Discovering a Legend: Charlie Chaplin

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Discovering a legend: Charlie Chaplin (speech notes) A. This is a story about the little tramp that stole the hearts of the world. B. I am speaking of course of the world famous, Sir Charles Chaplin. “Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular "Little Tramp" character; the man with the toothbrush mustache, bowler hat, bamboo cane, and a funny walk.” (as described by Amy Smith, IMdB) C. About 4 or 5 months ago I found that Netflix offered a collection of his early shot films so I would put them on sometimes to fall asleep to. But I soon discovered that falling asleep wasn’t easy with these on because I found them so entertaining. From there it’s just been one amazing discovery after another as I’ve been acquainting myself with each of his films. D. “Chaplin’s slapstick acrobatics made him famous, but the subtleties of his acting made him great. While Harold Lloyd played the daredevil, hanging from clocks, and Buster Keaton maneuvered through surreal and complex situations, Chaplin concerned himself with improvisation. For Chaplin, the best way to locate the humor or pathos of a situation was to create an environment and walk around it until something natural happened. The concern of early theater and film was to simply keep the audience’s attention through overdramatic acting that exaggerated emotions, but Chaplin saw in film an opportunity to control the environment enough to allow subtlety to come through.” (as described on PBS.org, no credited author) Transition In this speech I will cover the content of his career as well as his personal life and how they, at time were

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