Chaplin's Last Great Work

On 4 May 2005 13:06:10 -0700, "Shush" <shushfilmseznospam.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Wake up, newsgroupers!
>
> What would you call Chaplin's last great piece of work? Not just a
>nice job, but a really great creative accomplishment?
>
> For me, it'd be "Terry's Theme" from LIMELIGHT, his best piece of
>music in my opinion.
>
> But I'd love to know what the rest of you think. There are no wrong
>answers.
>
>
>
>
>--Shush--

The first hundred or so pages of MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

His early 70s score for THE KID.
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

Calvero's stage triumph

JN
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

MODERN TIMES

Tommie Hicks
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

(rfcsac627n@aol.com) writes:
> His early 70s score for THE KID.

That would be my call. No singles hit came out of it, but a fantastic score.

And speaking of scores, has anyone ever noticed what he does with music in
_Modern Times_ when Paulette tries to get Henry Bergman to hire Charlie?
It strikes me that there's nothing like it anywhere else--but maybe I just
haven't seen it done anywhere else.

Connie K.
--
"To hell with the pillow in the background. It's a good scene, and that's
more important." Chaplin, Interview with Richard Meryman, 1966.
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

I certainly have. It's one of the few instances in Chaplin's scores where
"mickey mousing" occurs; ie. the close mimicry in music of the action on screen.

As I wrote in an article for the Chaplin Courrier (fall 2001) on the music of
Modern Times, "Charlie's job interview music is very clever as it mimics the
dialog and characters in the scene. The low strings and winds represent
Bergman's manager and the high strings and flutes back the Gamin's lines as the
oboe haltingly plays Charlie's hesitant replies."

Phil


On 5 May 2005 22:39:38 GMT, do481.RemoveThis@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Constance Kuriyama)
wrote:

>
> (rfcsac627n@aol.com) writes:
>> His early 70s score for THE KID.
>
>That would be my call. No singles hit came out of it, but a fantastic score.
>
>And speaking of scores, has anyone ever noticed what he does with music in
>_Modern Times_ when Paulette tries to get Henry Bergman to hire Charlie?
>It strikes me that there's nothing like it anywhere else--but maybe I just
>haven't seen it done anywhere else.
>
>Connie K.
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

Shush wrote:

> Wake up, newsgroupers!

Who? What? Wuzizzat?

> What would you call Chaplin's last great piece
> of work? Not just a nice job, but a really great
> creative accomplishment?

> For me, it'd be "Terry's Theme" from LIMELIGHT,
> his best piece of music in my opinion.

Unfortunately, it already existed in the 1920s -- at
least, according to accounts I've heard (either Lita
or Charlie Jr., I forget which).

> But I'd love to know what the rest of you think.
> There are no wrong answers.

There are a lot of potential answers to that question.

Last indisputably great film? "Modern Times."

Last great script? "Monsieur Verdoux."

Last great score? "A Countess From Hong Kong" or
"The Kid."

Possibly his "Autobiography." Or at least the first half
of it, anyway.

Tom Moran
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

Phil P. () writes:
> I certainly have. It's one of the few instances in Chaplin's scores where
> "mickey mousing" occurs; ie. the close mimicry in music of the action on screen.
>
> As I wrote in an article for the Chaplin Courrier (fall 2001) on the music of
> Modern Times, "Charlie's job interview music is very clever as it mimics the
> dialog and characters in the scene. The low strings and winds represent
> Bergman's manager and the high strings and flutes back the Gamin's lines as the
> oboe haltingly plays Charlie's hesitant replies."
>
> Phil

I thought it would go under the general category of Mickey Mousing, but I
can't recall seeing that done with voices anywhere else. It's similar to
using a kazoo for the voices of the speakers in _City Lights_, but more
interesting, since there's no actual speech involved at all.

Connie K.




> On 5 May 2005 22:39:38 GMT, do481.TakeThisOut@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Constance Kuriyama)
> wrote:
>
>>
>> (rfcsac627n@aol.com) writes:
>>> His early 70s score for THE KID.
>>
>>That would be my call. No singles hit came out of it, but a fantastic score.
>>
>>And speaking of scores, has anyone ever noticed what he does with music in
>>_Modern Times_ when Paulette tries to get Henry Bergman to hire Charlie?
>>It strikes me that there's nothing like it anywhere else--but maybe I just
>>haven't seen it done anywhere else.
>>
>>Connie K.
>

--
"To hell with the pillow in the background. It's a good scene, and that's
more important." Chaplin, Interview with Richard Meryman, 1966.
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

Modern Times.
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work 

"Candace" (ulysses@mscomm.com) writes:
> Modern Times.

I don't know about last great, but in no way inferior to his best work.

Connie K.
--
"To hell with the pillow in the background. It's a good scene, and that's
more important." Chaplin, Interview with Richard Meryman, 1966.
 >> Stay informed about: Chaplin's Last Great Work