| Cine Lights: Charlie
Chaplin on the Big Screen
This series is an Aero Theatre Exclusive & the Premiere of
these Brand New Prints in Los Angeles!
"Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, and a comedy in long-shot."-
Charlie Chaplin
"His name is enshrined among the greatest geniuses of film. The French have a
movie magazine titled simply ‘-Charlie-’." - Roger Ebert
"I think we are rather indebted to Charlie Chaplin for the idea. We wanted
something appealing, and we thought of a tiny bit of a mouse that would have something of
the wistfulness of Chaplin - a little fellow trying to do the best he could." -
Walt Disney, on Charlie Chaplin being the inspiration for the character Mickey Mouse.
"The cinema IS Chaplin." - Vachel Lindsay
"I remain just one thing, and one thing only, and that is a clown. It places me
on a far higher plane than any politician."- Charlie Chaplin
Everybody knows Chaplin’s iconic Tramp – the little fellow with the bowler
hat and the oversized shoes. But how well do we know Chaplin’s films? The
Tramp’s status as a beloved American icon can too easily overshadow the real
achievements of Charles Chaplin (1889 – 1977), achievements that in many ways ran
counter to the American mainstream. The Tramp character, first seen onscreen in 1914, was
importantly an outsider, a tweaker of the established order. Throughout his career,
Chaplin managed to combine Victorian sentiment with sharp social critique. His empathy for
the poor and downtrodden, rooted in the acute hardships of his own London childhood,
continued even through the years of his extraordinary financial success. Such masterpieces
as THE KID, THE GOLD RUSH, MODERN TIMES, CITY LIGHTS and THE
GREAT DICTATOR exemplify Chaplin’s status as an extraordinary performer and a
complex artist, a maker of films that were and still are poignant, funny and deeply
relevant.
For many years, Chaplin films had no distribution in the United States. Now, thanks to
Janus Films, brand new prints have been made available from the French
restorations. We invite you to experience the films of Charlie Chaplin as they should be
seen: on the big screen, in the community of an audience.
Please join us for a weekend retrospective of Charlie Chaplin’s timeless
masterworks, which also includes screenings of THE CIRCUS, LIMELIGHT, A WOMAN OF
PARIS, A KING IN NEW YORK, THE PILGRIM and early Chaplin shorts such as
"A Dog's Life," "The Idle Class" and "Pay Day"!
Chaplin Website | Buy
Tickets
Thursday, June 17 – 7:30 PM
New 35 mm Print! "The Idle Class," (1921, Janus Films, 32 min). The
Tramp arrives at a luxurious resort, stowed away in the train that takes the elite to
their sunny summer playground. New 35 mm Print!
"Sunnyside," (1919, Janus Films, 29 min).
Charlie the handyman must mow the floor of a hotel and deal with the pesky cows and goats
that have found a home in the church.
New 35 mm Print! THE CIRCUS, 1928, Janus Films, 71 min. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. The
Little Tramp goes from being a circus loiterer who steals hotdogs from babies to an
accidental clown in this delightful riot by comedic genius Charlie Chaplin. Don't be
fooled by the freewheeling slapstick throughout - the final shot evokes the heart-tugging
yet adorable melancholia that makes the Tramp one of cinema's most enduring characters. Buy
Tickets
Friday, June 18 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature: New 35 mm Print! CITY LIGHTS, 1931, Janus Films, 83 min. Dir. Charlie
Chaplin. Perhaps Chaplin's best blend of comedy, pathos and class critique, this portrayal
of the Tramp's well-intended efforts to help a lovely, blind flower seller is one of the
great classics from the director's oeuvre. Trailer | Buy
Tickets
New 35 mm Print! A WOMAN OF PARIS, 1923, Janus Films, 78 min. One of the
rare Chaplin films not starring Chaplin, this romantic drama stars Edna Purviance as a
woman who bounces back and forth between the security of a wealthy lover (played by the
great Adolphe Menjou) and the passion of a poor artist. Trailer | Buy
Tickets
Saturday, June 19 – 7:30 PM
New 35 mm Print! THE GOLD RUSH, 1925, Janus Films, 72 min. Coming off his
first major financial failure, A WOMAN OF PARIS, writer-director Charlie Chaplin responded
with what many consider his finest feature length film. The Lone Prospector (Chaplin)
travels to the far-off Yukon in search of gold, but ends up falling in love with
dance-hall girl Georgia Hale. The classic "dance of the dinner rolls" and
"boiled shoe leather" scenes show Chaplin’s gift for poignant comedy at its
very best. Plus New 35 mm Print! "A Dog's Life," (1918, Janus Films, 40 min). A literal
expression of Chaplin's identification with the underdog. New
35 mm Print! "A Day's
Pleasure," (1919, Janus Films, 25 min). A family boat outing is complicated
by tumultuous waves, traffic and a pool of tar. New 35 mm
Print! "Shoulder Arms,"
(1918, Janus Films, 46 min). The comedy of self-preservation and patriotic fantasy comes
to a head when the Tramp finds himself in World War I. Buy
Tickets
Sunday, June 20 – 3:00 PM
Celebrate Father’s Day with Chaplin! New 35 mm
Print! THE KID, 1921, Janus Films, 60
min. In perhaps his greatest film masterpiece, Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp, following his
paternal instincts, takes a hapless, orphaned baby - "the Kid" - under his wing.
Five years pass, and the tyke is now a precocious little boy (Jackie Coogan), helping his
foster dad, the Tramp, in his "window glass replacement" scam. But a confluence
of events, including the Kid’s sudden illness, conspire to separate the two. Trailer
Plus New 35 mm Print! "A Dog's Life," (1918, Janus Films, 40 min). A literal
expression of Chaplin's identification with the underdog. Buy
Tickets
Wednesday, June 23 – 7:30 PM
New 35 mm Print! "Pay Day," (1922, 28 min) Chaplin as a construction worker
celebrates pay day by going to the bar - and trouble erupts.
New 35 mm Print! LIMELIGHT, 1952, Janus Films, 137 min. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. In
this nostalgic but never maudlin swan song, Chaplin channels the riotous music-hall
culture of his youth. An intensely personal film complete with recollections of his
parents as well as his children in cameo roles, LIMELIGHT also features the one-time-only
onscreen pairing of Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Trailer | Buy
Tickets
Thursday, June 24 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature: New 35 mm Print! MODERN TIMES, 1936, Janus Films, 87 min. Charlie Chaplin
directs and plays the Tramp in this brilliantly inventive critique of industrial
advancement. When the Tramp begins to take on one too many characteristics of the massive
machinery that surrounds him, the powers-that-be are made nervous by such anti-social
behavior and suspect him of being a communist.
New 35 mm Print! A KING IN NEW YORK, 1957, Janus Films, 110 min.
Charlie Chaplin's take on America in the 1950s, made during his exile from the country due
to his leftist views, stars Chaplin as a peaceable king who runs afoul of the House
Un-American Activities Committee. Roberto Rossellini wisely called the work "the film
of a free man." Buy
Tickets
Friday, June 25 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature: New 35 mm Print! THE CIRCUS, 1928, Janus Films, 71 min. Dir. Charlie Chaplin.
The Little Tramp goes from being a circus loiterer who steals hotdogs from babies to an
accidental clown in this delightful riot by comedic genius Charlie Chaplin. Don't be
fooled by the freewheeling slapstick throughout - the final shot evokes the heart-tugging
yet adorable melancholia that makes the Tramp one of cinema's most enduring characters.
New 35 mm Print! THE GOLD RUSH, 1925, Janus Films, 72 min. Coming off his
first major financial failure, A WOMAN OF PARIS, writer-director Charlie Chaplin responded
with what many consider his finest feature length film. The Lone Prospector (Chaplin)
travels to the far-off Yukon in search of gold, but ends up falling in love with
dance-hall girl Georgia Hale. The classic "dance of the dinner rolls" and
"boiled shoe leather" scenes show Chaplin’s gift for poignant comedy at its
very best. Buy Tickets
Saturday, June 26 – 7:30 PM
Double Feature: New 35 mm Print! THE PILGRIM, 1923, Janus Films, 59 min. Chaplin plays an
escaped convict who, upon discovering a suit of clerical clothes, makes the uniform his
disguise. A smart and funny critique of religious pretense.
New 35 mm Print! THE GREAT DICTATOR, 1940, Janus Films, 125 min. Director
Charlie Chaplin trades in the lovable bumbling of the Tramp for the hilarious but
not-so-lovable bumbling of a strangely familiar Fascist leader in this brilliant work
brimming with physical comedy and scathing political critique. "A time capsule, a
timeless document and a profound work of conscience…See it with a crowd."
— San-Francisco Chronicle Clip
| Buy
Tickets
Sunday, June 27 – 3:00 PM
Charlie Chaplin Shorts Program: New 35 mm Print! "Pay
Day," (1922, 28 min) Chaplin as a construction worker celebrates pay day by
going to the bar - and trouble erupts. "Sunnyside," (1919, 29 min)
Charlie the handyman must mow the floor of a hotel, and deal with the pesky cows and goats
who have found a home in the church. New 35 mm Print!
"A Day's Pleasure," (1919, 25 min). A family boat outing is
complicated by tumultuous waves, traffic and a pool of tar. New
35 mm Print! "The Idle Class," (1921, 32 min). The
Tramp arrives at a luxurious resort, stowed away in the train that takes the elite to
their sunny summer playground. Buy
Tickets |
