Charlie Chaplin’s 100th Year of Movies

Posted on February 2, 2014 at 8:00 am

One hundred years ago this week, British music hall star Charlie Chaplin made his first Hollywood film, the silent “It’s a Living.”

It would be a little while before his classic character of the little tramp really came together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu-rLA4POkI

He became an international superstar without saying a word.  He had unparalleled physical wit and timing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTt2f-DReYY

He could make you laugh and break your heart at the same moment.

Here the blind girl who thought he was a millionaire when she could not see, and knew him only by the touch of his hand, discovers that he is a poor man who gave up everything to pay for the operation to restore her sight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHBHdYgg9fI

His movies are still timely for their commentary on society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI3LIqinSto

Robert Downey, Jr. played him brilliantly in the biopic “Chaplin.”

I also recommend Stephen Weissman’s superb biography, Chaplin: A Life.

Related Tags:

 

Classic Comedy Shorts

$100,000 Worth of Children’s Books for Seeing ‘Waiting for Superman’

Posted on August 18, 2010 at 3:17 pm

Paramount Pictures, Participant Media and Walden Media jointly announced that global education leader Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has joined the WaitingforSuperman “Pledge Progress Meter” by committing to provide $100,000 worth of new children’s books to U.S. libraries in need once 60,000 people pledge to see the award-winning documentary film WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN.”
What does your school need? Tweet #MySchoolNeeds
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the world’s largest provider of educational materials for pre-K-12 schools. Since 1832, the Boston-based company has combined its tradition of academic excellence with a commitment to innovation for the future.
“We are proud to support this film because it shares our mission to promote literacy and an appetite for learning among the nation’s students,” said Barry O’Callaghan, Chief Executive Officer of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “An essential first step to improving our education system is providing those students with better quality and more accessible literacy-based resources within and outside of the classroom.”
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the fourth major organization to take the pledge and join the WaitingforSuperman.com “Pledge Progress Meter.” FirstBook, OfficeMax® and DonorsChoose.org have already committed to making a difference in education by taking the pledge.
“Waiting for Superman” is an already-acclaimed documentary directed by Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”). It examines the crisis of public education in the United States through multiple interlocking stories. Designed to start a national conversation, the movie and corresponding “Take the Pledge” campaign aim to inspire everyone to create innovative and long-term solutions to help change the course of our kids’ lives for the better. The “Pledge Progress Meter” launched in May as a way for non-profits, foundations and corporations to match individual pledge levels with powerful action items aimed at helping both students and public schools.
The film opens in New York and Los Angeles on September 24, nationwide in October.
Get more information about the movie, or take the pledge. You can also text “PLEDGE” to 77177.

Related Tags:

 

Documentary School
THE MOVIE MOM® is a registered trademark of Nell Minow. Use of the mark without express consent from Nell Minow constitutes trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws. All material © Nell Minow 1995-2024, all rights reserved, and no use or republication is permitted without explicit permission. This site hosts Nell Minow’s Movie Mom® archive, with material that originally appeared on Yahoo! Movies, Beliefnet, and other sources. Much of her new material can be found at Rogerebert.com, Huffington Post, and WheretoWatch. Her books include The Movie Mom’s Guide to Family Movies and 101 Must-See Movie Moments, and she can be heard each week on radio stations across the country.

Website Designed by Max LaZebnik