A Dog‘s Life Clippings 42/146
Grace Kingsley, Los Angeles Times, L. A., Calif., March 3, 1918.
Grace Kingsley
(...) Photo, Exhibitors Herald, Nov. 21, 1925. detail
Charlie Chaplin and his famous poses
(...) Los Angeles Times, March 3, 1918, illustration
„The gags and the jokes and the jazz“
Editorial content. „Good Reason Why.
CHARLIE CHAPLIN CALLS NEW PLAY ,A DOG‘S LIFE‘
By Grace Kingsley.
THE child is born! The christening is over!
Charlie Chaplin, the world‘s most beloved Film comedian,
has named his first film child, and it is called, A Dog‘s
Life.
In less poetic language, Charlie Chaplin‘s first story for
the First National Exhibitors‘ Circuit has ,jelled,‘ the
picture is nearly finished, and he telegraphed the news of the
christening to a waiting world, also to the F. N. E. C.,
last night.“ (...)
„Don‘t think for a minute that Charles Chaplin is stalling,
you fans who are waiting eagerly for his next picture.
He‘s an artist to his finger tips, is Charlie, with the genius‘
infinite pains. Every bit of business is faithfully
worked out, every ,gag‘ is put to the supreme laugh test; every
actor is rehearsed over and over again. Chuck Riesner,
who assists in writing the stories, is considered laugh-proof.
If he laughs at a gag or a bit of business, it‘s
a sure-fire hit.“ (...)
„Catch Charlie in the right mood and he‘ll do $10,000
worth of acting for you while you wait.“ (...)
„I‘m only one of many interviewers who call on Charlie,
so he talks as he makes up:
,The day of sausage pictures is over,‘ he said. Then
he made an important announcement. ,I shall
never again bind myself to the making of two-reel comedies.
You must have a story, and it‘s got to be a clear
story. Otherwise quite naturally the public doesn‘t get it. Also
you‘ve got to have the gags and the jokes and the
jazz. You‘ve got to grab these out of the air, as it were. You
don‘t know just when or where the ideas come from
– and sometimes they don‘t!‘
By the by, while one is not at liberty to reveal what
they are, I saw some of the most brilliant bits
of comedy worked up which ever went into a picture. Just
to admit these bits of comedy were put over
by Mr. Chaplin and Edna Purviance in a dance hall scene,
isn‘t telling any secrets.“ (...)
„A rehearsal – a long and careful rehearsal, with Chaplin
playing all the parts in turn – followed. If you need
further proof that Charlie is an artist, you should see him
directing one of his actors who is deaf and dumb.
This actor is none other than the well-known landscape painter,
Granville Redmond.“ (...)
„It was lunch time then. So we all went to lunch in Sid‘s
beautiful house, Charlie and Edna Purviance still
in their make-ups. After lunch it was discovered there was one
of those awful – what Charlie calls ,brick walls‘ –
a dead stop, until a minor snarl in the story and its action
was straightened out. For this, Charlie called
Charles Lapworth into consultation. Then out came Charlie
and kidded around a bit – he does that while he‘s
waiting for an idea to pop, kept everybody laughing, while
was that awful question – the brick wall. Presently
it came, the longed for idea.
He had just started once more for the stage, when Carlyle
Robinson, his publicity man, came forward,
announcing in a fairly awe-struck whisper: ,The Earl
of Dunmore!‘
Of course, one cannot overlook a real Earl on the busiest
day, so Mr. Chaplin paused and chatted a few moments.
And though the Earl was an Earl, he realized that a comedian
is a hard-working person, and so insisted Charlie
should go back to work.“ (...)
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