''Unknown Chaplin'' is a three-part 1983 British documentary series about the career and methods of the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

luminary

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...

, using previously unseen film for illustration. The series consist of three episodes, with title ''My Happiest Years'', ''The Great Director'' and ''Hidden Treasures''. The film was directed and written by film historians

Kevin Brownlow Kevin Brownlow (born Robert Kevin Brownlow; 2 June 1938) is a British film historian, television documentary-maker, filmmaker, author, and film editor. He is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era, having become inter ...

and David Gill. They were granted access to unseen material from Chaplin's private film archive by his widow Oona O'Neil Chaplin. Episode one of the series was also based on a large cache of pirated outtakes from the Mutual Film Corporation period of Chaplin's career (1916-1917), made available by the film collector

Raymond Rohauer Raymond Rohauer (1924, Buffalo, New York – November 10, 1987) was an American film collector and distributor. Early life and career Rohauer moved to California in 1942 and was educated at Los Angeles City College. Rohauer made a five-reel ...

. The documentary also includes interviews with Chaplin's second wife

Lita Grey Lita Grey (born Lillita Louise MacMurray, April 15, 1908 – December 29, 1995), who was known for most of her life as Lita Grey Chaplin, was an American actress and the second wife of Charlie Chaplin. Background She was born in Hollywood, Cali ...

, his son Sydney Earl Chaplin, and his surviving co-stars

Jackie Coogan John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Charlie Chaplin's film classic '' The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in th ...

Dean Riesner Dean Riesner (November 3, 1918 – August 18, 2002) was an American film and television writer. Biography Riesner was born in New Rochelle, New York. His father, Charles Reisner, was a German American silent film director, and Dean began actin ...

Georgia Hale Georgia Theodora Hale (June 25, 1900 — June 17, 1985) was an actress of the silent movie era. Career Hale was Miss Chicago 1922 and competed in the Miss America Pageant. She began acting in the early 1920s, and achieved one of her most not ...

, and

Virginia Cherrill Virginia Cherrill (April 12, 1908 – November 14, 1996) was an American actress best known for her role as the blind flower girl in Charlie Chaplin's ''City Lights'' (1931). Early life Virginia Cherrill was born on a farm in rural Carthag ...

. The series gives unparalleled insight into Chaplin's working methods and filmmaking techniques. In particular, the Mutual outtakes (which Chaplin ordered destroyed due to content inappropriate for the time) show his painstaking approach to developing comedic and dramatic ideas on film, examined in what director Brownlow described as an "archaeology of the cinema". Also shown for the first time are completed scenes Chaplin cut from his classic feature films '' The Circus'', ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

'', and '' Modern Times'', and an enigmatic sequence from an abandoned film entitled ''The Professor'' from 1919. The program also includes footage of Georgia Hale as the flower girl in ''City Lights'' during a period when Chaplin had fired Cherrill, and rare home movies of Chaplin, including a remarkable behind-the-scenes private film of him at work on ''

''. The series exhibits various

outtake An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DV ...

s of Chaplin laughing or getting angry when scenes go awry.

Edna Purviance Olga Edna Purviance (; October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with hi ...

corpses in several clips, and in one she plays a joke on another actress during filming. A compilation of alternate takes illustrates how Chaplin slowly developed the story line of '' The Immigrant''. The film was narrated by

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

, and original music was scored and conducted by

Carl Davis Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961. He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...

, largely based on themes composed by Chaplin himself.

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

distributed the series in the United States in 1986 as part of the series ''

American Masters ''American Masters'' is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the U ...

''. In the 2005 DVD release of the series, Brownlow relates some of ''Unknown Chaplins backstory. In 2010, Brownlow published a book on the making of the documentary titled ''The Search for Charlie Chaplin''.

External links

* * * * (reel one) * (reel two) {{EmmyAward Informational Series or Special 1983 British television series debuts 1983 British television series endings 1980s British documentary television series Charlie Chaplin Documentary films about film directors and producers ITV documentaries Peabody Award-winning broadcasts American Masters films 1980s British television miniseries Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows produced by Thames Television English-language television shows Films directed by Kevin Brownlow