Chaplin S War Trilogy

The book examines Charlie Chaplin's evolving perspective on dark comedy in his three war films, Shoulder Arms (1918), The Great Dictator (1940), and Monsieur Verdoux (1947). In the first he uses the genre in a groundbreaking manner but yet for a pro-war cause. In Dictator dark comedy is applied in an antiwar way. In Monsieur Verdoux Chaplin embraces the genre as an individual in defense against a society out to destroy him. All three are pivotal films in the development of the genre in film, with the latter two movies being very controversial for their time.

Charlie Chaplin's A Woman of Paris (1923) was a groundbreaking film which was neither a simple recycling of Peggy Hopkins Joyce's story, nor quickly forgotten. Through heavily-documented "period research," this book lands several bombshells, including Paris is deeply rooted in Chaplin's previous films and his relationship with Edna Purviance, Paris was not rejected by heartland America, Chaplin did "romantic research" (especially with Pola Negri), and Paris' many ongoing influences have never been fully appreciated. These are just a few of the mistakes about Paris.

In the history books, the Italo-Ethiopian War will doubtless be entered as one of the strangest wars ever waged. History will record the spectacle of a primitive people—haphazardly armed and lacking in modern military technique—seeking to resist Mussolini’s modern war machine by tribal cunning on the battlefield and up-to-date intrigue in the diplomatic councils of Europe. But what the history books will not record, W.W. (“Bill”) Chaplin tells in this fascinating volume. It is behind the scenes of politics and bloodshed in this curious conflict that Mr. Chaplin takes the reader in a vivid diary of his day-by-day experiences and observations at the Italo-Ethiopian War front. Written with the dramatic simplicity of a newspaperman trained in the art of brevity, Mr. Chaplin’s account of the thousand and one quixotic incidents in a war correspondent’s life in Ethiopia sparkles with interest and amusement. From the beginning when he describes his departure on an Italian troop-ship at Naples to the very end when he returns to the same port as the approaching rainy season slows down the pace of the war, Mr. Chaplin records an odyssey as strange as the war itself. The reader is led through picturesque by-ways into the heart of the Ethiopian war zone and shown not only what war has wrought on the battlefield but what it has wrought in the hearts of fighting men. This and much more that is of human texture, Mr. Chaplin tells in a diary that reflects undiluted curiosity and a subtle sense of the dramatic.

The 1950s were a transitional period for film comedians. The artistic suppression of the McCarthy era and the advent of television often resulted in a dumbing down of motion pictures. Cartoonist-turned-director Frank Tashlin contributed a funny but cartoonish effect through his work with comedians like Jerry Lewis and Bob Hope. A new vanguard of comedians appeared without stock comic garb or make-up--fresh faces not easily pigeonholed as merely comedians, such as Tony Randall, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. Some traditional comedians, like Charlie Chaplin, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye, continued their shtick, though with some evident tweaking. This book provides insight into a misunderstood decade of film history with an examination of the "personality comedians." The talents of Dean Martin and Bob Hope are reappraised and the "dumb blonde" stereotype, as applied to Judy Holliday and Marilyn Monroe, is deconstructed.

Charlie Chaplin: A Reference Guide to His Life and Works captures his life, and legacy. It features a chronology, an introduction offers a brief account of his life, a dictionary section lists entries on Chaplin's childhood, career, family, and associates. The bibliography is one of the largest available bibliographies of works concerning Chaplin.

Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery has been described as "a kind of Rear Window for retirees." As this quote suggests, an analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's methodical use of comedy in his films is past due. One of Turner Classic Movies' on-screen scholars for their summer 2017 online Hitchcock class, the author grew tired of misleading throwaway references to the director's "comic relief." This book examines what should be obvious: Hitchcock systematically incorporated assorted types of comedy--black humor, parody, farce/screwball comedy and romantic comedy--in his films to entertain his audience with "comic" thrillers.

"Gehring remains supreme in film comedy scholarship"--Choice Buster Keaton "can impress a weary world with the vitally important fact that life, after all, is a foolishly inconsequential affair," wrote critic Robert Sherwood in 1918. A century later Keaton, with his darkly comic "theater of the absurd," speaks to audiences like no other silent comedian. If you thought you knew Keaton--think again!