The Music of Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin the actor is universally synonymous with his beloved Tramp character. Chaplin the director is considered one of the great auteurs and innovators of cinema history. Less well known is Chaplin the composer, whose instrumental theme for Modern Times (1936) later became the popular standard "Smile," a Billboard hit for Nat "King" Cole in 1954.

Chaplin was prolific yet could not read or write music. It took a rotating cast of talented musicians to translate his unorthodox humming...