The Charlie Chaplin Collection

Released: 7th December 2015. Collection of features from iconic silent film star Charlie Chaplin. In 'The Kid' (1921) Chaplin plays a tramp who raises an abandoned child among the slums, always fighting the police and other agencies who want to take the boy into care. 'A Woman of Paris' (1923) follows Marie St. Clair (Edna Purviance) who plans to leave for Paris with her fiance Jean Millet (Carl Miller) so they can be married. But when events conspire that keep Jean away from the train station Marie embarks upon the journey to the French capital alone. Once there, she quickly settles down to life as the mistress of successful businessman Pierre Revel (Adolphe Menjou), enjoying all the luxuries his wealth can offer. But while out one night in the city, she accidentally meets her former fiance and the pair resume their romance, forcing Marie to choose between her two very different suitors. In 'The Circus' (1928) Chaplin's Tramp finds refuge from the law with the circus and falls in love with the owner's stepdaughter (Merna Kennedy). 'The Gold Rush' (1925) features Chaplin as a hapless panhandler drawn to Klondike in the famous gold rush of 1898 where he is pursued by thuggish prospectors and falls hopelessly in love. In 'City Lights' (1931) the Tramp falls in love with a blind flower girl and befriends a drunken millionaire. He takes on odd jobs to pay for an operation to return the flower girl's sight but gets the bulk of the money from the millionaire, whose life he has saved. When sober, however, the millionaire accuses the Tramp of stealing the money and he is sent to prison. In 'Monsieur Verdoux' (1947) Chaplin plays a family man who supports his wife and child by courting rich widows and murdering them. Eventually he is caught and tried for mass murder. Chaplin's last silent film, 'Modern Times' (1936), shows the Tramp's struggle with factory machinery, poverty and starvation in the Depression years. In 'The Great Dictator' (1940) an amnesiac Jewish barber is mistaken for the dictator of Tomania, Adenoid Hynkel (both played by Chaplin). In 'A King in New York' (1957) after a revolution breaks out in his home country of Estrovia, King Igor Shadov (Chaplin) ventures west to New York City. With no money, the king is forced to partake in some commercial advertisements and becomes a television sensation. But after he achieves fame as a celebrity, Igor is accused of being a communist by the American government and is forced to profess his innocence to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. 'Limelight' (1952), set in London just before the start of the First World War, follows a former stage clown (Chaplin) who rescues a young dancer from suicide, helps her career and watches her rise to stardom, just as he is being forgotten. Buster Keaton co-stars as Chaplin's stage partner. The collection also includes 'The Chaplin Revue' (1959) which itself contains the three silent comedy shorts 'A Dog's Life' (1918), 'Shoulder Arms' (1918) and 'The Pilgrim' (1923).