Charlie Chaplin responded to the arrival of sound by keeping his tramp mute and creating a fabulous soundtrack. Composer Carl Davis on the challenge of reconstructing his original scores
The three giants of 20th-century art are, for me, Picasso, Stravinsky and Chaplin. All three produced a tremendous amount of work – original, controversial and rewarding. Chaplin was a film-maker in complete control of his art: conceiving, scripting, acting, directing, producing, editing and, strikingly, creating his own musical scores. His stimulus, as it is with all clowns, was the creation of a character – amusing, moving, the fate of whom constantly intrigues us. Whereas Buster Keaton was a frozen-faced stoic and Harold Lloyd had his empty-framed glasses, Chaplin had his "little tramp", the ups-and-downs (mostly downs) of whose existence shaped a story of human resilience. The tramp character, with his stubby moustache, bowler hat, oversized shoes and cane appeared on screen first in...
The three giants of 20th-century art are, for me, Picasso, Stravinsky and Chaplin. All three produced a tremendous amount of work – original, controversial and rewarding. Chaplin was a film-maker in complete control of his art: conceiving, scripting, acting, directing, producing, editing and, strikingly, creating his own musical scores. His stimulus, as it is with all clowns, was the creation of a character – amusing, moving, the fate of whom constantly intrigues us. Whereas Buster Keaton was a frozen-faced stoic and Harold Lloyd had his empty-framed glasses, Chaplin had his "little tramp", the ups-and-downs (mostly downs) of whose existence shaped a story of human resilience. The tramp character, with his stubby moustache, bowler hat, oversized shoes and cane appeared on screen first in...
- 1/1/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
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