A new double LP of the CITY LIGHTS soundtrack is now available as part of the collection of Chaplin film soundtrack vinyls we are producing in collaboration with [PIAS] France. This deluxe edition includes two 180g vinyls (in full mono), rare bonus materials and a 24-page booklet illustrated with photographs and documents from the Chaplin Archive.
The new 4K restoration of A WOMAN OF PARIS has just been released on blu-ray and DVD by POTEMKINE films in France.
This exciting edition includes a recently recorded soundtrack based upon Chaplin’s 1976 score for the film and on a selection of his 1952-1969 composition sketches, restored, orchestrated, and conducted by Timothy Brock. According to Brock, “Over the course of many weeks I aurally transcribed what Chaplin was working out on the piano, and identified about 14 finished compositions and about 20 un-finished, or incomplete, musical ideas. It is these pieces, in conjunction with some of the 1977 score, that make up the new posthumous score, 100% composed by Chaplin. I developed the new score as best I could in the Chaplin earmarks and idioms, and orchestrated it in the model of CITY LIGHTS, which was Chaplin’s earliest personal attempt at orchestration, some 8 years after A WOMAN OF PARIS.” Recording by the Orchestra Città Aperta. Audio Post Production by l’Immagine Ritrovata.
Bonus materials:
- Introduction by David Robinson (5’)
- Chaplin Today: A Woman of Paris - Documentary by Mathias Ledoux with the participation of Liv Ullmann. (27’)
- Presentation of rare archives with commentary by Arnold Lozano of the Chaplin Office (9’)
- Outtakes
- United Artists signature archival footage
Calling all Chaplin-loving dissectologists!*
Discover four new licensed wooden jigsaw puzzles from Craft Hub – a fun and colorful tribute to Charlie Chaplin.
Each puzzle piece is unique, many of them in Chaplin-themed shapes: silhouettes, hats, roller skates, circus tents and more!
These puzzles are a challenging and rewarding brainteaser to solve alone, with family or friends.
All four designs are available on Craft Hub’s website for worldwide shipping & delivery.
*A person passionate about solving jigsaw puzzles. The term originated from the wooden “dissected” maps that were popular in the 19th century.
The Criterion Collection is releasing THE KID on blu-ray in the UK on 26 June 2023.
Charlie Chaplin was already an international star when he decided to break out of the short-film format and make his first full-length feature. The Kid doesn’t merely show Chaplin at a turning point, when he proved that he was a serious film director—it remains an expressive masterwork of silent cinema. In it, he stars as his lovable Tramp character, this time raising an orphan (a remarkable young Jackie Coogan) he has rescued from the streets. Chaplin and Coogan make a miraculous pair in this nimble marriage of sentiment and slapstick, a film that is, as its opening title card states, “a picture with a smile—and perhaps, a tear.
More good news for Chaplin fans in the UK. The Criterion Collection is releasing CITY LIGHTS on blu-ray on December 12, 2022.
The writer-director-star achieved new levels of grace, in both physical comedy and dramatic poignancy, with this silent tale of a lovable vagrant falling for a young blind woman who sells flowers on the street (a magical VIRGINIA CHERRILL) and mistakes him for a millionaire. Though this Depression-era smash was made after the advent of sound, Chaplin remained steadfast in his love for the expressive beauty of the pre-talkie form. The result was the epitome of his art and the crowning achievement of silent comedy.