http://www.charliechaplin.

com/
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in London, England on April 16th 1889
He father was a vocalist and actor
His mother was an actress and singer, who gained a reputation for her work in
the light opera field. His father died when he was 10 and his mom was ill at the time
Charlie and his brother Sydney had to fend for themselves
Since they inherited natural talents from their parents they took to the stage as
the best opportunity for a career
He used to be a dancer in a group called The Eight Lancashire Lads and grew
popularity
At the age of 12, he got his first role in a legitimate stage show and appeared as
Billy the page boy, in support of William Gillette in Sherlock Holmes
He also started a career in comedy in vaudeville, which eventually took him in the
United States in 1910 as featured player with the Fred Karno Repertoire Company.
Americans liked the characterization in a sketch called A Night in an English
Music Hall
When the Fred Karno troupe returned to the US in the fall of 1912 for a repeat
tour, Chaplin was offered a motion picture contract
Hes initial salary was $150 a week, but his overnight success on the screen
made other producers to start negotiations for his services.
He moved to the Essanay Company (1915)
The following year, Charlie was even more in demand and signed with the Mutual
Film Corporation, and made 12 two-reel comedies
When his contract with Mutual expired in 1917, he decided to become an
independent producer
1918- He entered into a an agreement with the First National Exhibitions Circuit,
a new organization specially formed to exploit his pictures.
His first film under this new deal was A Dogs Life
After this production, he turned his attention to a national tour on behalf of the
war effort, following which he made a film the US government used to popularize to
Liberty Loan: The Bond
His next film was a comedy dealing with the war. Shoulder Arms released in
1918 at a most opportune time, proved a veritable mirthquake at the box office and
added enormously to Chaplins popularity. This he followed with Sunnyside and A
Days Pleasure ,both released in 1919
In april of that year, Chaplin joined with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and
D.W Griffith to found the United Artists Corporation. B.B. Hampton, in his History of the
Movies
1921, he came out with a six-reel masterpiece
The next year he produced The Idle Class in which he portrayed a dual
character
Under his arrangement with U.A he made 8 pictures, each in feature length.
http://www.threemoviebuffs.com/review/idle-class

 Chaplin still owed a few pictures to First National and they refused to let him buy
out his contract.
35 minutes
Longer than your average 2-reeler
Comedy
Little Tramp is on Vacation
Chaplin gets around the technical difficulty of playing two characters by keeping
them apart for most of the time. Except for one seen were the two characters get drunk
together but the rich man is wearing armor that covers his face.
Idle Class
After watching the short film myself I picked up on a few things. The comedy that was produced
by Chaplin was very well put out. Since the only audio was music, which Chaplin composed,
comedy had to be expressed by facial expressions and actions. Which is very challenging. He
also played two different characters and had to think of a way to have have both characters in
one scene, without revealing theres only one person. Given the technology available to
filmmakers at this time Charlie shows a lot of intelligence when creating this film.
Lions Cage
In this scene Chaplin locks himself into a lion's cage, but the magic of it is he isnt actually in the
cage. Watching this video without knowing I would have had no idea until I read more about it
after watching. In this early of time he did a great job of using cameras and props to create this
illusion and he must of been one of the first ever to accomplish such a piece. Just like his other
film I previously watched, he Chaplin doesnt fail to display humor using facial expression in the
most entertaining humorous way possible.
http://www.biography.com/people/charlie-chaplin-9244327#later-films
His romantic liaisons led his rebuke by some womens groups, which let him to
being barred from entering some U.S states.
As Chaplin was sailing to Britain for vacation he was announced not to permitted
to return to the United States unless he could prove moral worth
He made one last visit to the United States in 1971 when he was given an
honorary Academy Award.

http://www.history.co.uk/biographies/charlie-chaplin