As I undertook this plan to familiarize myself with a wide range of movies, I knew I’d eventually have to grapple with silent films. I also knew that there were many that were considered must-see because they represented technical achievements that propelled the medium forward. There were others that told a story in a truly delightful or intense way. So, I knew I’d be watching some and enjoying some. It’s also something I never, ever thought would become a practice I enjoyed settling into doing.
Enter Charlie Chaplin. Forgive all the ignorance that’s about to flow. I always pictured this guy as a goof. His movies represented antics kids would laugh at. That’s why they show him to you when you’re young! That style of physical comedy had always seemed so bad to me. I just had this disdain—it was either not serious enough or whatever—for it that I couldn’t really look at a movie from that time and expect I would even enjoy it, much less actually appreciate it for the work that it was. Chaplin was representative of that perfectly. Even hearing his name invoked a standoffishness in me (Buster Keaton as well) that I didn’t expect to ever overcome. I seem to have done that.
I saw The Gold Rush a few weeks ago, and it was the first thing I had ever watched of his. I loved it. Since then, I have been planning to grab some of his other movies, particularly The Great Dictator, which now seems like it may be a hugely important work of his (and not out of its element in a time like now). In searching more out, I discovered that the ax app has a ton of his work. All the stuff people tell you you need to see, anyway. Apparently, HBO has a deal with The Criterion Collection or something that places so much of their releases on the app. As a fan and collector of Criterion releases, this is really cool. This library of movies opened the door to more Chaplin for me. I watched Shoulder Arms last night when I had a little time. As just the second thing I’ve seen by him, I was prepared to maybe have a little letdown. Maybe The Gold Rush, which Chaplin considered his best, was an outlier for me. It wasn’t. This was great. I was laughing out loud at it.
I actually hit a point where I figured maybe I had just fully realized this particular phase of Dadness. I am now a Silent Movie Guy. A Charlie Chaplin Guy. It doesn’t matter. When they pulled off the prank to kidnap the kaiser, I was having the time of my life. Man, this feels dumb. Anyway, it wasn’t I had a ball watching this, and now I have The Great Dictator and Modern Times waiting for me at the library. I’ll be busy this weekend.