So much average

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Unknown Chaplin is a three part television series produced from outtakes and film clips edited from most of Charles Chaplin's well-known films. The first part focuses primarily on the Mutual period when Chaplin made twelve films in sixteen months. The film covers how Chaplin formed his own stock company to make films with much in the way John Ford would do a couple decades later. The film focuses on The Floorwalker, The Count, The Cure, and The Immigrant, while including clips of The Pawnbroker and The Adventurer. The film indicates how Chaplin rehearsed on film by viewing daily rushes and re-shooting scenes multiple times, how some gags worked by exploiting the variances in camera speed, and how Edna Purviance was not a trained actress and had to be shaped by Chaplin's direction.The second part of the film focuses on The Kid, The Gold Rush, and City Lights. It includes interviews with Jackie Coogan, Lita Grey, Georgia Hale, Robert Parrish, Virginia Cherrill, and Sydney Chaplin. A great deal of time is spent on the location shooting for The Gold Rush and the many highlights from that film. Most interesting is the initial introduction of the tramp and the flower girl scene in City Lights. Chaplin had to solve the dilemma of how to make it plain to the audience that the blind flower girl thought the tramp was a rich man. It took a year and a half of patience and countless retakes for Chaplin to solve it.The third part of the film focuses mostly on The Circus and the uncompleted film The Professor, but it also includes tidbits from City Lights, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, and Limelight. The third part showcases mostly scenes which were cut from Chaplin's final edit of his films influences some of his earlier silent pictures had on his later, more famous films. The film shows how Chaplin played an important role in the development of early cinema, combining his own artistic vision with the unbridled mayhem of his Mack Sennett days at the Keystone Company. Many of Chaplin's stock company get substantial screen time, including Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell, Albert Austin, Henry Bergman, John Rand, and Loyal Underwood. Major disappointments are the film's omissions of Chaplin's post-Limelight work, Monsieur Verdoux, and A Woman Of Paris, a box office failure upon its release now regarded as one of Chaplin's most important films and an adult film ahead of its time. James Mason narrates the film with appropriate earnestness. ***1/2 of 4 stars.

"Unknown Chaplin" is an interesting program--from two authorities on film history and preservation, Kevin Brownlow and the late David Gill, two men I'm thankful to for many of the restored movies I've seen. I consider Charlie Chaplin one of the greatest filmmakers ever, in addition to being the funniest man I've ever seen. This three-part television series shows cut footage from Chaplin's films, providing a unique look at the filmmaker's perfectionism and improvisational approach.The first two episodes are especially telling. "My Happiest Years" features cut footage from his Mutual shorts "The Immigrant" and "The Cure", where Chaplin repeatedly retook scenes, improvising the comedy and narrative in front of the camera. And, "The Great Director" includes a nice look at the struggle between Chaplin's perfectionism and his unprofessional leading actress during filming of "City Lights". The last episode, "Hidden Treasures", shows a comedian who continued to work when not filming movies for release and how some of the gags in his films evolved over time. There's also a sequence from his aborted film "The Professor" and cut scenes from more of his films. Overall, "Unknown Chaplin" is worth watching for everyone seriously interested in Chaplin's art.

Charles Chaplin was truly the first independent filmmaker - with the exception perhaps of Georges Melies. Chaplin wrote, directed, starred in and scored nearly all of his films. No one understood the craft of film-making (silent or otherwise) better than Chaplin. He never compromised his artistic vision, perfectionism, or his integrity. Charlie literally made his films up as he went along, rehearsing on film and discarding whatever didn't work. Such techniques would prove too costly and time consuming today. This documentary consists of some of Chaplin's best experiments - some of which he re-shot and much of which he ordered burned. Like many a magician, Chaplin didn't want his secrets getting out. Luckily, many of his best tricks are revealed here for posterity. It's all lovingly narrated by James Mason. And the scenes that were cut from THE CIRCUS, CITY LIGHTS and MODERN TIMES are as good as anything that ended up in the final releases. I wish this was available on DVD, as my tapes are beginning to wear out.

its almost ironic to call charlie chaplin unknown, but you truely learn how much you don't know about him with this series. It is getting you inside the mind of genius. The rare footage and personal interviews show you how secretive and personal chaplin was in life. If you are a silent film lover, this is a program you won't want to miss!