A King in New York/A Woman of Paris

"A Woman of Paris", released in 1923, is a film which Chaplin does not appear in. Unless of course you include the cameo appearance, lasting maybe 2 seconds. A lot of people dislike this movie, because when they see a Chaplin movie, they want to actually SEE him. Either way, it does not bother me. I think Chaplin was the greatest of all film makers, and I dont really care whether you see him, or you dont. I enjoy his work as simply a director. This is a truly underrated masterpiece (yes, masterpiece), which has some fine acting. The two stars are Edna Purviance and Adolphe Menjou. The film was ideally supposed to launch Edna Purviance's career as a serious actress, but it didnt do much for her, since nobody really went to see this movie upon its release. Although I believe the critics loved it. Its actually somewhat of a favourite among Chaplin's films, and he was just so brilliant behind the camera. At whatever he did, he was great. If you only want to see Chaplin films with him in, then this one is not for you. This one for me would get 5 stars.

Now for "A King in New York" from 1957. I do not rate this film highly. Its one that some will enjoy, and some wont enjoy. I did enjoy it, but after seeing Chaplins other work, you cant help but notice how much more poor this is compared to others. A really bad idea would be to watch "City Light's" and then right after, watch this. You will REALLY see the difference in his work through the years. I dont particularly think much to some of Chaplins talking pictures, although I loved "Monsieur Verdoux". As for this film itself, I guess the highlights come from Chaplins son, Michael. Hes maybe the funniest thing in this movie. His fast talking, cleverness about things that should only really be concerning adults is the thing that makes the comedy in this one. Chaplin IS funny in this one also, but his silent film days are completely lost here. I guess in some ways, this is a film Chaplin fans should see, and if you are completists (like moi) then you will want to own. Only 3 stars for this one.

The DVDs are decent. Like the others in the Chaplin Collection, these include the usual featurettes, and what ever else you get on them. "A Woman of Paris" has a decent little extra, a film called "Camille" which Chaplin is in, along with a load of other top named people, like Ethel Barrymore, Paul Robeson etc. This is not a masterpiece film, its just an interesting extra to the DVD. The prints on both "A Woman of Paris" and "A King in New Yourk" and great, and this is a good way to see them.

It's an odd film, though. It's a parody of 1950's America MADE in the 1950's. A lot of the gags (especially the CinemaScope parody) are great, though.

I think the main problem with the film has to do with it being a little bit long-winded in parts and too much plot fortification. Most of Chaplin's films only needed a tiny bit of a plot to be great. Overall, watch with an open mind and enjoy the very accurate parodies on the 50's.