In Which Chaplin Makes a Big Mistake

From Jack Oakie's autobiography, "Jack Oakie's Double Takes":


"On 'Modern Times,' the picture he made just before 'The Great
Dictator,' the only crew he had was his cameraman, Roland Totheroh,
and one property man. Not even a script girl, because the script was
in his head. While talking about the terrible cost of things and the
necessity of watching the purse strings, Charlie painted the blackest
picture ever about 'Modern Times.'

" 'I should have made that one a talkie,' he said. 'I made a big
mistake. Lost a lot of money on that one.' I felt terrible. It seemed
awful to me that Charlie should have suffered such disappointment with
such a great picture.

" 'I can't believe it, Charlie,' I said. 'It's such a wonderful
picture.' I was trying to tell him that I didn't think that anything
about 'Modern Times' was a mistake.

" 'Yes,' he said, 'but a big mistake.' I thought he was going to
cry, remembering the tragic error that was breaking his heart.

" 'I only made ten million dollars on that one.' He shook his
head. He believed that if it had been a talkie he could have doubled
that figure."



Chris Snowden

(Christopher Snowden) wrote in message ...
> From Jack Oakie's autobiography, "Jack Oakie's Double Takes":
>
>
> "On 'Modern Times,' the picture he made just before 'The Great
> Dictator,' the only crew he had was his cameraman, Roland Totheroh,
> and one property man. Not even a script girl, because the script was
> in his head.

Pure fiction. Part of the script is available for reading on the Image
DVD. And the production values of the film obviously required a large crew.

> While talking about the terrible cost of things and the
> necessity of watching the purse strings, Charlie painted the blackest
> picture ever about 'Modern Times.'
>
> " 'I should have made that one a talkie,' he said. 'I made a big
> mistake. Lost a lot of money on that one.' I felt terrible. It seemed
> awful to me that Charlie should have suffered such disappointment with
> such a great picture.
>
> " 'I can't believe it, Charlie,' I said. 'It's such a wonderful
> picture.' I was trying to tell him that I didn't think that anything
> about 'Modern Times' was a mistake.
>
> " 'Yes,' he said, 'but a big mistake.' I thought he was going to
> cry, remembering the tragic error that was breaking his heart.
>
> " 'I only made ten million dollars on that one.' He shook his
> head. He believed that if it had been a talkie he could have doubled
> that figure."
>
>
>
> Chris Snowden

It's true that Chaplin was initially disappointed with the profit from
_Modern Times_, but things improved.

Connie K.