The Music of Charlie Chaplin

by Jim Lochner

Overview

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, off-key singing, and amateur piano and violin playing into the singular orchestral vision he heard in his head.

Drawing on numerous transcriptions from 60 years of original scores, this comprehensive study reveals the untold story of Chaplin the composer and the string of famous (and not-so-famous) musicians he employed, giving fresh insight into his films and shedding new light on the man behind the icon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786496112
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	10/16/2018
Pages:	450
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jim Lochner is an arts journalist from Wheat Ridge, Colorado. His music and lyrics have appeared in shows for TADA! Youth Theater, and he has written extensively on film music for Film Score Monthly and FSM Online, and for the record labels Varèse Sarabande, Intrada, La-La Land Records, Quartet Records, and Disques Cinemusique.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Copyright Notices
Preface
Introduction—And the Winners Are…
 1: Music First Entered My Soul
 2: Chaplinitis
 3: The Sound of Silents
 4: Who’ll Buy My Violets?
 5: Charlie + The Machine
 6: Hope Springs Eternal
 7: Valse Mange
 8: Tango Bitterness
 9: Awakening
10: Chaplin Charts
11: Now That It’s Ended
12: Flat Feet
13: This Is My Song
14: The Sound of Silents Reprise
Epilogue: Time Is the Great Author
Appendix A: Timeline
Appendix B: Cue Sheets
The Kid (1921 Compilation Score) delete378 • A Woman of Paris (1923 Original Compilation Score) delete378 • A Woman of Paris (1923 Revised Compilation Score Cue Sheet) delete379 • The Gold Rush (1925 Compilation Score) delete380 • The Gold Rush (1925 Cue Sheet) delete380 • The Circus (1928 Compilation Score) delete382 • The Circus (1928 Cue Sheet) delete383 • City Lights (Original Cue Sheet, 1931) delete384 • City Lights (Revised Cue Sheet, July 1972) delete385 • Modern Times delete387 • The Great Dictator delete388 • The Gold Rush (1942 Score) delete389 • Monsieur Verdoux delete390 • Limelight (Handwritten Cue Sheet) delete390 • Limelight (1972 Cue Sheet) delete391 • A King in New York (Handwritten Cue Sheet) delete392 • A King in New York (Official Cue Sheet) delete392 • The Chaplin Revue delete393—A Dog’s Life delete393; Shoulder Arms delete393; The Pilgrim delete393; The Pilgrim (1922 Cue Sheet) delete394; The Pilgrim (UK Cue Sheet) delete394; Shoulder Arms (1927 Reissue Cue Sheet) delete395 • A Countess from Hong Kong delete396 • The Circus (1968 Score) delete396 • The Kid (1972 Score) delete397 • The Idle Class delete397 • Pay Day delete397 • A Day’s Pleasure delete397 • Sunnyside delete398 • A Woman of Paris (1976 Score)
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

A rare kind of film and music history book...provides vital insight into a person considered one of the most important figures of early cinema, and reveals an artist with a deep hunger for complete authorship...rich in detail.”—The Atlantic; “Jim Lochner takes a very fresh approach. [He] analyzes the musical genius of Chaplin and how it enriched his films. This brings an entirely new perspective to our viewing of Chaplin classics”—Pop Culture Classics; “A welcome addition to the ocean of Chaplin studies. The book represents that rarest of things, a new Chaplin monograph that actually fills a gap in Chaplin studies. ...a fine overview of the entire arc of Chaplin’s musical career and loads of fun detail along the way...meticulously researched...the wealth of information is fresh and entertaining...exhaustive research...impressive...a rich account of the cue sheets and music compilations...Lochner deftly mines the various memoirs of Chaplin’s musical collaborators for descriptions of Chaplin’s working methods when he created his orchestral arrangement.”—Film International.

From the Publisher