Filling in Gaps in the Chaplin Legacy

Richard Attenborough’s biography of Charlie Chaplin hardly touches on his film legacy, but a series of fascinating laser discs neatly fill the gap.

At the top of the list is Fox Video/Image Entertainment’s new release of “Modern Times,” first in its ground-breaking “Chaplin: A Legacy of Laughter” series only available on CAV laser disc. (“City Lights” is promised around the first of the year.)

What makes these laser discs unique is the digital mastering of a composite fine-grain print from the original film negative held in the Chaplin archives and special features such as never-before-seen original story notes, shooting log and production reports. Never has Chaplin’s vision been seen--and heard--more clearly than on these laser discs.

Though Chaplin made “Modern Times” just a few years before such full-scale epics as “Gone With the Wind,” he believed that the Little Tramp should not speak. But sound surrounds him, from Chaplin’s own Puccini-influenced “Smile” to other intricate musical interludes composed by Chaplin that enrich the film’s 103 minutes.

On many TV sets through which this laser is played, a black window-boxing frames the picture. It’s a shame that more transfers of films of this vintage aren’t done this way, as they preserve the full picture, as shown and envisioned by the director.

What’s often been lost in previous videotape copies of this tender, touching “silent,” featuring a lovely Paulette Goddard as the Gamin, are the rich hues of gray that suffuse the film.

Special care has also been taken with chapter stops. While most lasers are accompanied with chapter stops so special scenes may be easily accessed, few come complete with frame numbers, enabling you to go to specific scenes, or segments of scenes.

Primary supplemental material is an enlightening interview with David Raksin (“Laura”) who discusses what it was like, in his 20s, to work with the incredibly creative, inventive, yet autocratic Chaplin. “Charlie had no training in music, but was a magpie who could pick up everything,” Raksin recalls. His insights into working with Chaplin--from details about his hiring and firing to the original title of the film (“The Masses”)--are invaluable; unfortunately, the production of the interview was not done with the meticulous care that went into the film’s actual transfer. Jump cuts are distracting and unnecessary; the producers should have thought about using his observations and recollections as a second audio track, played over the film.

For Chaplin buffs, photographs of various script segments, including Chaplin’s hand-written notes, should prove alluring, as will material on the feeding-machine sequence and the promotion of the film.

“Modern Times,” Fox Video: CAV (full-feature format); two discs, four sides; 103 minutes; 21 chapter stops, plus detailed indexing by frame number; made from digitally mastered original film elements in Chaplin archives; $70.

A Mind at Work: Image’s laser-disc release of “Unknown Chaplin” brings to laser a fascinating look at Chaplin’s creative process. The two-disc set of the original 1990 Thames Television production, is still available--now at the bargain price of $30 (it originally was released at $60).

Written and produced by silent-film historian Kevin Brownlow and David Gill, it includes footage never seen previously. Outtakes, retakes, repeated scenes, segments of whole films never released, as well as interviews with many of his principal players, enable you to see the Chaplin mind at work.

Chaplin literally composed all of his films on film--he would reshoot a scene until it worked for him even if it meant replacing actors after a sequence was finished or taking off weeks between takes. For Chaplin, the nitrate stock was his pad and pencil. If something didn’t work, he would throw out the film and begin again. Sequences tried in one film and discarded, show up in another.

James Mason is the perfect narrator, his sonorous voice beautifully complementing the rich, haunting Carl Davis score, which is nicely integrated into Chaplin’s own compositions. It is hard to know when one stops and the other begins.

“Unknown Chaplin,” Image Entertainment: two discs (three sides) in single sleeve, CLV (standard-play format); 157 minutes; no chapter stops; digital sound; $30.

Two-Reelers: Also still in the catalogue is Image’s 1991 set ($80) of “The Chaplin Mutuals,” a valuable collection of 12 Chaplin’s two-reelers from 1916-17 offered in their best transfer yet. The films were given new digital stereo scores by Michael Mortilla (not as imposing as Carl Davis’ music but effective nonetheless) and were transferred from 35mm prints at correct projection speed. Generally, in the years since their first release, they were shown at the wrong speed and chopped into odd little pieces for TV and other showings.

Here it’s like seeing them brand-new. Included are: “The Immigrant,” “The Adventurer,” “The Cure,” “Easy Street,” “The Count,” “The Vagabond,” “The Fireman,” “Behind the Screen,” “One A.M.,” “The Pawnshop,” “The Floorwalker” and “The Rink.”

“The Chaplin Mutuals,” Image Entertainment: three discs (six sides); CLV (extended-play format); digital sound; c. 25 minutes per film; no chapter stops; $80.

Hidden Gems: If you can still find them hiding in various laser bins, two series of Chaplin originals first released on laser by Image in 1984, but no longer in the catalogue, add to a real appreciation of the Chaplin legacy. The three-volume series includes films produced while Chaplin was at Keystone with Mack Sennet and after the actor-director’s break with Keystone and his affiliation with the Essanay Studios.

“Keystone” 1914 one-reelers included on this one-sided CLV disc are “Making a Living,” “Mabel’s Busy Day,” “The Masquerader” and “The Rounders.” “Chaplin Lost and Found Essanay I” offers four 1915 efforts: “His New Job,” “The Champion,” “The Tramp” and “A Woman.” “Essanay II” offers four other 1915 two-reelers: “By the Sea,” “The Bank,” “Shanghaied” and “A Night in the Snow.”