Alexandria Gazette: In a Silent Way

[Bruce Calvert]

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/art ... 88&cat=104

In a Silent Way
Long-lost Chaplin film to premiere at Arlington silent film festival.

By Michael Lee Pope
Wednesday, July 14, 2010


Don’t look for references to "A Thief Catcher" in the traditional filmographies for Charlie Chaplin. But there he is in the 10-minute film playing a Keystone Cop, an unexpected discovery emerging from a flea market sale last year. Now, the film is set to have its first screening — at Arlington’s Slapsticon film festival this weekend — since it was originally presented to audiences in 1914.

"Even though he’s dressed up as a Keystone Cop, he’s still playing the famous tramp character that people associate with Charlie Chaplin," said Richard Roberts, director of the film festival. "This is clearly something that he already had down pat rather than something that was just made up kind of on the fly."

Although Chaplin claimed to have invented the tramp character spontaneously before another 1914 film titled "Mabel’s Strange Predicament," Roberts said "A Thief Catcher" serves to undercut that theory because it was already well developed by the time he made "A Thief Catcher." Those who view the film at Slapsticon will see all the mannerisms of the character that made Chaplin a star.

"This is a once-in-a-generation event," said Rob Farr, founder of the film festival. "The last time a major Chaplin discovery happened was in the 1970s, when a bunch of outtakes were found."

A THIEF CATCHER may have been relegated to obscurity because of its title. Another Keystone film of the era was "Her Friend the Bandit," which was later re-released as "The Thief Catcher." Because the titles were so similar, perhaps one was eliminated. Or maybe it wasn’t included because Chaplin plays merely a cameo role in two minutes of film.

"Even though he’s playing a bit part, Chaplin knows how to steal the show," said Farr. "He’s the one you’re watching."

Unlike most of the other silent film stars of that era, Chaplin did not make bold dramatic movements and outlandish facial expressions. He created a new style of subtle humanism and recognizable human emotions. It’s a brand that’s clearly on display in "A Thief Catcher," one that sets him aside from the other actors in the film — Ford Sterling, Mack Swain and Edgar Kennedy.

"The plot is basically 10 minutes of them running around a barnyard and getting involved with criminals," said Roberts. "I don’t want to give too much away because there isn’t too much more to give away."

THE FILM WAS discovered several months ago by Michigan silent film enthusiast Paul Gierucki, who purchased a handful of film canisters at an antiques show. Thinking it was just another old Keystone cops comedy, he set it aside and decided to get to it later. When he finally got around to screening the film in March, he realized that this was more than just another old silent movie — it was a lost piece of history.

"This is like discovering a lost Shakespeare sonnet or an unknown Mozart quartet," said Farr. "Chaplin is on that level of being a timeless artist."

[Bruce Calvert]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... c=fb&cc=fp

Forgotten Charlie Chaplin Film Reappears
by The Associated Press
July 15, 2010
A short silent comedy that was lost for decades holds a big surprise for film buffs and historians when a familiar face emerges from the bushes in police uniform and that unforgettable mustache.


AP
Charlie Chaplin in character as the "Tramp" for the 1921 film The Kid.

The 1914 film, A Thief Catcher was missing for so many years that everyone forgot Charlie Chaplin made a brief cameo as a buffoon Keystone cop, with all his familiar twitches and gestures.

Out of nowhere, the 10-minute film turned up late last year at an antiques sale in Taylor, Mich. Film historian Paul Gierucki thought he was buying just another Keystone Studios comedy and didn't watch the 16mm print for months.

Then, in March, he saw Chaplin bumble onto the screen and slap around some hooligans in the film starring Ford Sterling, Mack Swain and Edgar Kennedy. Chaplin is on screen for all of three minutes.

"Is this who I think it is?" Gierucki asked his friend and fellow film collector Richard Roberts.

He e-mailed Roberts a still image from the film.

"It might be, but we've got to see him move," Roberts replied.

Sure enough, once they saw the character's mannerisms, it was clearly Chaplin — one of the biggest stars of the early movie industry — playing a two-bit part in one of his earliest films.

The first public screening of the film, perhaps since 1914, comes Saturday at a comedy film festival in Arlington, Va.

Gierucki and Roberts are part of a group they call the "Silent Comedy Mafia" that organizes the annual Slapsticon festival at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater just outside Washington.

The festival begins Thursday and features as many as 120 films over four days with live musical accompaniment for the silent flicks. This year, it features previously unseen outtakes from other Chaplin comedies, a tribute to Abbott and Costello and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's first feature, a Western called The Round Up that featured a cameo by Buster Keaton, among others.

Gierucki, who is head of restorations for CineMuseum LLC, has plans to offer A Thief Catcher to a wider audience through DVDs and other festivals, though no specific plans have been announced.

The discovery is significant because it's the first film added to Chaplin's roster in 60 years.

It had been quickly forgotten. A 1938 Chaplin filmography by the British Film Institute left off A Thief Catcher and Chaplin never listed it himself. In the 1965 interview, the actor recalled playing a Keystone cop but didn't mention the title. Records from the Edendal, Calif., studio left out Chaplin's name.

Chaplin likely joined the cast at the last minute just because he was available, said Roberts of Phoenix, who directs the Virginia film festival.

[Bruce Calvert]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02306.html

Going Out Guide: Rare Charlie Chaplin film screened at Slapsticon
Thursday, July 15, 2010

The highlight of this seventh annual celebration of silent film is "A Thief Catcher," the rare Charlie Chaplin short that was discovered at a Michigan antiques fair last year. Festival organizers believe this will be the film's first screening since 1914, when it was released. It's joined by two other rarely seen Chaplin films, "Mutual Outtakes" and "The Bond" (Saturday at 8 p.m.). There is also a tribute to Abbott and Costellowith "Africa Screams" (Thursday at 7 p.m.) and a viewing of Fatty Arbuckle's "The Round-Up" (Friday at 8 p.m.). All of the films will be accompanied by live music.


-- Mark Berman


Thursday noon-9 p.m., Friday 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.-10:30 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre, 1611 N. Kent St., Arlington. 703-228-1841. 703-228-1850. http://www.slapsticon.org. Four-day pass $99, one-day pass $30, half-day pass $16.

[Bruce Calvert]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -fair.html

Long lost Charlie Chaplin film found at antiques fair
A long lost Hollywood silent film featuring Charlie Chaplin is to be screened for the first time in nearly a century after being discovered at an antiques fair.

Nick Allen in Los Angeles
Published: 12:51PM BST 16 Jul 2010

The comedy called A Thief Catcher was made in 1914 and was missing for so many years that Chaplin's appearance in it as a buffoon policeman had been forgotten.

The 10-minute movie was discovered by the American cinema historian, Paul Gierucki, who bought a can of old film marked "Keystone" at an antiques sale in Michigan.

He assumed it was just another Keystone Cops movie and didn't watch the 16mm reel for months.

When he finally looked at the film, which is in good condition, he was amazed to see what looked like Chaplin emerging from the bushes in a police uniform, several sizes too big, armed with a nightstick.

Mr Gierucki couldn't tell immediately but the actor's distinctive twitches seemed to confirm that it was Chaplin playing a minor role in one of his earliest films.

He showed it to a fellow film collector, Richard Roberts, who said: "I looked at it two seconds and said 'Yep, it's Chaplin.' Even though he's dressed as a cop, the rest of the character is still there – the moustache, the walk, the mannerism. This is a character he'd been doing for quite a while."

In the film Chaplin, who had yet to become famous, uses physical gestures that he would later employ for his most memorable, bumbling character The Tramp. After wiggling and shrugging in a way familiar to millions of filmgoers he delivers some instant slapstick justice by knocking around a group of hooligans.

The movie was made by Mack Sennett for his Keystone film company which produced a series of films about a group of incompetent policemen, the Keystone Cops, between 1912 and 1917.

Many other future stars including Gloria Swanson and Fatty Arbuckle, also began their Hollywood careers at the Keystone studio in Edendale, California.

Sennett had hired Chaplin, then a vaudeville star, in 1913 to make silent movies and A Thief Catcher is thought to have been the second or third film he made for Keystone. The film was shot from January 5 to 26.

It starred Ford Sterling, famous as the chief of the Keystone Cops, and he also directed.

The film also starred the now less famous names of Mack Swain and Edgar Kennedy, with Chaplin appearing on screen for three minutes.

It will be shown publicly this weekend at the annual Slapsticon film festival in Arlington, Virginia.

Organisers believe it is the first time the film has been shown since soon after its release on the eve of the First World War in 1914.

Chaplin made dozens of films between 1914 and 1967 but A Thief Catcher was never listed in his filmography, either by himself or the British Film Institute. It is the first title added to the list in 60 years and becomes the 82nd Chaplin film.

The London-born actor recalled in his autobiography that, apart from his starring role in Keystone comedies, he had also played bit parts as a "Keystone cop" in several films, but he did not give the titles and they were thought to be lost.

More than half of all silent films ever made are thought to no longer exist but A Thief Catcher is not the first to be rediscovered.

A trove of 75 missing Hollywood works, including the 1927 romance Upstream by Oscar-winning director John Ford, were recently found in a film archive vault in New Zealand.

[Bruce Calvert]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9GVKFLG1

Long-lost Chaplin film to debut at Va. festival

By BRETT ZONGKER (AP) – 1 day ago

ARLINGTON, Va. — A short silent comedy that was lost for decades holds a big surprise for film buffs and historians when a familiar face emerges from the bushes in police uniform and that unforgettable mustache.

The 1914 film, "A Thief Catcher," was missing for so many years that everyone forgot Charlie Chaplin made a brief cameo as a buffoon Keystone cop, with all his familiar twitches and gestures.

Out of nowhere, the 10-minute film turned up late last year at an antiques sale in Taylor, Mich. Film historian Paul Gierucki thought he was buying just another Keystone Studios comedy and didn't watch the 16mm print for months.

Then, in March, he saw Chaplin bumble onto the screen and slap around some hooligans in the film starring Ford Sterling, Mack Swain and Edgar Kennedy. Chaplin is on screen for all of three minutes.

"Is this who I think it is?" Gierucki asked his friend and fellow film collector Richard Roberts.

He e-mailed Roberts a still image from the film.

"It might be, but we've got to see him move," Roberts replied.

Sure enough, once they saw the character's mannerisms, it was clearly Chaplin — one of the biggest stars of the early movie industry — playing a two-bit part in one of his earliest films.

The first public screening of the film, perhaps since 1914, comes Saturday at a comedy film festival in Arlington, Va.

Gierucki and Roberts are part of a group they call the "Silent Comedy Mafia" that organizes the annual Slapsticon festival at the Rosslyn Spectrum Theater just outside Washington.

The festival begins Thursday and features as many as 120 films over four days with live musical accompaniment for the silent flicks. This year, it features previously unseen outtakes from other Chaplin comedies, a tribute to Abbott and Costello and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's first feature, a Western called "The Round Up" that featured a cameo by Buster Keaton, among others.

Gierucki, who is head of restorations for CineMuseum LLC, has plans to offer "A Thief Catcher" to a wider audience through DVDs and other festivals, though no specific plans have been announced.

The discovery is significant because it's the first film added to Chaplin's roster in 60 years.

It had been quickly forgotten. A 1938 Chaplin filmography by the British Film Institute left off "A Thief Catcher," and Chaplin never listed it himself. In the 1965 interview, the actor recalled playing a Keystone cop but didn't mention the title. Records from the Edendal, Calif., studio left out Chaplin's name.

Chaplin likely joined the cast at the last minute just because he was available, said Roberts of Phoenix, who directs the Virginia film festival.

The film also debunks a legend Chaplin created about himself, Roberts said. The former vaudeville headliner said he created the mustached "Tramp" character on the fly — with awkward fitting clothes, a cane and a hat — just before making "Mabel's Strange Predicament."

"This is nonsense," Roberts said, arguing that Chaplin produced "A Thief Catcher" almost simultaneously with a natural flow into the same character. "Even though he's dressed as a cop, the rest of the character is still there — the mustache, the walk, the mannerism. ... This is a character he'd been doing for quite a while."

Other comedians claimed to have used the character before Chaplin. But that hardly matters now.

"It's a moot point," Roberts said. "Whoever created the character is meaningless. Chaplin still did it better than anyone else."

___

Online:

Slapsticon Comedy Film Festival: http://www.slapsticon.org/

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Bruce Calvert]

It even made Radio New Zealand...

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2010/07/17/1248101bccd2

[Bruce Calvert]

Here's a BBC news story on the film. Paul Gierucki and Michael Schlesinger are featured in the story, and there is a brief shot of Richard Roberts introducing a film and the very beginning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10673400

[Bruce Calvert]

http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Ol ... KGSyg.cspx

Old Charlie Chaplin film rediscovered
Reported by: Kelli Warner
Email: kelliwarner@kmtr.com
Last Update: 8:52 am

Eugene (KMTR) – There have been several news stories recently of people discovering valuable items by chance, such as the family in Michigan who lost their home to foreclosure, only to find, while packing up their belongings, a rare Superman comic worth an upwards $250,000.

Just last month, audiences got to watch a rare, forgotten Charlie Chaplin film. It was discovered by a man digging through a pile of old film cans at a Michigan antique fair.

The 10-minute silent comedy titled “A Thief Catcher” was first released in 1914. Chaplin appears in it as a Keystone Cop for about three minutes.

Eugene film historian Lon Davis says the film “A Thief Catcher” was never listed under Chaplin’s accomplishments, so no one really knew it existed—until it was discovered last year.

“Charlie Chaplin was, without question, the most important artist in the history of the motion picture,” Davis said, “and to find something that is heretofore unknown—it’s extraordinary."

Davis says it's estimated about 80% of the silent films made no longer exist. They were shot on 35-millimeter nitrate film which didn't store well. In fact, was actually quite combustible.

“It produced gorgeous images, but it started to deteriorate almost immediately,” said Lon Davis. “Because of the chemicals in the film, it was not uncommon for it to actually explode in the projector when they were running them because of the heat.”

Davis says many other silent films were junked when the “talkies” came along because movie studios believed they had no more commercial value. But because Charlie Chaplin films were so popular, they were often copied many times, which is likely what led to this rare find.