Charlie Chaplin; Metropolis Paper (Synthesis) Due Next Week!

Remember that your Metropolis paper is due next week (Friday). The documentary The Metropolis Case, directed by Enno Patalas (2003), Transit Film can be very helpful. Take a look!

Remember, your paper should:

• Include AT LEAST 3 secondary sources that are referred to and cited in your paper. (please include an MLA formatted works cited page with your paper). MLA format can be found here. 
• PLEASE NOTE: You may not use Wikipedia as one of your 3 sources. You may use it as a 4th or 5th or 6th source if you wish.
• Your MLA formatted citation page does NOT count as one of your page-required, double-spaced pages.
• Please include a title for your paper that clarifies to your paper's thesis/topic. 
• The paper is due March 26. 

To cite a film or video found on a website, use the following structure:

Last name, First name of the creator or director. “Title of the film or video.” Title of the website, role of contributors and their First name Last name (if known), Version, Numbers, Publisher, Publication date, URL.

Use this citation structure if citing a film or video found on a database, such as Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or HBO or Disney Plus.

Last name, First name of the creator or director. Title of the film or video. Role of contributors and their First name Last name, Version, Numbers, Publisher, Publication date. Database name, URL.

Probably the best known silent film actor and comedian is Charlie Chaplin. Learn about him below.

Charlie Chaplin, an Overview

"All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman, and a pretty girl." -Sir Charles Chaplin

Sir Charles Chaplin (1889-1977)

• Born in 1889 in London, UK to theatrical parents
• Chaplin’s childhood was one of extreme poverty and hardship
• Abandoned by an alcoholic father and left with a mentally unstable mother who was unable to support him, he struggled through life in the poor house and on the streets
• He learnt much of his timing and technique in the employment of impresario Fred Karno (1866-1941) whose troupe he left during an American tour in 1913
• Offered a contract by Keystone Films
• After 1914, he convinced Keystone producer Mack Sennett to allow him to direct his own films - often wrote, directed, acted and composed his own musical scores for his films
• In many silent shorts, he established the grammar and ground rules of screen comedy using his physical dexterity and pantomime skills to create expertly choreographed, visually humorous entertainment that mixed irreverence, romance, and pathos (feeling)
• Co-founder of United Artists in 1919
• Married Oona O’Neill (daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill)
• His left-wing sympathies caused him to emigrate to Switzerland during the 1950’s, McCarthy period
• He published his autobiography in 1964 and was knighted in 1975
• Chaplin died on Christmas day, 1977
• A writer Performer, director, composer and icon, he was a vital figure in the development of the screen comedy Films (incomplete list): Making a Living (1913) Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) The Champion (1915) The Tramp (1915) The Pawnshop (1916) The Rink (1916) A Dog’s Life (1918) The Kid (1921) The Gold Rush (1925) City Lights (1931) Modern Times (1936) The Great Dictator (1940) Limelight (1952) A King in New York (1957) A Countess from Hong Kong (1967)

Sample Charlie Chaplin films can be found in the resources on your Google Classroom.

Complete your Metropolis paper drafts! Watch some silent film comedy!