiography, pp.
418-419.

See Bibliography.

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