Chaplin

"Everyone has a wild side. Even a legend."

1992 2h 25m EN

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 1,255

Drama

Synopsis

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An aged Charlie Chaplin narrates his life to his autobiography's editor, including his rise to wealth and comedic fame from poverty, his turbulent personal life and his run-ins with the FBI.

“Everyone has a wild side. Even a legend.”

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Cast

Robert Downey Jr.
Charles Spencer Chaplin
Geraldine Chaplin
Hannah Chaplin
Paul Rhys
Sydney Chaplin
John Thaw
Fred Karno
Moira Kelly
Hetty Kelly / Oona O'Neill
Anthony Hopkins
George Hayden
Dan Aykroyd
Mack Sennett
Marisa Tomei
Mabel Normand

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Attenborough
Writers: Bryan Forbes, William Goldman, William Boyd
Languages: English
Countries: France, Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 31% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 5 countries: France, Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

214+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Attenborough, shot by Sven Nykvist. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Anne V. Coates shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Robert Downey Jr. and Geraldine Chaplin and Paul Rhys carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Attenborough directs. Sven Nykvist behind the camera. John Barry scores. Anne V. Coates cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 31% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 5 countries: France, Italy, United Kingdom, United States of America, Japan.
4214+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Richard Attenborough, shot by Sven Nykvist. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Anne V. Coates shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Robert Downey Jr. and Geraldine Chaplin and Paul Rhys carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Everyone has a wild side. Even a legend.".
10IMDB entry: tt0103939 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 9 themes, including "escape", "politics", "success", "biography".

The technical file

Cinematography: Sven Nykvist
Original score: John Barry
Editing: Anne V. Coates
Production design: Stuart Craig
Costume design: Ellen Mirojnick
Makeup / hair: Jill Rockow
Sound: Dean Humphreys
Runtime: 145 min · 2h 25m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $31,000,000
Box office: $9,493,259
Return: 31% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Chaplin (1992)

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Richard Attenborough

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What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-10-24
★ 7/10
Told by way of a retrospective, this is a stylish and informative - if not always very entertaining - biopic on the legendary film star. He is discussing his autobiography and as he meanders down memory lane, we accompany him from his life in Edwardian London through his journey to the USA where he found fame with Keystone Studios and developed the legendary "Tramp" persona that resonated so well with an increasingly poverty-stricken populace. Robert Downey Jnr is effective in the title role, conveying much of the quirkiness - and selfishness - of this character. Geraldine Chaplin (his real life daughter) delivers a poignantly strong, if sparing, contribution and the attention to detail with costumes and sets is special. Thing is, although it must have been hard for Richard Attenborough to condense eighty-eight years of this man's hugely interesting life into one film, those moments he has selected tend a little towards the more salacious; those less demonstrative of his creative genius. The scenes at the start when an opportunity was there to illustrate to us how his workhouse upbringing instilled the ethic that was to drive him all his life - we skip through them all too superficially (though maybe that's because there was no role for Downey?). The political emphasis on the McCarthy witch-hunts is interesting, and the general FBI conspiracy elements are developed well, but for me this is much less about the man than it is about the myth and that's a shame. The supporting cast deliver well enough - John Thaw as his discoverer "Karno" and Dan Aykroyd strong amongst them, and to be fair it does rather fly by for almost 2½ hours. I can't help but admire the director's intention to encapsulate such a lot into such a little amount of screen time, but perhaps it was just never really possible in the first place - if justice were ever to be done to this flawed, enigmatic, charming, ruthless and funny man.

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