Chaplin

Chaplin (1992)

Timing: 2:25 (145 min)

7.417/10
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7.949/10
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7.5/10
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All about film

Video 0

Photo 36

Actors and characters

Release date

1992-12-17

Country

France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States

Production

TriStar Pictures, Carolco Pictures, RCS Video, Japan Satellite Broadcasting (JSB), Le Studio Canal+, Lambeth

Genre

Drama

Budget

$31 000 000

Revenue

$9 493 259

Website

Director

Richard Attenborough

Actors

Robert Downey Jr., Geraldine Chaplin, Paul Rhys, Marisa Tomei, Milla Jovovich, John Thaw, Moira Kelly, Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd, Penelope Ann Miller
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Mario Kassar, Richard Attenborough

Operator

Sven Nykvist

Composer

John Barry

Artist

Audition

Mike Fenton, Valorie Massalas, Susie Figgis

Editing

Anne V. Coates
All team (68)

• The film is based on the memoirs of Charlie Chaplin «My Autobiography» (1964) and the book by David Robinson «Chaplin: His Life and Art» (1985).
• Geraldine Chaplin, who played Charlie Chaplin's mother in the film, is actually his daughter from his marriage to Oona Chaplin.
• Robert Downey Jr. said that while preparing for filming, he rewatched all of Charlie Chaplin’s films (1889-1977). According to the actor, they 'scared' him.
• While preparing for filming, Robert Downey Jr. visited the Museum of the Moving Image in London, where he persuaded the staff to let him try on Chaplin’s costume and shoes. It turned out that the costume fit him perfectly, and he even found a cigar butt in the pocket.
• Geraldine Chaplin later recounted that when she first saw Robert Downey Jr. in her father’s costume, he looked so much like her father that she was speechless for a while.
• The original version of the film was almost 4 hours long. Over 200 hours of footage were shot.
• When Chaplin was filming "Shoulder Arms" (1918), he asked cinematographer Roland Totheroh (1890-1967) how the lighting was. Totheroh replied: “It’s better at Barney’s.” This phrase was a signal to end the shooting day, and “lighting” referred to the light beer at Barney Oldfield’s bar, where the actors and crew regularly hung out after filming.
• Charles Chaplin and Mildred Harris (1901-1944) had a child – Norman Spencer Harris, who died three days after birth.
• Sir Richard Attenborough’s (1923-2014) director’s cut lasted 2 hours and 27 minutes, 12 minutes longer than the version shown in theaters.
• The film was originally titled "Charlie," as Chaplin was known to family, friends, and fans. This could have caused confusion, given the existence of a film of the same name (1968) by Ralph Nelson (1916-1987) starring Cliff Robertson (1923-2011), and the film was decided to be renamed.
• Producer and director Sir Richard Attenborough often declined to act himself because he was busy with the films he was directing. Similarly, he almost turned down the role of John Hammond in Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" (1993), but Spielberg rescheduled filming so that Attenborough could play the part.
• Preparing for the role, Robert Downey Jr. learned to play the violin and tennis – left-handed. In addition, he hired an instructor to help him better portray Chaplin's gestures.
• Universal Pictures was supposed to distribute the film, but they dreamed of seeing a more famous and popular actor in the lead role, preferably Dustin Hoffman or Billy Crystal. Attenborough refused, and the studio began searching for a new producer. Mario Kassar agreed, but on the condition that footage from the last years of Chaplin's life in Switzerland would be included in the film. These scenes were written by screenwriter William Goldman.
• The film is based on Charlie Chaplin’s memoirs, “My Autobiography” (1964), and David Robinson’s book “Chaplin: His Life and Art” (1985).