Description
Book SynopsisAt age twenty-eight, Charlie Chaplin was a millionaire and one of the world's most famous personalities. He had grown rich playing the poorest of men. He was to go on playing unforgettable characters in timeless films, but now the psychology of celebrity began both to drive and to damage his creativity. Richard Schickel, the distinguished film critic, has called Chaplin the first victim of modern celebrity culture, “driven by his relentless ego, by his helpless need for an audience to dominate, to lead. All the tragedies of his life stemmed from those drives and needs.” Mr. Schickel is the rarest of Chaplin enthusiasts, an unabashed fan who can celebrate the object of his affection without looking away when his subject deserves a poking. In this indispensable collection of some thirty essays, he has selected the most provocative and insightful criticisms of Chaplin's life and work, from the great comedian's beginnings through his early features, his mid-life crisis, and his late films. The contributors include Andrew Sarris, David Thomson, Andre Bazin, Gilbert Seldes, Alistair Cooke, Frances Hackett, Robert E. Sherwood, Stark Young, Penelope Gilliatt, Edmund Wilson, Stanley Kauffmann, Alexander Woollcott, George Jean Nathan, Winston Churchill, Max Eastman, Graham Greene, Otis Ferguson, James Agee, Dwight Macdonald, Robert Warshow, Walter Kerr, J. Hoberman, and others. Mr. Schickel, the last critic to study Chaplin intensively (for his award-winning documentary of a year ago), offers a long Introduction.
Trade ReviewThe Essential Chaplin stresses the significance of Charlie’s oeuvre and directs the audience to its most hilarious films. * The Wall Street Journal *
A wonderfully put-together overview of Chaplin's life and art. -- Ina Hughes * News-Sentinel *
[An] intrinsically valuable new anthology. -- Scott Eyman * The New York Observer *
A fascinating compilation...For fans, this book is a must; it is also valuable as a study of expository and critical writing. -- Dana Cobern-Kullman * Library Journal *
Collectively...insightful and thorough....this volume is a must * CHOICE *
The best pieces in this collection...are the ones that leaven admiration with healthy cynicism. -- Marc Weingarten * Los Angeles Times *
One of the finest English-language pieces on Chaplin ever written....The seminal text on the comedian. -- Jim Hempill * American Society of Cinematographers *
The book's best feature is its organized cacophony, its trace of this astonishingly long and rich body of work and personal travail....There is much to savor in these essays. -- Robert Jackson, Professor of Political Science, Florida State University * Virginia Quarterly Review *
"[These] essays...deserve ongoing recommendation and mention for any Chaplin fan, whether newcomer or seasoned." * Midwest Book Review *
"Nearly thirty essays from film critic Richard Schickel deserve ongoing recommendation and mention for any Chaplin fan, whether newcomer or seasoned...an analysis of genius and methods rather than films alone, and one which holds up well against movie reviewer surveys or biographies alone." * California Bookwatch *
