POV
26
APRIL2016
AMERICANWAY
Chaplin’s
World
PHOTOS
EDWARDGOOCH/HULTONARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES;MOVIEPOSTER IMAGEART/GETTY IMAGES;COURTESYCHAPLIN’SWORLD
SILENT-FILMSTAR
CharlieChaplindied
nearly fourdecadesago,buthismemory
endures inthehillsaboveSwitzerland’sLake
Geneva,whereheretreated in1953under
threatof theHollywoodblacklist.Thismonth,
thebowler-hatted, cane-twirlingLittleTramp
will takecenterstagewiththeopeningof
Chaplin’sWorld,anaffectionateandwell-
curatedmuseumonhis former35-acreestate
inCorsier-sur-Vevey.Theproject,alsoknown
asTheModernTimesMuse-
um, incorporatesthecharac-
tersChaplincreatedaswell
asthemanwhobefriended
everyone fromEinsteinto
Gandhiand famouslyparo-
diedHitlerbeforeAmerica
enteredthewar.Garden
paths leadtohis18th-century
formerhome, stilldecorated
withphotosofhiswife,Oona,
andtheireightchildren.A
separatemuseumairsvintage
footageonmock filmsetsand
examinesearly filmmaking
throughthemagic-lanternprojectorsused
bytheLumièrebrothers.Themuseumhas
manyof theoriginalmusicalscoresChap-
lincomposed longbeforeClintEastwood
notchedthedirector-star-composertrifecta.
Chaplinmuseum.com
—
ELAINEGLUSAC
Nestledamid the lakesand
mountainsofSwitzerland’s lovely
VaudRiviera, the formermanor
of comedygreatCharlieChaplin
isbeing reinvented thismonth
Theydon’t createmuseums in
honor of any ’ol tramp.Charlie
Chaplin left an indelible legacy
thatwill last farbeyondmodern
times.Along theway, he…
CLOGGEDHISWAY INTO
THE LIMELIGHT
Forced tobe themainprovider for
his family,Chaplinworkeda series
of odd jobs— theoddest ofwhich
was as adancer in the clog-dancing
troupeTheEight LancashireLads.
Lucky for us, thegig landedhimhis
first actingpart: a small role ina stage
productionof “SherlockHolmes.”
CREATEDA
TIME
-LESSCAREER
Hewas thefirst actor to appear on
the cover of
Time
magazine.
WASAGREAT
(HOLLYWOOD) DICTATOR…
Chaplinwas thefirst and last person
to control every level of filmproduc-
tion.Heproduced, wrote, directed,
starred in, scored andedited all his
movies, andhe foundeda studiowith
DouglasFairbanks,MaryPickford
andD.W.Griffith. The studio,United
Artists, is still inbusiness.
…ANDTHEGREATEST
ACTOROFALL TIME…
In a 1995worldwide surveyof film
critics,Chaplinwas named thegreat-
est actor inmoviehistory.
…BUTNOTTHEGREATEST
CHARLIECHAPLIN
The legendaryfilmmaker
joined aCharlieChaplin
look-alike contest— andplaced
third. Itmust havebeen the
blueeyes that threwoff the
judges, who, likeeveryoneelse,
wereused to seeinghimonly in
shades of black andwhite.
—
T
.
H
.
HATSOFF!
ABOVE:
the
poster for
Chaplin’s
ModernTimes
LEFT:
amock
film set at
Chaplin’s
World
