City Lights 1930 1931 1932 next previous
City Lights Clippings 243/387
New York Times/AP, New York, February 28, 1931.
Charles Chaplin at the residence of Sir Philip Sassoon,
Park Lane, London, where the „Four Georges“ art
exhibition is held to aid the Royal Northern Hospital, March 1931, charliechaplin.com
& Charles Chaplin dancing with singer Evelyn Laye in the
Carlton Hotel on the occasion of the premiere of
„City Lights,“ London, 1931, Ullstein Bild via Getty Images
& Charles Chaplin dancing with Lady Doreen Stanley
in the Carlton Hotel on the occasion of the premiere of „City Lights,“ London, 1931, Ullstein Bild via Getty Images
& MR. CHAPLIN on „CITY LIGHTS“
SPECIAL INTERVIEW.
EMOTIONS AS A SPECTATOR.
„MY OWN PEOPLE.“
A TRIBUTE TO MR. SHAW.
After the exhausting emotional experience of Friday night
Mr. Chaplin spent the whole of yesterday morning and
most of the afternoon in bed. Everything and everybody had
to be put off – even a deputation which came by
appointment to offer him the Legion d‘Honneur. Immediately
following „City Lights,“ Mr. Chaplin and his secretary
left the Dominion Theatre by a back door, and in order to
escape the notice of the crowd the comedian sat on
the floor of the cab.
His secretary told me that he did not speak a word until
they were back in the Carlton Hotel and in the security
of their suite. Then „Charlie“ said, „Was my speech all right?“
I am assured it was quite unprepared, and so was
the one he made at the supper party that followed the film.
I believe that I was the first person, except his
Japanese valet, to see Mr. Chaplin yesterday afternoon.
I had waited from 1.30 until 5 p.m., and, although
he was dead tired, he consented to talk to me for a few minutes.
Partly because I had been there so long, the moment
when he greeted me with a charming smile was one of the
most thrilling experiences I have had.
I apologized for my persistence and said that
my only excuse was that hundreds of thousands of people
wanted to know how he felt after Friday night.
AS A LOOKER-ON.
„It was one of the greatest emotional experiences
of my life,“ he said, „and it has left me in such
a nervous state that I hardly know what to do. Coming back
home among my own people was wonderful in itself,
but I was really greatly surprised by last night‘s reception.“
„What are your own feelings when you watch
a Chaplin picture?“ I asked.
„It is very curious,“ he said. „Last night was, of course,
an exceptional event, but in a general way I find
that I can take quite a detached view. Naturally, I am
interested in feeling the reaction of the audience
to the comedy and the pathos. The whole thing is like
a symphony in which the audience the audience
is as important as the screen. But, usually, my chief concern
is with technique and the mechanics of the film,
thinking out methods by which it could have been better.“
„Do you make mental notes for your next picture?“
„Yes, but not consciously. I notice the scenes that cause
most laughter; but my chief endeavor is to arrive
at something more important. Laughter is necessary, but
in a long film there must be other things – pathos,
beauty, and so on. One must provide a stimulating entertainment,
for audiences do not want to laugh throughout eight
reels. Watching one of my own pictures helps me to understand
the chemistry of entertainment. That is what really
interests me.“
PENALTIES OF POPULARITY.
I asked him if he thought London had changed much.
„I find very little change,“ Mr. Chaplin replied.
„Yesterday I went out, walked down the Strand, and then took
a taxi to Clerkenwell, and afterwards to Tower Bridge,
which I wanted to see again. It is really twenty years since
I was here, for my last visit ten years ago was
a hectic rush, but London and the people are very much
the same as when I left.
„Unfortunately I can‘t roam about as I should like to do.
People will demonstrate, and it is the same everywhere.
It is the penalty for being so well known, and I am charmed
by the complimentary way I am treated, but I should
so like to wander about on my own sometimes.“
MEETING WITH MR. SHAW.
„Had you met Mr. Shaw before?“ I asked.
„No, I always wanted to do so. When I was here last time
I went to his flat with the intention of calling, but I was
too shy to ring the bell and I fled. He is the greatest living
Englishman, and what charmed me was to find out
that he was so simple and so kind. It was a delightful experience
to talk to him. Unfortunately he is going to the
Mediterranean, and it is unlikely that we shall meet again
during my present visit.“
Throughout our talk Mr. Chaplin walked rapidly from one
end of the big sitting-room to the other. The only time
he stopped was when he spoke of London. Then he stood
for a few moments at the window and looked out
on Pall Mall. He was obviously in a nervous state, and
as I left him he said that he was physically dead
tired, but very happy.
THE CHAPLIN POSTBAG.
While I was waiting to see him I was able to gather some
idea of a celebrity‘s daily post-bag. Since Mr. Chaplin
came to London an average of five hundred letters have
arrived each day and three or four secretaries have
been engaged to deal with them. In one corner were hundreds
of autograph books and a table was filled with photographs
for signature. Numerous people – many quite obscure – have
sent weekend invitations. There are, of course, begging
letters by the score, and dozens of film scenarios. It would
save a good deal of trouble and postage if budding
authors knew that Mr. Chaplin never works from a scenario.
While I was there a cable arrived from Paris.
It read: „French artists want absolutely to honor you March 21
on the stage Comédie Française.“ Mr. Chaplin‘s
immediate plans are undecided, although it is fairly certain
that he will attend the first night of „City Lights“
in Paris and Berlin. G. W. B.
(...) Observer, Manchester, England, March 1, 1931
„The little man was Charlie Chaplin“
Editorial content. „Chaplin Taken for Hold-Up Man,
Dashing in Shop to Avoid Crowd
By The Associated Press.
London, Feb. 27. – The constant pursuit of Charlie
Chaplin by London street crowds led today to his being mistaken
for a hold-up man.
He was walking down Westminster Bridge Road with two
companions, revisiting the scenes of his impoverished
youth, when some one spotted him and a crowd gathered.
Mr. Chaplin and his companions, anxious to escape,
ducked into a candy shop.
Mrs. Powell, the elderly proprietress, was having a cup
of tea in the back room when she saw the trio rush
in and close the door. She feared they intended a hold-up
and rushed out, insisting that the door be opened.
,I was almost hysterical,‘ she said, ,but when the little man
asked me for some nougat i wrapped up a shilling‘s
worth. He paid me and walked quietly out. As the three left
one of them said, ,You have lost a big order.‘
,Then I saw the crowd outside and some one told
me that the little man was Charlie Chaplin. I have sent him
a letter of apology.‘“
The London Premiere of City Lights takes place
at the Dominion February 27, 1931.
Dominion Theatre, Tottenham Court Road, London.
Redaktioneller Inhalt
City Lights 1930 1931 1932 next previous
