Product Description

Charles Chaplin's Little Tramp is the supreme icon of motion pictures - still recognized and loved throughout the world, more than 90 years since he first burst on the screen. The shabby little figure - with derby hat, too-tight jacket, oversized boots and pants, dandified bow tie, and swagger cane - seemed to symbolize the hopes and fears, defeats and optimism of all humanity. Chaplin's own biography was a rags-to-riches story that saw the product of a destitute childhood in Victorian London become one of Hollywood's first millionaires and the owner of his own studio before he was 30. His supreme gift was to transform his experience and knowledge of the human lot into comedy, for which his invention and skill have never been surpassed. People talk about Hollywood glamour, about studios that had more stars than there are in heaven, about actors who weren't actors but were icons. Other people talk about these things, Taschen shows you. "Hollywood Icons" is a series of photo books that feature the most famous movie icons in the history of cinema. These 192-page books are visual biographies of the stars. For each title, series editor Paul Duncan has painstaking selected approximately 150 high quality enigmatic and sumptuous portraits, colorful posters and lobby cards, rare film stills, and previously unpublished candid photos showing the stars as they really are. These images are accompanied by concise introductory essays by leading film writers; each book also includes a chronology, a filmography, and a bibliography, and is peppered with apposite quotes from the movies and from life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #565212 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-30
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Of the many books about Charlie Chaplin (1889--1977), among them the Tramp's own charming but evasive 1964 autobiography, this magisterial volume does by far the best job of detailing and analysing his genius as a filmmaker. Chaplin's widow allowed David Robinson to examine their personal archives in Switzerland, and he makes good use of this access in his meticulous descriptions of the movies that created the legend, including City Lights and Modern Times. Robinson is less interested in Chaplin's tumultuous personal life, skating rather lightly over the lawsuits and scandals that plagued his later years in the United States. No matter: Chaplin-lovers will find their understanding of his films enhanced; those unfamiliar with his artistry will learn why an actor-director whose greatest work was done before 1940 remains a key figure in the history of motion pictures. --Christine Buttery

About the Author
David Robinson is a critic and historian of long experience. He was successively film critic for The Financial Times (London) and The Times (London). His books have included Buster Keaton, Hollywood in the Twenties, World Cinema, From Peepshow to Palace and the definitive Chaplin: His Life and Art. Robinson is currently director of the Giornate del Cinema Muto (the Pordenone International Film Festival), the most prestigious festival dedicated to film history, now in its 24th year.