Charles Chaplin as a composer?

[Jette]

I just found out recently that Charles Chaplin wasn`t only an actor but also a composer

. I was looking fot a piece, that was used in a theatre play and I was told, that it was from City lights, composed by Charles Chaplin. So I borrowed it from the library and I think it´s a quite nice soundtrack

. Especially the last 1 1/2 minutes of Reunited, that was the piece I was looking for, it gives me goosebumps, it`s an amazing piece

. There is also about 10 seconds of the same piece in Overture/unveiling the statue.
But what do you think of Charles Chaplin as a composer?

Jette

 

[Jette]

Hmm nobody knows of Charles Chaplin as a composer or you just don´t like him???

Jette

 

[Christine Callisen]

I knew he was a composer, but I don´t think I know anything he has writen.... I once saw a Charlie Chaplin movie, and It was his own music as background music. But unfortunetly I don´t know much more

Christine

 

[DuncanMonkey]

I saw Chaplin's Modern Times presented at NY's Radio City Music Hall when I was very young. It made a lasting impression. Hadn't thought of Chaplin's music, but was made curious by this post. Found a nice bio piece covering music in his life, http://www.charliechaplin.com/article.php3?id_article=65.
So amazing to read about such diversity of organic talent. Inspiring! Thanks, Jette, for bringing up the topic. Have not thought of seeking Chaplin music before now. Will keep an eye out for City Lights soundtrack and Reunited in particular.
-Duncan

 

[Jette]

Hi Duncan
Your welcome

and thank you for the link, that was quite interesting reading

. As I wrote I didn´t even know he was a composer 1 month ago, but I just couldn´t get that piece out of my head, so I send a mail to one of the people in the play to find out and the more I listen to the soundtrack the more I love it, it´s quite different from anything else you hear. In my opinion he was defently very talented as a composer.

Thanks to your link I also found out that he has composed Smile, that´s probably a song that everybody knows, but I don´t think many people are aware of, that it is composed by Chaplin.

Yes, you keep an eye out for City lights, I´m sure you won´t be disappointed and especially not with Reunited, I could just hear those last 1 1/2 minutes all day

(the whole song is good, but I´m just drawn to those 1 1/2 minutes)

Jette

 

[Jette]

It looks like there are 2 Chaplin City lights cd´s, the one I´m talking about, is the one with 12 songs on it (Reunited is not on the cd with 32 songs), but unfortunally it´s very rare and impossible to find

.

Jette

 

[gerrys]

the title theme to Limelight is superb!

 

[John Watt]

"Smile, and the world laughs with you, cry, and you cry alone, I had a love of my own, can't you see, if you just..." a beautiful song, a cultural memory. But Jette, did you know Mr. Chaplin was a frustrated ballet dancer who always made some moves when he could, surprising many people?

 

[marval]

I had forgotton that he was a composer as well. He was a very talented man.


Margaret

 

[Jim Colyer]

Chaplin composed one called This Is My Song which was very good.

 

[tittualex]

Song "SMILE" made famous by MJ , and it was indeed one of MJ's favorite was a composition from Modern Times by Chaplain........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCpD72b-dfs

An extract from wikipedia about Chaplains other works.......

"It is a tribute to Chaplin's versatility that he also has one film credit for choreography for the 1952 film Limelight, and another as a singer for the title music of The Circus (1928). The best known of several songs he composed are "Smile", composed for the film Modern Times (1936) and given lyrics to help promote a 1950s revival of the film, famously covered by Nat King Cole. "This Is My Song" from Chaplin's last film, "A Countess From Hong Kong," was a number one hit in several different languages in the 1960s (most notably the version by Petula Clark and discovery of an unreleased version in the 1990s recorded in 1967 by Judith Durham of The Seekers), and Chaplin's theme from Limelight was a hit in the 1950s under the title "Eternally." Chaplin's score to Limelight won an Academy Award in 1972; a delay in the film premiering in Los Angeles made it eligible decades after it was filmed. Chaplin also wrote scores for his earlier silent films when they were re-released in the sound era, notably The Kid for its 1971 re-release."

he was indeed a great artist..........

Alex.

 

[Teo]

...Mr. Chaplin was a frustrated ballet dancer who always made some moves when he could, surprising many people?

Wow! Amazing!

Chaplin first compiled a reasonably complete score for his film A Woman of Paris (1923), an unsuccessful serious drama starring Edna Purviance. Faced with the technological development of talking pictures marginalizing his essentially silent form of comic art around 1930, Chaplin responded with City Lights (1931), a picture with a musical score and sound effects, but no dialogue. His use in City Lights of a squawking, unintelligible, and electronically altered "voice" in place of a pretentious speech given by a dignitary was an innovation that demonstrated that spoken dialogue was not absolutely necessary in filmed comedy. With Modern Times (1936), Chaplin contributed his best score and the hit song "Smile," which has since become a standard.

Thanks for the wonderful topic Jette! I think I'm in love with the Modern Times theme, one of his songs that plays a lot on the station I listen to. What an amazing talent he was!

 

[wljmrbill]

I always enjoyed his movies and acting but did not realize he was so versatile. Thanks for the insite in my old age.

 

[Contratrombone64]

Hmm nobody knows of Charles Chaplin as a composer or you just don´t like him???

Jette

Hey Jette - så godt at se vikingerne udstationering her, dit fravær er en sag for sorg for mig!

As to Charlie Chaplin, I kind of knew he was a composer but really didn't know too much about that other side of him. He was a remarkably intelligent person, so I'm not really surprised!

 

[Pacific 231]

He lived and died in Switzerland by Vevey (I was in the corner in June) but I really did not knew what he was also a composer.

I think, Contratrombone64, you are right when you say "He was a remarkably intelligent person, so I'm not really surprised"

Thank you Jette for this information (Sorry seeing it only 5 years later)

 

[Jim Colyer]

Chaplin wrote one called "This Is My Song, recorded by Petula Clark.