CHAPLIN Part 2 - BBC RADIO

Nov. 29th - If you missed Nov. 29th live broadcast on radio and on the web, you can catch it on the BBC 2 website during this week. Part TWO next Tuesday, December 6th, 8:30PM UK time, 3:30PM Eastern and 12:30PM Pacific.

Check this link to listen to November 29th - PART ONE
Hear the Letter Chaplin wrote, but never sent to Edna...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/documentaries/#chaplin

Question & Film Week Nov. 28th

This week I mainly got email answers to the question, so thanks to everyone who responded. Last week's question was in Charlie's scene with Edna in the film 'In the Park' 'What does he fall over?' The answer is a baby buggy. Now the real question, 'Where are the babies in the baby buggy?' Edna is listed as playing a nurse maid in this film and appears to be rocking the buggy in the scene. Charlie falls right into the buggy and would have crushed anything that would have been in it. Of course, there were no babies in the buggy, only acting like there were. I wonder how many people who saw this film in 1915 and were wondering...

This brings me to the new question for this week. Not counting this film, with Edna playing a nurse maid, 'In what other films did Edna play a maid?' And for a change up this week, instead of a film, it would be a good week to listen to 'Smile: The Genius of Charlie Chaplin' a documentary from BBC Radio 2. Check this site and ednapurviance.org for more details. Thanks for visiting!

Chaplin Airlines - Sydney Chaplin

Nov. 24th - Happy Thanksgiving to the US! Edna enters her fifth year on the web, starting November 25th. I am currently updating pages for her fifth year, with some information not shared on the site before. Some of you may already know about Chaplin Airlines. This short lived adventure of Sydney Chaplin lasted pretty much during 1919. This was during the time Charlie Chaplin was working on 'The Kid'. Sydney was doing other things in business too. He even had a short run being Edna Purviance's agent, as the actual contract is still in the Edna Purviance Collection at BFI.

As Edna enters her fifth year, we plan to have new sections. The Chaplin Library will also continue to grow. Thanks to everyone returning over the years and to the new visitors as well!

Kevin Brownlow's - I'm King Kong

Nov. 23 - Kevin Brownlow's latest documentary 'I'm King Kong' on Turner Classic Movies, can be seen again on December 13th, 2005. 9:45 PM Eastern and 6:45 PM Pacific. Check TCM Schedule. (Remember Tuesday, November 29th & December 6th, for the BBC Radio 2 documentary on Charlie Chaplin. Details.)

Question & Film- Week Nov. 20th

Nov. 20th- Everyone who answered last week's question got it right! The Lovelock New Year's Eve Annual Masque Ball.This ball was very popular with all the families. Thanks for reading about this on Edna!

This week is Thanksgiving in America, so I wish a Happy Holiday to you! For the question this week, I decided to pick a short film, with people busy with the US holiday and the Christmas holiday season starts in full swing very soon everywhere. In all the films Edna made with Chaplin, there were no films they made together with a holiday scene. In fact, except in 'The Gold Rush', Chaplin does not refer to any holidays. He mentions Christmas in 'Limelight', but that is it. So I will go back to one of Edna's earliest works, a film I have been watching recently. It is 'In the Park'. Filmed in the San Francisco Bay area in March 1915, it was Edna's third film and when she really started to shine on camera. It is a perfect example of Chaplin's claim that all he needed for a film was a park, a policeman and a pretty girl. The pretty girl was Edna. In Edna's scenes with Charlie, Charlie falls over something, 'What does he fall over?' Follow-up question next week about that scene. Until than, Happy Thanksgiving to the USA!

Also don't forget to listen for the Chaplin Documentary on the BBC Radio 2 coming soon, details below. And this holiday weekend you can catch Robert Downey Jr. latest work in 'Good Night, Good Luck'. If you like to get a taste of the McCarthy era and early 1950's USA network news, this film really shows it...

Smile: The Genius of Charlie Chaplin

Nov. 16 - Smile: The Genius of Charlie Chaplin (PART 1) will air on BBC Radio 2 at 8:30 PM - 9:30 PM UK time, Tuesday, November 29th, 2005. Hosted by Robert Downey Jr., it is part one of a two part radio documentary that will air part two, Tuesday, December 6, at the same times listed. It will included many interviews from David Robinson, Geraldine Chaplin, Kevin Brownlow, Eddie Izzard and more...

Note for fans elsewhere: If like their other broadcast you will should be able to listen live by the internet from the BBC RADIO 2 website. East coast US times would be 3:30PM - 4:30 PM Eastern. Pacific Coast Time US - 12:30PM-1:30PM Pacific. Check radiotimes.com for current schedule. Otherwise, this broadcast will be available to listen to on the BBC RADIO 2 website for a short period of time after the broadcast. More

Never listened to radio by internet before? Check out this October 2004 piece from BBC Radio 4 from MAKING HISTORY. It is a piece about Gandi and Charlie Chaplin. Also check out BBC Radio 2 live broadcast to test it out, if you never done it.

Charlie Chaplin Library

November 16th - Dominique and I have been busy updating the Charlie Chaplin Library. We now have over 400 books listed in the library with covers from many different countries. The PDF INDEX file has the complete listing of all the books in the library. The LATEST page has all the latest books added to the library since our opening in July. Take a look, if you have not, and re-visit to see what is new!

Sunrise Silents Update & More

Nov. 5, 2005 - To go along with the last entry, I like to add Sunrise Silents to the list of research and collection resources. Sunrise Silents offers CDs of rare silent film magazines for your collection and enjoyment, including the 1916 Photoplay magazine and article on Edna Purviance.

UPDATE: NOVEMBER 15th, 2005 - I just received my CD copy of the Edna Purviance cover issue, September 1916 of Photoplay. Very nice quality from this service! Watch for a review on Edna soon! - L

UPDATE: A review of the DVD: Charlie Chaplin: The Forgotten Years
UK Fans Nov. 18-20th: A weekend of silent films at the Glasgow Film Festival

Question & Film for the Week

Nov. 13th, 2005 - Last week I asked, 'What reminds Edna what she came to the store to buy?' Check out Mark's answer under comments on last week's. He got it right! Thanks for all the answers! Anyone was excellent in remembering socks as what she bought...

This week I decided to pick a film to put the summer mood back in place with time at the park or golf course, as Charlie tries his talent. The film is 'The Idle Class'. Created after 'The Kid', it is one of the forgotten films under the Kid's shadow. Edna plays Charlie's wife, or I should say the wife to the husband, as Chaplin plays two roles: The Tramp and the wealthy, but drunk, husband. While Chaplin personally didn't like golf, Edna did like horseback riding. She was very good and spent many days riding her own horse during her Lovelock, Nevada years.

For the question this week, you will not find it in a film, but on Edna's site! In 'The Idle Class', Edna gets to dress up for a masque ball. During Edna's years in Lovelock, 'What masque ball did the family attend as a tradition?' If you don't know, the answer is on the site. As before, leave your answer at comment or email to me on Edna's website contact page. Thanks for all your responses last week and thanks for visiting!

CHARLIE CHAPLIN KEYSTONES ABC NIGHTLINE

ABC NIGHTLINE REPORT- RESTORING OF THE KEYSTONES
This nine minute report can be seen at this ABC Nightline link. Click on the image showing Charlie under 'Audiences are introduced to restored Charlie Chaplin films'. Aired this week, it mentions that BFI (working with Cineteca di Bologna) plans to have the films fully restored in about three years. Whatever time it takes, fans will be happy to finally see this done.

UPDATE NOVEMBER 14, 2005 - Another report from ABC on the Restored Chaplin Keystones.

CHARLIE CHAPLIN FANS - UK & LA

LOS ANGELES, CA. - NOVEMBER 11th, 12th, and 13th, 2005 - A Show on Hollywood History will be broadcast live from Los Angeles historic Los Angeles Theatre, where 'City Lights' premiered. This Friday's show will focus on Chaplin's history on film with Kiera Chaplin adding her personal insight. Tickets to the audience are FREE. The show will be broadcast between 1-4 PM, but audience members will have to be at the theatre by 11:45 AM to be seated and ready for the live broadcast. Three different shows are planned throughout the weekend, with Friday, November 11th show being of most interest to Chaplin fans. This broadcast will be live on the UK channel called LIVING TV this weekend. In the US, a later date is planned, but not confirmed, with The Biography Channel. INTERESTED? Contact Jessica at: jessica.bath@twofour.co.uk ASAP!

CHARLIE CHAPLIN BBC RADIO

London, England - BBC Radio 2 will air a two-part Chaplin Documentary on Tuesday, Nov. 29th, at 8:30 PM UK time and Tuesday, Dec. 6th, 8:30 PM UK time. Introduced by Robert Downey, Jr. who played Chaplin, it will cover Charlie Chaplin's life and have interviews throughtout. Dr. Lisa Stein has also informed me she will have a small part on the program. You can hear this program on BBC Radio 2, or if you don't live near the broadcast, you can listen to it at BBC Radio 2 website. I will post more details here, as they are known.

Question and Film for the Week

For my film and question for the week, I decided to pick a film Chaplin started working on in November 1918 and didn't release until June 1919. 'Sunnyside' is not thought to be his best work, but I find it to be a favorite to watch. Mainly, I enjoy the scenes of Edna and Charlie, but also the hotel scenes with Charlie's version of 'housekeeping'. I have many thoughts on this film, but the scenes of Charlie trying to impress Edna, after he see her with the 'city fellow' are quite moving. If you have not seen it, I won't say more here.

When watching 'Sunnyside' I found a question to ask this week. In one of the scenes, Edna goes to the hotel store to buy something, but when asked what, she can't remember. 'What reminds Edna what she came to the store to buy?'

Like before, you can comment or email your answer. And yes, the answer was 'Shoulder Arms' for last weeks question. Thanks for writing in your responses! New Question Nov. 13th.

Picturegoer and more

You may have seen this site before, but if not, thought I past the link. As part of Time Warner: Picturegoer, Picture Show, Film Weekly and Film Pictorial magazines has been online for a few years with images of their magazines covers. This is a commercial site with covers being sold as posters. They also have a section where you can search for original copies of these magazines. They do have a collection of Charlie Chaplin images to browse, plus many more from the classic film era. If you have not seen this site, here are a few links to check out.

Home page link to Picturegoer: (this page has links to the three other magazines mentioned)
http://www.picturegoer.net/index.html

Film Pictorial link on Chaplin:
http://www.filmpictorial.com/CharlieChaplinMar36.htm

Keystone Films Publication

Interested in learning more about Keystone films? "La Naissance de Charlot - Keystone 1914" is a semi-annual review published by Thierry G. Mathieu in France. It is a great source for learning more about Chaplin's work at Keystone as the publication covers step by step, in detail, all the films in order. The work continues, until all the films have been covered. Check this link to Thierry website to learn more and see what has been done, what is in store and how to order.