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| Jul-08-07 | | Kaspablanca: Have you seen the speech of the barber the people mistook for Hynkel?, that is a very good mesage for the humankind, Chaplin was a genius. |
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| Jul-08-07 | | ycsidney: Just the mention of his name brings warmth besides tears and laughters. |
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| Jul-08-07 | | sanyas: <WannaBe> I believe he is some kind of clown tramp. Not sure though. I was talking about Reshevsky, you know. |
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| Jul-08-07 | | SBC: a photo of Chaplin playing Reshevsky can be seen here: http://batgirl.atspace.com/celebrit... |
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| Jul-09-07 | | Ragh: <SBC> Yeah, contrary to the popular belief here, it looks like Charlie Chaplin indeed played the above game with Reshevsky in Los Angeles in 1922. http://www.chessdryad.com/articles/... |
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| Jul-09-07 | | SBC: <Ragh>
Thanks for that link!
The 1922 'American Chess Bulletin' article reads:
"Close scrutiny of the picture makes it clear that Charlie and Sammy are playing with a set of the famous Drueke chessmen" I had never heard of the "famous Drueke chessmen." But you can read about the Drueke Company here: http://www.drueke.com/history.asp It's interesting in that it suggests that prior to WWI almost all chess sets came from Europe. William F. Drueke started his game production company in 1914 when all shipments of chess sets to the U.S. ceased due to the war. His original sets were made from walnut and maple (now plastic seems more de rigeur). Edward Winter notes in CN#3738 that Drueke also put out two chess books: "Drueke’s Chess Primer" and "A Beginners Book of Chess A Beginners Book of Chess" No author noted but published by Wm. F. Drueke & Sons, Inc. Grand Rapids, Michigan. http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... |
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Apr-16-08
 | | brankat: Thanks <SBC> for these beautiful photos! |
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Apr-16-08
 | | An Englishman: Good Evening: The first Chaplin film I ever saw was The Circus, one of his earlier features. I was 14, and I left the theater in physical pain from having laughed so hard. Imagine my shock when I looked him up in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica the next day and discovered that The Circus is considered one of his *second-rate* films--even with the tightrope scene. You have to see it to disbelieve it, but I can tell you that Chaplin performed his own stunts, and he worked without a net. |
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Apr-16-08
 | | Benzol: <Sneaky> is absolutely spot on about dancing dinner rolls on forks in "The Gold Rush". It's just brilliant. If you haven't seen the movie and get the chance, do so. |
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Apr-16-08
 | | Calli: Calli: Much of his early work can be viewed or downloaded for free at the Internet Archive. For instance "The Kid" http://www.archive.org/details/TheKid
Now, isn't that nice? |
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| Apr-16-08 | | MichAdams: There's a reason that 'talkies' rapidly supplanted silent films - silent film was rubbish. Chaplin's silent work remains a curiosity, but funny to a modern audience? I think not. That goes double for Buster Keaton. The only stuff I have time for is Harold Lloyd and I wouldn't exactly call that laugh a minute. |
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Apr-16-08
 | | OhioChessFan: I recall a scene where CC ate a large meal at a restaurant with no $. A wealthy friend showed up and offered to pay for CC. CC proudly declined the offer-at first. He apparently was going to say no once or twice and then accept the offer. Unfortunately, he said no one too many times, and the wealthy friend shrugged and walked away. CC's facial expression at that moment was sheer genius. MichAdams, I am not sure if I've ever laughed harder at a movie than the train chase scene in The General. |
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Apr-17-08
| | An Englishman: Good Evening: I've seen a lot of silent films in theaters and based solely on my own experiences, Chaplin, Lloyd and Keaton all retain their appeal on the big screen. What is interesting is that watching them at home, they just aren't quite as funny. Their movies were designed only for large groups of strangers who know almost none of the people in the theater with them. Nowadays filmmakers have to keep in mind that most of their viewers are watching their films at home. Different eras, different techniques.
Oh, and that train chase scene in The General is amazing, esp. when Keaton the Great Stone Face looks straight ahead and blinks--exactly once. |
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| Apr-17-08 | | MichAdams: <Their movies were designed only for large groups of strangers who know almost none of the people in the theater with them.> It's true that laughter is generally infectious, but the relative sophistication of the audience must also be considered. I have been in cinemas where some people even laughed at the adverts. Neither would I wish to deny the appeal of visual comedy, but as anyone who's sat through an extended custard pie fight could attest, it soon begins to wear thin. Also worth considering in relation to Chaplin & co. is the infancy of that cinematic period; they were giants in a small field. |
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Apr-17-08
 | | Bishoprick: Humphrey Bogart was reputed to be a pretty good chess player. Probably not at master level, but likely expert strength. Many years ago, Chess Review had an article about him. |
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Apr-17-08
| | Bishoprick: Another winner (or so I was told) of one of those Chaplin imitation contests was Milton Berle. |
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| Apr-17-08 | | popski: Yeah, today we have more advanced sense of humor, on example that's what is funny for people nowadays:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=d3xlb... |
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| Apr-16-09 | | WhiteRook48: happy birthday Mr. Nobody |
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Apr-16-10
 | | wordfunph: happy birthday Mr. Funny! |
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Apr-16-12
 | | talisman: happy birthday to the man that stole J.D. Salinger's girlfriend and made her his wife. Eugene O'neil's daughter Oonna. J.D. never really got over it. |
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| Apr-16-12 | | King Death: <talisman> Neither did Eugene O'Neill, he disowned Oona. |
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Apr-16-12
 | | chessgames.com: One member writes us:
<Did Samuel Reshevsky & Georges Koltanowski ever meet at the board? If so, then Chaplin was only 4 players away (in terms of an Erdos-like number in graph-theory) of playing the Bacall / Humphrey Bogart chess acting duo.> An astute observation, but unfortunately we see no evidence that Kolty and Reshevsky ever played one another. In any case, happy birthday to one of the most inspired comedians of all time. |
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| Apr-16-13 | | torrefan: Born today, died Christmas day. Great comic. Even his chess moves looked like jokes! |
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Apr-16-13
| | brankat: Happy Birthday Charlie! |
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Apr-16-13
 | | HeMateMe: <The Great Dictator> Saw it in the 70s, at a revival theater, full house. Lots of laughs. |
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