Charles Chaplin

November 18, 2007 - December 19, 2007

Sunnyside, November 23

Everybody knows Chaplin’s Tramp. The little figure with the greasepaint moustache and oversized shoes, the bowler and cane of a down-at-heels gentleman, vies with Mickey Mouse for the title of world’s most famous movie character. But how well do we really know Chaplin’s films? The Tramp’s status as a beloved American icon can too easily overshadow the real achievements of Charles Chaplin (1889–1977), which in many ways ran counter to the American mainstream. The Tramp character, first seen onscreen in 1914, was importantly an outsider, a tweaker of the established order; throughout his career, Chaplin managed to combine Victorian sentiment with sharp social critique. His empathy for the poor and downtrodden, rooted in the acute hardships of his own London childhood, continued even through the years of his extraordinary success—at twenty-eight, he was already a millionaire, with complete control over his own productions. Later, as anti-communist paranoia rose in America, his leftist views (along with personal scandals including a trumped-up paternity suit) drove him into exile in England.

With this series of fine prints, most of them imported from Europe (amazingly, many are currently not distributed in the United States), we invite you to experience Chaplin’s films as they were meant to be seen: not at home, but on the big screen, in the community of an audience. This is the way really to know Chaplin, the extraordinary performer and complex artist, maker of films that were poignant, pointed, and, above all, funny.

Please see our Movie Matinees for All Ages series for additional Chaplin screenings: Modern Times on November 17, The Circus on November 24, and The Gold Rush on December 1.

PFA at the Castro
Selected prints in this series will also be screened at San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre from December 2 through 12. For details, visit www.castrotheatre.com.

Sunday, November 18, 2007
2:00 p.m. The Kid
The Tramp and foundling Jackie Coogan live by their wits in a film that’s “still fresh, funny and poignant today.”—S.F. Chronicle. With The Pilgrim. Repeated on Saturday, November 24.

Friday, November 23, 2007
4:00 p.m. Sunnyside, A Day’s Pleasure, and Pay Day
Three shorts find Chaplin’s character at work and at play, beleaguered, often exasperated, and hardly innocent.

Friday, November 23, 2007
5:45 p.m. Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin
Richard Schickel’s documentary offers “a serious, often illuminating, and unavoidably entertaining account.”—Village Voice

Saturday, November 24, 2007
4:45 p.m. The Kid
With The Pilgrim. Please see Sunday, November 18.

Thursday, December 6, 2007
5:30 p.m. Chaplin at Mutual: Four Short Comedies (Free Screening!)
Judith Rosenberg on Piano. Chaplin’s comic grace, directorial talents, and penchant for pathos are already evident in these early shorts.

Saturday, December 8, 2007
2:30 p.m. A Dog’s Life, The Idle Class, and Shoulder Arms
Three shorts hone the edge of social satire that would run through Chaplin’s career.

Saturday, December 8, 2007
4:50 p.m. The Circus
The Tramp becomes an accidental clown in this little-known but irresistibly funny film.

Sunday, December 9, 2007
2:00 p.m. The Great Dictator
Chaplin takes on that other famous guy with a small black moustache. “A time capsule, a timeless document and a profound work of conscience. . . . See it with a crowd.”—S.F. Chronicle

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
7:30 p.m. Limelight
Playing a faded entertainer, Chaplin evokes the music-hall days of his youth. “A masterpiece. Few cinema artists have delved into their own lives and emotions with such ruthlessness and with such moving results.”—Time Out

Friday, December 14, 2007
7:00 p.m. City Lights
“Chaplin’s most masterful blend of pathos and comedy. . . . You can’t leave the planet without seeing this movie at least once.”—S.F. Chronicle. Repeated on Wednesday, December 19.

Friday, December 14, 2007
8:45 p.m. Monsieur Verdoux
Chaplin plays a modern Bluebeard in a satiric, surprising “comedy of murders,” based on a story idea by Orson Welles. Repeated on Sunday, December 16.

Sunday, December 16, 2007
4:30 p.m. Monsieur Verdoux
Please see Friday, December 14.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
7:00 p.m. The Gold Rush
The film by which Chaplin wished to be remembered contains some of his most treasured comic nuggets, along with commentary on financial folly.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
8:40 p.m. A King in New York
Chaplin’s take on 1950s America is “hugely funny, healthily vulgar [and] always extremely moving.”—N.Y. Times

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
7:00 p.m. City Lights
Please see Friday, December 14.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
8:45 p.m. Modern Times
Chaplin’s politically outspoken film also contains some of his funniest scenes, in which Charlie causes complete chaos simply by being human.

Series curated by Susan Oxtoby.

PFA wishes to thank the following individuals and institutions for their assistance with this retrospective: Birgit Kemner and Clarice Saadi, MK2; Gary Palmucci, Kino International; Marilee Womack, Warner Bros.; David Shepard; and Dana Knowles, University of Southern California.