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Chaplin Or Keaton?
30 November 2007
On this day in 1913, Chaplin made his first movie – heck that was before even Mickey Rooney (and Mickey’s still working, but then he is by common consent an emanation of Satan, so unlikely ever to die). Chaplin, of course, went on to become the most famous man in the world – perhaps the first truly world-famous man – but in recent decades his stock has fallen sharply, while Keaton’s has risen spectacularly. Apart from my dear good friend Cheever, I don’t think I know anyone who prefers Chaplin to Keaton – maybe there are hordes of you out there in the blogosphere? Keaton’s emotional blankness seems somehow modern, while Chaplin’s brilliantly executed slapstick lurches too often into cloying sentimentality for today’s taste. Neither man, I suspect, actually raises many genuine laughs any more, but Keaton is mesmerically watchable and the kind of genius we can still connect with. Chaplin, I fear, isn’t.
And while I’m on the subject of silent movies, isn’t it a shame that what has come down to us is, overwhelmingly, comedy – precisely the genre that has dated most badly? Whenever I’ve seen one of those refurbished, re-scored ‘lost’ masterpieces that crop up occasionally (King Vidor’s The Crowd, Stroheim’s The Wedding March?), I’ ve been stunned by the emotional power they still pack. We have, I suspect, a strangely skewed idea of silent cinema.One Response to “Chaplin Or Keaton?”
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26 July 2011 at 9:26 am
Is it seriously possible for you to sit through City Lights or Modern Times without laughing? Because for me it isn’t. I’m 20 years old and I just showed City Lights to my 22 year old friend for the first time and he was genuinely laughing numerous times.
On the other hand another one of my friends came back from cinema class saying how unfunny and boring “The General” to him was.
Listen Bryan, Keaton may be famous for that falling house scene or the sitting on the train scene from “The General” but Chaplin had about 6 famous scene from each of his famous full length movies. So please stop acting like an elitist and pretending that Chaplin is in some way shape or form more dated than Keaton.