Now, this WONDERFUL documentary on the early life and career of Charlie Chaplin, 'the funniest man in the world' (I know some people may disagree with this 'honorary title' - but it was given to him nonetheless by renowned film critics of the time, and not only; and surely MILLIONS of people will agree with it even today, a whole century later!) isn't only an absolute 'must' for every Chaplin fan who hasn't had the chance yet to see many of his early slapstick comedies, or wants to learn more about the rise to fame of this UNIQUE genius - but it also gives a PERFECT insight into the early days of Hollywood; in short: it's a REAL historical treasure!
Douglas Fairbanks Jr., the son of Charlie's best friend, was chosen as the narrator (and how much his charming voice resembles his father's!); and he tells us Charlie's story from the very beginning: from the poorhouses of London to Fred Karno's traveling theater group to his first movie engagement at Mack Sennett's Keystone studios, where he became THE great star of slapstick literally instantly...
Carefully selected scenes from those early successes of his, accompanied by a detailed account of how he gradually managed to impose his OWN style that meant MUCH more than pure slapstick, and that made him the arguably greatest alround genius of motion pictures later on, amuse, entertain and inform us at the same time - but that's not all: we get to see VERY rare pictures of how the Hollywood studios, which had started emerging only three or four years earlier and weren't much more than simple shacks and provisional stages, were like at the time; a really breathtaking experience for ANY real and interested fan of Old Hollywood!
Douglas Fairbanks Jr., the son of Charlie's best friend, was chosen as the narrator (and how much his charming voice resembles his father's!); and he tells us Charlie's story from the very beginning: from the poorhouses of London to Fred Karno's traveling theater group to his first movie engagement at Mack Sennett's Keystone studios, where he became THE great star of slapstick literally instantly...
Carefully selected scenes from those early successes of his, accompanied by a detailed account of how he gradually managed to impose his OWN style that meant MUCH more than pure slapstick, and that made him the arguably greatest alround genius of motion pictures later on, amuse, entertain and inform us at the same time - but that's not all: we get to see VERY rare pictures of how the Hollywood studios, which had started emerging only three or four years earlier and weren't much more than simple shacks and provisional stages, were like at the time; a really breathtaking experience for ANY real and interested fan of Old Hollywood!
