Edna Purviance's bio

June 6, 2018 - Re-editing Edna Purviance's family biography 2nd Draft. Photo: Leading Ladies © used by ednapurviance.org

Sunday, September 30, 2007

The Chicago International Film Festival

The Chicago International Film Festival opens October 4th and runs through October 17th, 2007. This year they plan to have a special tribute to 100 years of film-making in Chicago.
In an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, it gives this question: "Did you know that Charlie Chaplin worked here before he went to Hollywood?"

Well, yes and no, depending what they mean by the question...

Yes, Chaplin did work in Chicago, before going to Hollywood. He worked on the live stage with the London Karno Tour for three years, with visits to Chicago during the years of 1911-1913.

In 1914, Chaplin started working on his Keystone film contract at Edendale, near Los Angeles. After about one year, he signed with Essanay and created his only Chicago produced film, at Essanay, "His New Job."

Right after finishing that film, Chaplin left for Niles, California in mid-January, 1915, and worked on five films in Niles and in the San Francisco bay area. By April, 1915, Chaplin moved to Los Angeles and completed his Essanay contract there.

Chaplin started building his own studio in Hollywood in October of 1917, and finished his USA film career there with "Limelight" in 1952.

The Chicago Festival plans to show a history of Essanay and show Chaplin's two-reel comedy, "His New Job." Tickets for the festival are now available. This year's festival has been dedicated to fame film critic, Roger Ebert. more>

(Note: "Triple Trouble" has scenes from the Chicago's studio, but Chaplin never created that film. Essanay created the film from out-takes from an Essanay film Chaplin never finished while in California called "Life.")

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