100 years ago, Charlie Chaplin appeared on the screens, a man with a slender body with big feet and a small mustache who managed to attract attention and gained great fame to become the undisputed star of silent cinema and loved by both adults and children.
A century following the release of his first feature film “The Kid” in 1921, Chaplin returned to the fore once more, with a new documentary film entitled “The Real Charlie Chaplin” directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney, in which 4 of his children and his last wife, Ona O’Neill, participate. Their thoughts on the checkered star’s history.
The film refers to his physical talent and firm ambition, and reviews the journey of his star’s rise in the world of cinema despite the difficulties he faced, in addition to archival interviews that reveal the secrets of the comedian.
The Kid
The film, which was released in cinemas and on “Amazon Prime” on Saturday, tells the hidden story of the world’s first superstar comedian, who married 4 times and allegedly slept with more than 2,000 women.
The film focuses on his relationship with his second wife, Lita Gray, whom he married at the age of 35, when she was 16, and describes her as a cow and an insect, while describing him as a man with a fickle mood.
His son Michael, 75, told viewers: “I was kind of afraid of my dad. He was so strong, you can’t argue with him, because he mightn’t be wrong.. Anyone who got close to him would end up suffocating.”
His daughter Jane admitted, “I grew up with the icon, but man, I had no idea who the man was.” Her sister Geraldine, 77, added: “My dad wasn’t Charlie Chaplin… I knew they were the same person but they looked nothing like him, except when he had an audience, he would be Charlie Chaplin, that other guy.”
Chaplin was born in Lambeth, south London in 1889, and had been working in a workshop since he was just 4 years old. His mother is a singer of Romanian origin named Hannah Chaplin.
Hannah had one son out of wedlock, and although she was married to a successful artist named Charles Chaplin, he is unlikely to be Charlie’s real father.
Whatever the truth, Chaplin gave the infant father his name. But a year following giving birth, he passed away, leaving his wife and son to live a poor life, perhaps because he suspected Hanna of cheating on him.
Charlie later admitted that his mother had done many bad things, and it was possible that in times of extreme poverty, she had taken to the streets. This was not unusual in working-class South London, where women drifted in and out of prostitution to save their families.
Charlie once said, “Measuring the morals of our family by common standards would be as wrong as putting a thermometer in boiling water.” He entered the artistic field in the United States at the age of twenty-four.
He was short in stature with a very large head in relation to his graceful and delicate body. But most people considered Chaplin good-looking, with deep blue eyes, curly black hair, ivory-like skin, elegant white teeth, and firm, fleshy lips.
He joined the comedy company of Fred Karnot, where he was spotted by Keystone Films while on tour in America.
The voiceover in the documentary tells the audience that by the age of 26, he was “more famous than any king, queen, emperor, philosopher, artist, or religious figure”.
Mildred Harris
Child actress Mildred Harris, 16, was one of the first to fall in love with him when he met her at a party in 1918.
By that time, he was 29 years old and was one of the richest actors in Hollywood. He sent bouquets of roses to the hotel where Mildred was staying, and waited for her in his car outside the studio where she was working. After a while, they became lovers.
When Mildred told him she was pregnant, he panicked, the last thing he wanted at the time was responsibility. But he was well aware that he needed to avoid a terrible scandal.
A quiet wedding was arranged, and Mildred was taken to a rented house, which one of her friends described as “a symphony of lavender and ivory, exquisite in every detail”.
Soon following they moved to this heaven, it turned out that Mildred was not pregnant at all. She misread her symptoms or cheated on him into marriage.
This doubt might not make married life any easier, especially since Chaplin knew that he was not so in love that he would marry her quickly. He gave Mildred her chauffeur, servants, and unlimited credit in the shops, but he was irritable and moody.
The Real Charlie Chaplin
Soon, Mrs. Chaplin was already carrying his child, but during that time she was not living a happy life, at one point she reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was hospitalized for 3 weeks.
Chaplin’s frequent relationships with other women did not improve her condition. Mildred later complained that “Charlie married me and then forgot all regarding me”. While Chaplin was working on “A Day’s Pleasure” in July 1919, she gave birth to his son.
Norman had an intestinal malformation and died 3 days later. In April 1920, the couple began the divorce proceedings under the pretext of “cruelty”.
The documentary states that Chaplin mistrusted women, feared abandonment and loss, was jealous for the slightest reason, and was very aggressive.
