My editor keeps changing it back to “Charlie,” but for me he’ll always be Charles Chaplin, or maybe even Sir Charles Chaplin. When I think of him, I think not of the Tramp but of the complicated, selfish, idealistic man who received the world’s love like a bouquet of wild flowers—he was the first international movie star, beloved the world over—and then tossed it away, proclaiming his left-wing politics and making movies like Monsieur Verdoux and A King in New York that were guaranteed to alienate his less adventurous fans.
For the last two weeks of October, Music Box will present new 35-millimeter prints of some of Chaplin’s greatest work: The Circus (Fri 10/22, Sat 10/23); The Kid (Sun 10/24, Mon 10/25); The Great Dictator (Tue 10/26, Wed 10/27); City Lights (Thu 10/28, Fri 10/29); Modern Times (Sat 10/30); The Gold Rush (Sun 10/31, Mon 11/1); The Chaplin Revue, which collects three shorts (Sun 10/31, Mon 11/1); A Woman of Paris (Tue 11/2); A King in New York (Wed 11/3); and Limelight (Thu 11/4). A series pass, good for all screenings, is $35 at the the door or $30 online. For more information and a complete schedule see musicboxtheatre.com.