Turner Classic Movies will pay tribute to one of Hollywood's most famous and powerful icons with the world television premiere of producer and writer Richard Schickel's new documentary,
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, in March. The tribute will also feature an 11-film retrospective to accompany the documentary, as well as 36 short films that Chaplin made during his career.
The acclaimed documentary Charlie chronicles Charles Chaplin's brilliant career as an actor, director, producer and composer, as well as his controversial and much-publicized private life, his love affairs and four marriages, his paternity suit scandal and persecution by the FBI, culminating in a self-imposed exile from the United States. Featuring revealing observations, rare footage interwoven with scenes from Chaplin's greatest films, newly recorded interviews and home movies, Charlie is the definitive documentary overview of Chaplin and his Little Tramp.
Included in the documentary are 19 newly recorded interviews in five categories: directors Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Lord Richard Attenborough and Milos Forman; performers Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, Marcel Marceau and Bill Irwin; Chaplin's collaborators David Raskin, Norman Lloyd and Claire Bloom; his children Sydney Chaplin, Geraldine Chaplin and Michael Chaplin; and critics and biographers Andrew Sarris David Thomson, Jeannine Basinger, David Robinson and Jeffrey Vance.
Schickel, the writer, producer and director of Charlie, has been a film critic for
Time magazine for more than three decades and is also the author of more than 30 books, mostly about the movies. The latest is the autobiographical
Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip. The Emmy-nominated Schickel has also written, directed and produced a similar number of television programs. He is available for interviews.
According to Schickel, Chaplin from the start was "driven by his relentless ego, by his helpless need for an audience to dominate, to lead. All the tragedies of his life stemmed from those drives and needs."
In addition to Schickel's documentary, TCM will also air 11 feature length Chaplin classics, including
CITY LIGHTS (1931, March 24, 8:30 p.m.),
LIMELIGHT, (1952, March 31, 11 p.m.),
MODERN TIME (1936, March 10, 8:30 p.m.), as well as 36 classic Chaplin shorts, including
THE TRAMP (1915, March 17, 3:15 a.m.),
THE PAWNSHOP (1916, March 10, 1:45 a.m.) and
A DOG'S LIFE (1918, March 10, 4:15 a.m.). During the festival, TCM will also air Chaplin Today, a series of ten 26-minute documentaries on Chaplin's most influential films, directed by numerous contemporary film directors, including Bernardo Bertolucci on
Limelight, Jim Jarmusch on
A King in New York, Liv Ullman on
A Woman of Paris and Emir Kusturica on
The Circus.
Additional information on Chaplin will be featured on TCM's website in March including a photo gallery, video clips from various films and articles on all of the films being shown.
