New Book

[m***@rogers.com]

Surprised I haven't seen mention here of The Art of Charlie Chaplin
(McFarland) by Kip Harness. I picked it up after it was recommended by
Leonard Maltin on his site. I liked it because the Keystone years were
treated in depth, not glossed over, and there were some good insights
on the later works. Some of the analysis was bit overdone, but I
thought it was one of the best overviews I've seen.

[c***@ttu.edu]

Post by m***@rogers.com
Surprised I haven't seen mention here of The Art of Charlie Chaplin
(McFarland) by Kip Harness. I picked it up after it was recommended by
Leonard Maltin on his site. I liked it because the Keystone years were
treated in depth, not glossed over, and there were some good insights
on the later works. Some of the analysis was bit overdone, but I
thought it was one of the best overviews I've seen.

Could you give an example of a good insight, and also of analysis that
seems
overdone? It would give me a better idea of what the book has to say
about
Chaplin that makes it worth reading.

Connie K..

[Matt Barry]

Post by c***@ttu.edu

Post by m***@rogers.com
Surprised I haven't seen mention here of The Art of Charlie Chaplin
(McFarland) by Kip Harness. I picked it up after it was recommended by
Leonard Maltin on his site. I liked it because the Keystone years were
treated in depth, not glossed over, and there were some good insights
on the later works. Some of the analysis was bit overdone, but I
thought it was one of the best overviews I've seen.

Could you give an example of a good insight, and also of analysis that
seems
overdone? It would give me a better idea of what the book has to say
about
Chaplin that makes it worth reading.
Connie K..

It would be nice to read a more in-depth look at the Keystone comedies. I
recently went through and watched all of the Chaplin-Keystones and was
surprised at just how much his character evolved over the course of those
films. It's a transformation that is often overlooked, as most authors jump
from the "early, crude" Keystones to "The Tramp" and the more
character-based Essanays. I think many of the Keystone shorts are overdue
for analysis. Hopefully, with the BFI restorations in the works, we will see
more written about them in the near future.

[m***@rogers.com]

Post by Matt Barry

Post by c***@ttu.edu

Post by m***@rogers.com
Surprised I haven't seen mention here of The Art of Charlie Chaplin
(McFarland) by Kip Harness. I picked it up after it was recommended by
Leonard Maltin on his site. I liked it because the Keystone years were
treated in depth, not glossed over, and there were some good insights
on the later works. Some of the analysis was bit overdone, but I
thought it was one of the best overviews I've seen

Could you give an example of a good insight, and also of analysis that
seems
overdone? It would give me a better idea of what the book has to say
about
Chaplin that makes it worth reading

It would be nice to read a more in-depth look at the Keystone comedies. I
recently went through and watched all of the Chaplin-Keystones and was
surprised at just how much his character evolved over the course of those
films. It's a transformation that is often overlooked, as most authors jump
from the "early, crude" Keystones to "The Tramp" and the more
character-based Essanays. I think many of the Keystone shorts are overdue
for analysis.

The author of the book does examine the Keystones to a degree I've not
seen in other books, portraying Chaplin's growth through each film -
(mostly I've seen the Keystones portrayed as crude cartoons, though
these films really established CC with the public). In fact throughout
the book the evolution of the Tramp character is documented, showing
how the character changed but also why Chaplin had to change him -
showing that the more sympathetic aspects had to be played up for the
longer more ambitious films to take shape. The author
seemedreallysensitive to the themes throughout Chaplin's work. The
book seemed very perceptive to me about Chaplin's decline, in that
sound really took away his greatest gift, pantomime, so his later
films are undenaibly lesser, but still interesting in that he's
achieving so much in an area that wasn't his natural realm.
The overanalysis comes in with the larger social implications the
author tries to make with the films, though I guess CC intended that
too. The book gets a bit carried away with the 'tranformations' in
the Mutual films and the greatness of The Kid and City Lights - but
the author can be sharply critical of CC as well, in a penetrating but
not gratuitous way. Anyway it got me thinking about the films again, I
thought it was one of the best overviews of the films, the only
problem is it's a bit expensive as the McFarland books are.

[c***@ttu.edu]

Post by m***@rogers.com

Post by Matt Barry

Post by c***@ttu.edu

Post by m***@rogers.com
Surprised I haven't seen mention here of The Art of Charlie Chaplin
(McFarland) by Kip Harness. I picked it up after it was recommended by
Leonard Maltin on his site. I liked it because the Keystone years were
treated in depth, not glossed over, and there were some good insights
on the later works. Some of the analysis was bit overdone, but I
thought it was one of the best overviews I've seen

Could you give an example of a good insight, and also of analysis that
seems
overdone? It would give me a better idea of what the book has to say
about
Chaplin that makes it worth reading

It would be nice to read a more in-depth look at the Keystone comedies. I
recently went through and watched all of the Chaplin-Keystones and was
surprised at just how much his character evolved over the course of those
films. It's a transformation that is often overlooked, as most authors jump
from the "early, crude" Keystones to "The Tramp" and the more
character-based Essanays. I think many of the Keystone shorts are overdue
for analysis.

The author of the book does examine the Keystones to a degree I've not
seen in other books, portraying Chaplin's growth through each film -
(mostly I've seen the Keystones portrayed as crude cartoons, though
these films really established CC with the public). In fact throughout
the book the evolution of the Tramp character is documented, showing
how the character changed but also why Chaplin had to change him -
showing that the more sympathetic aspects had to be played up for the
longer more ambitious films to take shape.  The author
seemedreallysensitive to the themes throughout Chaplin's work. The
book seemed very perceptive to me about Chaplin's decline, in that
sound really took away his greatest gift, pantomime, so his later
films are undenaibly lesser, but still interesting in that he's
achieving so much in an area that wasn't his natural realm.
The overanalysis comes in with the larger social implications the
author tries to make with the films, though I guess CC intended that
too.  The book gets a bit carried away with the 'tranformations' in
the Mutual films and the greatness of The Kid and City Lights - but
the author can be sharply critical of CC as well, in a penetrating but
not gratuitous way. Anyway it got me thinking about the films again, I
thought it was one of the best overviews of the films, the only
problem is it's a bit expensive as the McFarland books are.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

Thanks; that was helpful.

McFarland gears their sales to libraries, which is why their books are
expensive. I'm waiting until the Tech library gets a copy.

Connie K.