Chaplin's Views
In an interview in 1933, Chaplin explained how he came up with the look of the Tramp:
A hotel set was built for (fellow Keystone comic) Mabel Normand's picture Mabel's Strange Predicament and I was hurriedly told to put on a funny make-up. This time I went to the wardrobe and got a pair of baggy pants, a tight coat, a small derby hat and a large pair of shoes. I wanted the clothes to be a mass of contradictions, knowing pictorially the figure would be vividly outlined on the screen. To add a comic touch, I wore a small mustache which would not hide my expression. My appearance got an enthusiastic response from everyone, including Mr. Sennett. The clothes seemed to imbue me with the spirit of the character. He actually became a man with a soul - a point of view. I defined to Mr. Sennett the type of person he was. He wears an air of romantic hunger, forever seeking death, but his feet won't let him.Template:"My Autobiography" by Charles Chaplin, Copyright 1964 Simon and SchusterIn 1959, having been editing The Chaplin Revue, Chaplin commented to a reporter (regarding the Tramp character) "I was wrong to kill him. There was room for the Little Man in the atomic age."
In the 1980s, the character connected with a new generation as the mascot and feature character of a well-received advertising campaign promoting the IBM PC personal computer.
Read more about this topic: The Tramp
Famous quotes containing the words chaplin and/or views:
“Whiskey! Never tasted such beastly stuff in my life! In a civilized country they drink wine.”
—Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977)
“Parents must begin to discover their children as individuals of developing tastes and views and so help them be, and see, themselves as thinking, feeling people. It is far too easy for a middle-years child to absorb an over-simplified picture of himself as a sloppy, unreliable, careless, irresponsible, lazy creature and not much more—an attitude toward himself he will carry far beyond these years.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)