Episode 3 of Kevin Brownlow's and David Gill's wonderful documentary Unknown Chaplin (1983) is called "Hidden Treasures," but current DVD owners might think of it as the "Deleted Scenes" section. Here we see the material that Chaplin felt did not quite reach the standard for a final release. For him it was not a waste. Much of this excised material would return in a re-worked form in his later movies.

Chaplin stock company member Albert Austin seems to have been the one whose scenes most often landed on the cutting room floor. In out-takes we see him participating in a golfing skit for an unfinished Mutual short that would later be re-worked for The Idle Class (1921), being tortured by Charlie as an untalented barber in I>Sunnyside (1919) that would turn into a musical routine in The Great Dictator (1940) and finally a long bit cut from Shoulder Arms (1918) in which Austin loses a variety of medical instruments down Charlie's throat while giving him his Army physical.

How to Make Movies, shot sometime between 1918 and 1923, is a comic documentary shot behind the scenes at Chaplin's studio. Located at 1416 La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, the Charles Chaplin Studio was the site of all Chaplin's comedies from A Dog's Life (1918) until Limelight (1952). After Chaplin left America, it became the headquarters of A&M Records and now is the location of the Jim Henson Company.

The Professor (1922) is the source of one of the biggest mysteries in Chaplin's filmography. Telegrams show that Chaplin held it as an alternate title for First National if they refused to give him a 70-30 split for his four-reeler The Pilgrim (1923). The content of these messages implied that Chaplin had a two-reel length version of The Professor ready to hand over if First National rejected his terms. However, when Brownlow and Gill went through the surviving out-takes, the five minute clip shown in Unknown Chaplin was all they found. Did the two-reel version of The Professor actually exist?

The caf¿equence, excised from the released version of The Circus (1928) was shot in October 1926 with the sidewalk scenes shot in November. This movie was the most troubled of Chaplin's career. The month before, Chaplin's friend Rudolph Valentino had died. Chaplin stopped production to travel to New York and serve as one of the pallbearers. Shortly after his return, a fire gutted one of the stages at his studio, destroying the movie's primary set. Then, not long after the sidewalk scenes were filmed, Chaplin's marriage to Lita Grey ended followed by a public and very bitter divorce trial that caused further filming delays.

His next film, City Lights (1931), was not so heartbreaking but was, nevertheless, difficult, leading to a very long shooting schedule. Chaplin's "unveiling" at the beginning of the film is probably his greatest movie entrance. The pity is that it had to replace the sidewalk scene shown in Unknown Chaplin; a several minute comic routine built around a stick caught in a sewer grate that provides a perfect distillation of Chaplin's genius.

One small detail in another out-take provides an interesting commentary on the new world of celebrity that began with Chaplin. In a section on films of famous visitors to Chaplin's studios, we see Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark joking with Chaplin and his co-star Edna Purviance, then participating in a skit on the set of Sunnyside (1919). Now at the beginning of the 21st Century, modern viewers think nothing of seeing such familiarity between royalty and a movie celebrity. At the beginning of the 20th, however, there was still a huge gulf between the potential leader of a nation and a mere clown in the movies. Chaplin's worldwide celebrity kicked down those barriers as easily as his tramp gave the boot to his enemies' backsides. This film clip is a small treasure among the many recovered for this three-part series that provides a look behind the scenes at the creator of a lowly tramp who became one of the most important people in the world.

Writers/producers: Kevin Brownlow, David Gill
Music arranger/conductor: Carl Davis
Video editiors: Roger Holmes, Tom Kavanagh
Film editor: Trevor Waite
BW & C-53 min.

by Brian Cady