Charlie Chaplin in the gold rush - 1889 (1925)

CHAPLIN'S FILM DEBUT ALFRED REEVES THE following interesting little story about Charlie Chaplin is told by Alfred Reeves, his present gen- eral manager, who was also manager of the com- pany in which Chaplin appeared before he entered pic- tures. Mr. Reeves has known Charlie from his fifteenth birthday. He has seen Charlie Chaplin's father on the stage and pronounced him one of the most talented actors of his day. It is the period of 1910'of which Mr. Reeves speaks: "While we played in New York Charlie conceived the idea of utilizing his spare time away from the theatre in the making of picture com- edies. He outlined his idea to all the members of the company, thinking then that all we needed was a camera. "Charlie and myself, al- ways the best of friends, agreed at the time to put up one thousand dollars each for the purchase of a camera. We thought then that all we had to do was to play as in our vaudeville act, in the open air, and it would register on the screen. The idea of scenes made in short lengths, long shots and close-ups, and inserts being taken separately and later assembled was never dreamed of by us. The cutting of the film, in which Charlie has no equal, was never dreamed of by him then. "We entered into this agreement in all seriousness, but because our work took us away from New York, it was abandoned. But Charlie always carried the idea in his mind. Since then we have often wondered what the out- come would have been had we carried out the original agreement. On returning to England in the summer of 1912 we combined business with pleasure by playing the theatres of the Channel Islands. While playing the theatre on the Island of Jersey, there was a street parade and car- nival in progress and a news weekly cameraman recorded the event. "He was here, there and everywhere, but wherever he went a very pompous gentleman, who was apparently in charge of affairs, would always be found in front of the camera lens. He would shake hands with the local dig- nitaries and always turn away from them and face the camera as he did so. He might be termed the first 'cam- era hog.' Always would he bow and register his greet- ings to the camera while his guests stood in the back- ground, or off to one side. "Charlie was completely fascinated by this bit of busi- ness and told me then that some day he would put it in a picture. In an early picture of his—'Kids Auto Races'—you will find the fulfillment of his resolve. "We returned to America shortly afterward on our second tour and while playing in Philadelphia, upon re- sponse to a wire from Kessel and Bauman, Charlie went to New York and there signed his first picture contract. "And so, contrary to the general idea that Charlie was discovered for pictures while playing in Los Angeles, Charlie arrived in California with a one-year picture con- tract in his pocket. The rest of Charlie's history is writ- ten by the children and himself." AN ANIMAL ACTOR IN "THE GOLD RUSH" Not the least important of the players in "The Gold Rush" is a furry-coated actor who never changes his costume. John Brown, who plays the role of himself, the big brown bear, was one member of the company on location who really levelled in the snow country. After spending his days and nights in Southern Cali- fornia, John Brown was taken up into the High Sierras and no sooner had he sniffed the mountain air than he ap- parently thought he had returned to the freedom of the snows. For the first few days he was unmanageable and it was necessary to give him as much freedom as possible, as he sought to tear up his cage. A stockade was built for him, and for days, hour in and hour out, while the company was on location, he frolicked in the snow to his heart's content. On the days when he appeared before the camera, his happiness reached its zenith, as following each "take" he was turned loose and permitted to scamper off among the trees, to be recaptured only after much difficulty.