"I wanted everything to be a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large ... I added a small moustache, which, I reasoned, would add age without hiding my expression. I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the makeup made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked on stage he was fully born… a tramp, a gentleman, a poet, a dreamer, a lonely fellow, always hopeful of romance and adventure. He would have you believe he is a scientist, a musician, a duke, a polo-player. However, he is not above picking up cigarette buds or robbing a baby of its candy. ” - Charlie Chaplin on the Little Tramp character
A century has passed since Chaplin’s best-known onscreen alter ego first appeared. Yet the fan following for the little tramp with boyish looks dressed in lose baggy pants, a cane and a derby hat is undiminshed.
To celebrate Charlie Chaplin, Yadharthaa Film Society organises a series of events. As part of the celebration, the society plans to organise a Charlie Chaplin film festival from April 16 (his date of birth) to April 20.
“Chaplin first acted in Mabel’s Strange Predicament but Kid Auto Races at Venice , which was shot later, released first, introducing the legendary Tramp character,” says R.S. Rajan, secretary, Yadharthaa Federation of Film Societies of India. The films are sharp comments on the society and its snobbish people. “These films are relevant even today. In the Kid Auto Races at Venice, even as he portraysa drunk Chaplin shows how people are after publicity,” he says.
“His films have stood the test of time as they are all about social life of the people. Till date Chaplin is one of the finest actors we have ever seen in the history of world cinema. Even today, actors copy his expressions,” says Rajan.
Some of the films screened were Mabel’s Strange Predicament , The Floorwalker , The Fireman , The Vagabond , One A.M. , The Count , The Pawnshop, Behind the Screen , The Rink , Easy Street , The Cure , The Immigrant , and The Adventurer .
“Chaplin represented the common man. He was even banned from entering America for his alleged communist sympathies. He was bold enough to criticise Governments and their policies. His movie The Great Dictator provides ample evidence,” says Rajan. Footlights , the only novel he has ever written, was launched recently. The novel, which was lying unpublished for more than 60 years, formed the base for the film Limelight .
The little tramp will live for ever in the hearts of film lovers.
