I chose to write about Charlie Chaplin because this is the most representative symbol of [603409]

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UNIVERSITY ORADEA
FACULTY OF HISTORY, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS,
POLITICAL SCIENCES AND COMMUNICATION SCIENCES
SPECIALIZATION: EUROPEAN PUBLIC POLICIES

Charlie Chaplin

COORDINATOR:
Conf. Univ. Dr. Ioana ALBU
STUDENT: [anonimizat]2019 –

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I chose to write about Charlie Chaplin because this is the most representative symbol of
the silent movie. Chaplin became in time, in the film and in life, a little wanderer, a rebel, a
character with a melon and a cane, a romantic, and his image of caraghios has irrevocably
conquered the whole world.
On December 25, 2019 they were marks the 42th anniversary of the death of Charlie
Chaplin, an English actor, director and composer, a symbol of the silent film and Hollywood's
first big star. It has been nicknamed the Vagabond in Germany, Charlot in France and in all the
francophone countries, Carlitos in Brazil or Argentina. As a director and producer he was a
pioneer in the art of film, but also a perfectionist, he constantly innovated in the techniques of
filming and resumed the scenes and dozens of times until they came out as he wished. His films
practically identified with the remarkable era of silent film, and in the late 1920s, when
Hollywood became aware of the novelty of the sound film , Chaplin refused to produce or play in
"spoken" films.
Charles Spencer Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in London, to a poor family, his
father a singer and an actor, but he had major alcohol problems, and his mother, Hannah Hill,
came from a Roma famil y, and was she is a singer in small obscure theaters. His mother is
known to have had a child with another man when Charlie was born and other serious mental
problems.
When he was three years old, his parents were divorced, and Charlie and his brother
Sidney lived with their father and his lover, then a band of actors.At the age of five, Charlie
witnessed the sudden end of her mother's artistic career, when, during a performance, she
aroused the public's anger, which, unhappy with her performance, threw obj ects at her, causing
her serious injuries but a serious quarrel with her manager. Charlie, who was behind the scenes,
was asked by the theater director to go on stage and sing to save the situation, and the
performance of the famous Jack Jones performance gave the child public applause.It followed
the death of the father and his mother's admission to an asylum for those with mental illness, and
the two brothers arrive in a house for the poor, being forced to take their own lives, to survive
and to support t heir mother. Charlie, who had inherited the musical talent from his parents,
would live, from now on in the theater world, where he was given small roles.

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Charlie Chaplin's extremely poor beginnings make his story – the road from misery to
riches – the fastest climb in Hollywood history. He started his life as a homeless child, a
workshop worker and no money in his pocket and came to have a multi -million dollar fortune.
He made his debut in an important role as a step dancer in the children' s group "The Eight
Lancashire Lads", noting his remarkable talent.
At the age of twelve, he received the role of little boy Billy in the theater show "Sherlock
Holmes", and after his performance is unanimously appreciated, he becomes a permanent actor
of the Fred Karno Repertoire Company, where he plays roles in comedies and vaudeville. In the
band, Charlie was a colleague with Arthur Stanley Jefferson who would also become famous in
the movie world, under the name of Stan Laurel, for the comic couple Stan and Bran he made
with Oliver Hardy.
In 1910, at the age of 21, he went on a tour of the United States, memorable being his
reply near the port of Manhattan: "America, I'm coming to conquer you! And every man, woman
or child will have Charles Spencer Chapli n on their lips! ”The artistic success would not

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immediately appear, instead, Charlie had become a great conqueror of hearts, the women roaring
around him. Across the Ocean, he is noted by producer Mack Sennett, who ran Keystone Studios
in California, and i n 1912, he was offered a contract for a role in a movie, worth $ 150 a week.
Thus, on February 2, 1914, Charlie Chaplin debuted as an actor in the comedy "Making a
living", where he played the role of Edgar English, a false reporter – a role he would decla re,
over the years, that he did not like at all – and again his gags brought him great success. The
unanimous appreciation of the young man causes the producers to start negotiations, much
improved financially, for other roles.In 1914, Chaplin began direct ing his films, during which he
made a short film each week for Keystone.
In his next films, Mabel's Strange Predicament and Kid Auto Races at Venice, Charlie
appears dressed in pants and boots much larger than his size, with a coat too tight, a melon too
small, a cane and a fake mustache, a prop that he had to define his exceptional artistic career. It
was the image of the little wanderer, who represented him both artistically and in real life, a
comic spirit that brought on stage some of the drama of his c hildhood. Of course, this image
brought him immense success.
In 1915, just five years after his first visit to Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin had become a
true cultural phenomenon in the US, his face was represented in comics, songs were composed
for him, and shops competed to produce and sell figurines with his costume is unique.Chaplin
was already a star, and his weekly salary exceeded $ 10,000.
In 1916, Charlie signed a contract with the Mutual Film Corporation, for the fabulous
amount of $ 670,000 per year. This has made him one of the highest paid people in the world. By
comparison, the US president was paid about $ 75,000 at the time.In 1918, the company First
National Exhibitors' Circuit was created, specifically to manage its films.Chaplin has also starr ed
in the hit films A Dog's Life and The Bond, a short film in the government's campaign for bonds
launched to raise money for war.Also in 1918, he was the main character in the comedy Shoulder
Arms, and in 1919 he set up his own film studio.She starred in Sunnyside and A Day's Pleasure,
then set up United Artists Corporation, a film distribution company, with Mary Pickford,
Douglas Fairbanks and DW Griffith.His longest -running 68 -minute film, The Kid, followed by

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Chaplin starring alongside four -year-old Ja ckie Coogan, a hugely successful tragicomedy who
talked about poverty and a child separated from parents, a movie that was just capturing the first
years of its real existence, not exactly happy.
Other roles followed in which he played the little vagabond, the gags and the pantomime
became more subtle, but the character became a bit more vulgar, but retaining his joy, romance,
generosity, humanism in general.Although Hollywood knew the first sound films at that time,
Chaplin still believed in the silent fil m, which he considered more suggestive, the pantomime
being the one that, in his opinion, could overcome all language barriers, especially in America at
that time. in which waves of immigrants from around the world were the order of the day.At that
time, C haplin was also working extremely hard to help his mother, for whom he bought a house
in California, in the immediate vicinity of his home.On July 6, 1925, Charlie Chaplin became the
first actor to appear on the cover of the famous Time magazine.
In 1926 h e plays in Goana after gold, and in 1931 he is the protagonist of the masterpiece
Lights of the City, considered his best role, a film that marked a painful event in his life, the
death of his mother in 1928. In 1936, the last appearance on the big screen o f his character, in
Modern Times, considered the last silent film, the script, production, directing and music being
signed by Charlie Chaplin. On December 25, 1977, even at Christmas, Chaplin died in his sleep
at the age of 88, and was buried in the Vevey Cemetery. Just three weeks after the burial, his
lifeless body was stolen, in a macabre attempt to get a ransom. Only after more than 11 weeks,
the thieves were trapped, and his body was recovered, later buried and covered with a thick layer
of cement.

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Bibliografie
https://www.charliechaplin.com/
www.britannica.com/biography/Charlie -Chaplin
https://www.history.co.uk/biographies/charlie -chaplin