If you're a fan of Charlie Chaplin you've in the right place at the right time because we have something very Chaplin-esque lined up for you. We're going to show episodes from a ten-part documentary series that looks at Charlie Chaplin's influence as a filmmaker. The Series - which was made for French television - is called Chaplin Today and it was produced by Serge Toubiana, an author, film historian and former editor of the French Film Journal Cahiers du Cinema. Toubiana is also a great fan of Chaplin, but believes Charlie's image as the "Little Tramp" has overshadowed his overall contribution to film. In Toubiana's opinion, film fans are familiar with the image of the tramp and his antics, but few are aware how innovative Chaplin was as a producer, writer and director. That was the catalyst that inspired Toubiana to produce the Chaplin Today documentaries. Each episode of the ten-part series focuses on just one of Chaplin's feature films, so besides giving a behind-the-scenes look at the making of one specific Chaplin movie, it also shows the effect that particular movie has had on various contemporary filmmakers, who discuss Chaplin and his film in detail. And for a real treat, after each documentary, we'll be showing the full version of the movie in question - uncut and commercial free. The first one we'll be showing is Chaplin Today: Modern Times to be followed immediately by a showing of Modern Times, uncut and commercial-free.

Producer: Serge Toubiana
Director: Philippe Truffault
Cast: Luc Darenne, Jean-Pierre Darenne, Charles Chaplin.
BW & C-26m.
by Robert Osborne