Now you can SPECIAL EDITION July 2016

ED’S
perform the VANISH Internatonal Magic Magazine
NOTE
routine that
went viral.

The Dream Act PUBLISHER

Paul Romhany & Joomag
LEARN FROM THE MASTERS
by Shin Lim
I
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF t is no secret that I am a huge fan of Charlie Chaplin. I’ve been a Chaplin fan
Paul Romhany: editor@vanishmagazine.com since I saw his masterpiece “The Circus” (Academy Award, 1928) as an eight-
ASSOCIATE EDITOR year-old boy in New Zealand. That film inspired a lifetime love for Chaplin
Ben Robinson movies and for my passion about magic. Today I can sit down with my four-
...every trick ASSOCIATE EDITOR
year old son and watch a Chaplin movie and see his eyes light up whenever
Chaplin walks on screen. The power of a Chaplin movie is that it can reach any
revealed... Nick Lewin
STAFF WRITERS FOR SPECIAL EDITION
age; and break down all cultural barriers. His work is still as relevant today as it
was when these films were first shown over 90-years ago. There are very few
BEN ROBINSON movies today that have, or will have, the same impact when they are shown
COVER ARTWORK 90 years from now.
HAIM GOLDENBERG When lecturing to magicians live around the world I always give this piece
EDITORIAL SUPPORT EXECUTIVE of advice: “Sit down and watch a full-length silent comedy movie by Charlie
Richard Webster and Mick Peck Chaplin, Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton.”
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR
Paul Romhany & Sydnie Anderson
You will learn so much about how to craft your own show from these artists.
CREATIVE DESIGNER & LAYOUT If you watch closely, you’ll see these movies have a structure that draws you
Paul Romhany in and takes you on a journey filled with humor and pathos. These great
MARKETING EXECUTIVES filmmakers knew how to tell a story and connect with the viewers that give
Steve Hocevar them meaning and a power that makes them last for eternity.
CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTION
Harry Morgan Imagine, as a magician, if you could take these powerful elements and
ADDRESS bring them to your show. It doesn’t matter if you are a close-up magician, a
1183 Blind Bogey Drive kid’s performer, a comedy magician or illusionist. By studying Chaplin and
Qualicum Beach, BC. watching his story telling technique you will find yourself connecting with
V9K1E6 your audience in a way that will make a huge difference to your show and
CANADA leave a lasting impression on their minds. My personal suggestions for Chaplin
would be The Kid, The Circus and The Gold Rush. Watch as he takes you on
this incredible ride and study how Chaplin really uses the characters to bring
out the story. Chaplin makes you feel on a gut level and not only is this terribly
difficult to do, but he does this primarily without words. All performers need
to think about that. It is not pantomime in the current definition. It is silent
Created by Paul Romhany & Mike Maione storytelling. There is a great gulf of a difference.

IMAGINE being able to perform at
least SIX DIFFERENT routines from
one pocket calendar.
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved. None of this magazine can be
reprinted electronically OR in hard form without the
permission of the editor.
When Ben Robinson told me he and his wife An were going to the opening of
Chaplin’s World in Switzerland I knew it would make a perfect Special Edition
for VANISH. This is a place everybody must visit, not just Chaplin fans but
anybody who loves movies, magic and the arts. Ben has given VANISH a world-
exclusive and insight in to a truly magical place and an insight in to a man who
made the world a much happier place to live.
We need Chaplin today just as much as the world needed him back during the
World Wars and the Great Depression. The world needs to learn how to smile
and laugh and love again. Enjoy this very special edition of VANISH.

Paul Romhany
Now available at your favorite MM dealer. Visit www.murphysmagic.com for more.
C
CHAPLIN’s WORLD, a Foundation Museum, opened
to the world April 17, 2016. It was one day after
Charlie Chaplin turned 127. The museum rests in
Corsier-sur-Vevey, subsidiary to the larger town of
Vevey, Switzerland. Population twenty-thousand
in the off-season, and ballooning to fifty-thousand
in the Summer for those who want to water ski the
majestic Lake Geneva, also known as Lac Léman
when viewed from the North. The lake, views, Alps
and the estate are indeed—magical. This is magic of
BY BEN ROBINSON a different order; poetic, transcendental, blissful—yet
with mountainous calamity always just a step away.
Switzerland—the heartbeat of Europe. The peaceful
center of the clock spring that never moves, yet,
drives the entire show...

CHAPLIN’s WORLD is the most telling example of one

s
man raising himself from poverty; and conquering

ap li n’
the world in many respects. Chaplin’s fame rests in a

Ch
category by itself. No other artist of the 20th century CHAPLIN’S WORLD
has been as noted. His Academy Award presented IS THE MOST
to him in 1972 is on display and the scripture reads TELLING
(in part): “For his profound insight into the human
condition.” In one wry observation, no other world
EXAMPLE OF ONE
MAN RAISING

World
figure adorns as many different postage stamps. His
birth centenary wrought the US government to issue HIMSELF FROM
one collector’s edition stamp in 24 ct. gold. Over fifty POVERTY; AND
nations have issued stamps in honor of Sir Charles CONQUERING THE
Chaplin. Full-blown statues in cast metal inhabit at
least five countries (Ireland, Switzerland, France, the WORLD IN MANY
US, and England). RESPECTS.
OF OPENING DAY
AN OVERVIEW
1918: Chaplin was without question the most
famous man in the world. That year he also co-
founded United Artists along with Mary Pickford
and Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith. As well,
the police estimated over seventy-five thousand
people came to lower Manhattan to see Chaplin and
Douglas Fairbanks at Federal Hall in New York City.
This was when raising money for the War Bond effort
concerning WWI.

When Chaplin first returned to England in 1922, he

recounts in his first autobiography, My Trip Abroad,
daily he received over two-thousand letters, many
of which asked him for help of one kind or another.
His son, Charles Chaplin Jr. (1925-1968) wrote in the
opening pages to his biography of his father, “...even
your rankest enemies concede that in your realm of
talent you have no peer.”

PHTOTOS: Ben with Chaplin statue. Middle An with Buster

Keaton. Bottom Ben with opening day sign.
“ “
Executed brilliantly by the Grévin Company,
CHAPLIN’s WORLD is a museum unlike any other
the world over. How delightful to be able to report
to the masses of Earth ——— Charlie Chaplin is
alive!
April 16, 2016, the night before
the official opening to the public,
a party was held on the premises
honoring (and being attended
by) notables from every sphere of
the world. Swiss papers reported
one hundred and fifty journalists,
from seventy-six countries also
attending. As well, twenty members
of the Chaplin family were present,
including four of his children (Swiss
papers noted) and at least two of his
grandchildren. On April 17th, nearly
every newspaper and TV show in
Europe held prominent mention of
the great Charlie Chaplin, and the
majestic creation CHAPLIN’s WORLD.
Opening Day, April 17, accompanied
by my wife, being fifth and sixth on
line, we entered CHAPLIN’s WORLD
at precisely 10am—when the doors
of CHAPLIN’s WORLD opened to the
rest of the world!
CHAPLIN’s WORLD is situated on
his estate, his home, the Manoir de
Ban. The thirty-six-acres focal point
where he began living in 1953,
after leaving the US under less than
favorable circumstances that befell
his kingly stature.
Chaplin was hounded unethically,
unmorally and with venom worthy
of a man who clearly hated himself,
J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the
(US) Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI). Hoover was a man who
regularly held covert meetings with
Hedda Hopper, the larger-than-life
female Hollywood gossip journalist
and social miscreant. Hoover was
a cross-dresser complete with
Entryway hello from Charlie
The face is
the mirror of
the mind, and
eyes without
speaking
confess the
secrets of the
earrings that almost dragged on the heart.
floor. No one said anything when
he showed up like this during the
1950’s at parties or when leaving
the FBI building in Washington
DC. (This was the time of the
largest, most profane and patently
ridiculous adventure in fetid
politics man can offer. Hoover was a
hypocritical, social malcontent who
had various assignations with Roy
Chaplin’s original TRAMP suit from THE KID
Cohn, a mafia lawyer. )
Enough darkness—step into the
light of CHAPLIN’s WORLD!
Executed brilliantly by the Grévin
Company, CHAPLIN’s WORLD is a
museum unlike any other the world
over. How delightful to be able
to report to the masses of Earth
——— Charlie Chaplin is alive! If
poetic essence is the intense energy
of life, then Charlie Chaplin is not
dead. Was he ever? At this very
moment, while you read, thousands,
if not millions, are watching a
Chaplin film right now, all over our
planet.
The man who lived, and became,
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin
(1889—1977) may have achieved
Gandhian mythology, but,
better. (Interestingly, Gandhi
and Chaplin met in the 1930’s
swapping philosophy.) While Lord
Mountbatten said of Mahatma
Gandhi, “Generations to come will
scarce believe such a one as he
walked among us,” this statement
also applies to Chaplin. Now,
CHAPLIN’s WORLD proves this
indelibly. Ben with Chaplin’s bowler hat
 Ben with an original
Chaplin cane
A Map of Chaplin’s World
Original hat, boots and
cane from Chaplin
Chaplin to the minds, hearts and
resultant smiles of children of the
CHAPLIN’s WORLD will infuse,
21st century. While this is a serious
delight, enthrall, bedazzle and
museum, children are inspired
cherubically entrance the viewer
every step of the way. Many exhibits
to this spirit who walked among
encourage child-like curiosity.
us for eighty-eight years. This
The Studio at le musée du Charlot
“living effigy” also determinately
invites hands-on fun!
and charmingly introduces Charlie
Map outside
showing Chaplin’s
World
Part of the exhibition from Chaplin’s youth in London
including his son Michael, who is the President
of this museum, and the Vice President, his sister
Victoria, who would have starred in his final film,
had it been made. (See Sidebar: THE FREAK).
Victoria Thierrée Chaplin tours the world with
her angelically dramatic wonder show called Le
Cirque Invisible (“The Invisible Circus”), with her
clown-illusionist husband Jean-Baptiste Thierrée.
This couple’s children also have theatrical tour de
force extravaganzas that bring repeat standing
ovations the world over for the artistry of James
Thierrée (currently seen in Tabac Rouge) and Aurélia
Thierrée (see Vanish cover story #11) and her
spectacular show Murmures des Murs. The Thierrée
family conspicuously bestill the heart and charm
the mind with the gifts passed on by their famous
forebearer. Victoria Thierrée Chaplin is the recipient Outside the Chaplin Studio
of one of France’s most esteemed theatrical honors:
The Moliere Award. Her eloquent artistic vision Overview of the
interactive studio
designs the sets, costumes, and directs some of her
progeny’s performance. It cannot have been easy
to have grown in the shadow of Charlie Chaplin. Yet
the task of the family to create CHAPLIN’s WORLD
with Grévin is now an astonishing accomplishment.
Upon entering Manoir de Ban, the Chaplin family is
shown, dating back to the 1700’s, in a genealogical
His home in Corsier-sur-Vevey,
timeline which alerts the viewer that the home they
Switzerland, a large mansion,
are entering is the son of a man named Charles
hidden on a hilltop is truly a
Chaplin who was the son of a man named Spencer
paradise worthy of such a world-
Chaplin. The family is respectful of names, and
admired figure. According to
Chaplin’s great grandson carries the Spencer name.
newspapers in Switzerland, nine
Therefore, we now understand that the original
of his children were involved,
Spencer Chaplin has a namesake over 150-years
later. The man the entire world has come to love and respect, was named “The Chaplin we are
Charles Spencer Chaplin but more simply known as “Charlie Chaplin” and in mainly concerned with
Europe, simply as “Charlot.” The Chaplin we are mainly concerned with here
made nearly one hundred films we know of, and many that the expectant
here made nearly one
viewer will see for the first time — family films abound in this museum.
Imagine seeing an Easter magic show with multiplying Easter eggs by the
hundred films we know
of, and many that the
“Amazing”
master himself!? Cineastes and first-timers will rejoice in the warmth of the
family shown in a variety of situations; while vacationing, on picnic, playing
expectant viewer will see is used not
for the first time - family
sports (Chaplin was an avid tennis competitor); and during the mundane.
films abound in this just as an
Film Director Jean Renoir (The Grand Illusion) called Charlie Chaplin “the
master of masters” and in so-called retirement (though he was anything
museum.”
adjective
but “retired”) Chaplin is seen rowing a boat while wearing a tie as well
as creating clever hilarity by becoming an impromptu boxing referee here. It is also
counting out his infant son Eugene as he relaxes on a baby blanket on a
well-manicured lawn! When he was not being feted internationally, taking a verb.
a round the world tour in 1961, writing essays or working on his final film
(see sidebar) Chaplin was a very busy and attentive father. A look into
his life at home shows a man quietly possessed to create, explore and
enlighten. Though, he always stated his life’s purpose was simply as “a
theatrical figure that made people laugh.”

Life size wax figures of Chaplin and his wife Oona (formerly Oona O’Neill,
the daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill) adorn the interior of the two
floors of the mansion open to the public. All is carefully watched over by a
staff nattily dressed in casual black slacks and tops with the perfectly royal
purple waistcoat marking their stance as minders, guides and insuring the
security of a family home now turned into an entertainingly educational
experience.

The “execution” or “réaliser” of CHAPLIN’s WORLD is accredited to “Grévin.”

This is a company that has engineered the sleek modernist architecture
and layout of this amazing museum.

“Amazing” is used not just as an adjective here. It is also a verb. When one
enters a bath on the second floor, the viewer is literally made to disappear
— further explanation would rob the ticket-buyer of the genuine surprise
they have in store.

There are family photographs, films, programs, letters, his gold watch and
much, much more stored in this elegant turn of the century (19thcentury)
building called Manoir de Ban. (The previous owner of the Manoir died
just six months before Chaplin bought the home. More than one person
claimed that spirits walked the hallways.) The Chaplin family took up
residence in this petite/palatial Shangrilah in 1953 after leaving the United
States by sea on the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner leaving port in New York,
after a cross-country trip by train.

Chaplin did not live in seclusion. Hardly. He was nary off the boat at Dover
Cliffs in England before Italy, France and his native England all festively
welcomed him with open arms, and a legion of statesman awards inclusive
of his World Peace Prize, presented to him by Russia, and actually given to
him at his home, the Manoir.
Part of THE KID exhbition

Interactive KID scene

Manoir de Ban is just one structure housing Chapliniana that is mind-

Harold Lloyd famous scene
bending to any Chaplin fan. One
can tour the grounds and see the
trees Chaplin loved, talked to and
nurtured. Some are now over three-
hundred years old! The girth of some
of the beautifully attended to trees
are as big as a small skyscraper.
A moderate guess is that the
circumference of one tree may have
been as spacious as ten meters. One
cannot imagine the sheer spirit the
grounds possess until you feel it for
yourself. The majesty of the estate is
Chaplin’s World celebrated all over Switzerland.
not overwhelming, it is inviting. Part
of the woods surrounding Manoir
de Ban have been cleared to make
way for a parking lot for several
hundred vehicles, the curators and
producers — head of the Grévin
Co., Mons. Pigeon perfunctorily
estimated — that three hundred
thousand visitors are expected
yearly.
Michael Chaplin quipped during
one interview that the roads
Chaplin’s bedroom where he died Dec.25th 1977
might have to be widened to
accommodate the traffic. (Only
a Chaplin knows the depth and
breadth of the family name.)
Opening day estimates varied from
eight hundred to twelve hundred
attendees, and other numbers.
Ticket price for adults is 23CHF, or
about twenty-three dollars.
The Studio is a very simply named
dreamland; a true wonder world.
Part circus, film theatre, and historic
recreation of the past, one of the
biggest surprises one can possibly
have begins at the end of the film
attendees’ watch.
Manior de Ban
Imagine falling into one of Chaplin’s
films!
Imagine walking the streets of A view of Lake Geneva by the author.
Chaplin’s boyhood London!
It is all there, including an almost
full-scale one-ring circus complete
with seats and the wax figure of
Transformist (“quick change” artist
for the US readers) Arturo Brachetti
(who attended opening night).
As well, actor, director and writer
Roberto Benigni, sits applauding,
while iconic film Director Federico
Fellini stands in creative perch
directing the action on stage.
Clearly the presence of these three
great talents are just one example
of the spectacular generosity
(and friendships) shown in this
museum.
Harold Lloyd hangs from a
clock-face in near life-size
replica. Laurel & Hardy, W.C.
Fields, Georges Melies, the Marx
Brothers and others are shown in
full force as spectators watching
the action in the one ring circus.
Even Woody Allen is seen in one
area called The Bank, where his
life-size figure attempts to pass
an illegible note to the bank teller
as he does in his first film comedy
Take the Money and Run (1969).
Buster Keaton (1895-1966) is
praised and presented with all
the glory due the great clown
in his one screen appearance
(Limelight, 1952) with Chaplin,
and as a figure one may sit,
converse with and have a photo
taken with if one so chooses.
Photography is allowed on
the premises within reason.
Those wishing to shoot video
should check with authorities
beforehand. (Caveat emptor: the
eye in the sky watches all.)
If you want to be imprisoned
with The Tramp, you too can
exercise similar escape skills by
being surprised at one way out of
the theatrical, life-sized cell. Such
are the really clever, genuinely
interactive exhibits. A great
bow must be taken by whoever
thought up each “set piece” and
the brilliant rendering. One man
visiting from Essex England,
Ian Knowles, a professional
special effects consultant, and
his consort Mandy, repeatedly
expressed to me how “knocked
out” they both were by the
extensive nature of the exhibits,
right down to the unclean sheets
on the prisoner’s bed. The Studio
is a wow. Make that a “double
wow.”
One can “assume a place” in
Chaplin’s movies by inserting
himself or herself into the gears that
consume Charlot in Modern Times
(1936), or receive a shave from
The Barber in The Great Dictator
(1940). These are just two examples
among the many opportunities
the delighted spectator has when
either trying on a Chaplin-like
chapeau (while learning its origins
as a “melon hat”), twirling a replica
bamboo cane or standing in line to
buy a magazine that offers over one
hundred different issues all with Mr.
Chaplin’s face on the cover (these
are not for sale from a stand, it is an
exhibit).
Opening Day CHAPLIN’s WORLD
engaged several live entertainers,
reminiscent of the soirées Chaplin
held on Sunday nights in his living
room. Silhouette artists dressed
similarly, a lightening sketch
artist, and two balloon artists (one
magician-balloonist Cornelius
Magou decked out in a dashing
purple and silver silk suit) kept the
crowds delighted as they waited on
line in some areas.
There is a restaurant called The
Tramp. It has table and self-service, and an
outdoor patio with large umbrellas that
protect from sunlight or fierce rain (such as
on Opening Day). Of course, there is the gift
shop. One enters CHAPLIN’s WORLD through
this commercial walkway, and exits same. It’s
worth all of the time spent to see, and pay
the price for, an unforgettable adventure
in not just a man’s world, but, indeed, an
immersion in his life. One gets the feeling
not just of Chaplin and the things he owned
and what he spent his life doing. The feeling
of CHAPLIN’s WORLD is far deeper.
On Opening Day, the very first person
admitted to the property was a French
woman named Anouk Benbunan from
Nice, France. A lifelong Chaplin fan, she
arrived in time to attain the first position
of those entering. She was interviewed by
a documentarian, and photographed. She
later told me when we met in Mr. Chaplin’s
living room that she had asked Chaplin’s
spirit to:
1. Be the very first person from the
outside world admitted.
2. To have a “magical experience.”
Given that she did enter first, and she then
met a magician (me) who created magic for
her, I’d say her wish was granted. As well, the
ever-lasting wonderment of Charlie Chaplin
not only persists iconically, but is in full force
for all those who make the trek to Corsier-
sur-Vevey. There, the viewer will revel in
what many believe to be the most important
artist of the 20th century. Be sure—surprises
abound.
CHAPLIN’s WORLD is the most profound
statement of familial reverence one can see.
From the Chagall Museum, in Nice, France,
to the Tower of London, to the Emperor’s
Palace in Bangkok, Thailand and the Morgan
Museum in New York City the intriguing
sterility honoring its subjects of the
aforementioned doesn’t “place” in CHAPLIN’s
WORLD. Rather, CHAPLIN’s WORLD is a
genuinely interactive museum. It contains
such detail it all cannot be apprehended
at one viewing. There is warmth and a
presence of mind that really thought about PHTOTOS: TOP - Signed autograph on Chaplin boot.
Middle - a series of Chaplin dolls
the statement to be made in honor of this
exceptional individual. The display of the

items and film accompaniments is
riveting.
If Chaplin’s perfectionism in making
films has continued through history,
one cannot do better to experience
such delightful detail than to enter
and relish in CHAPLIN’s WORLD. The
attention to detail is worthy of the
man it represents.
One is greeted immediately upon
entering his home by the striking
figure of the master of the Manoir
himself; with his gorgeous wife
looking attentively on from just
behind him in an oversize black
and white photo. One cannot help
but to wipe their shoes, remove
their hat, and offer thanks for the
invitation to enter this celebrated
man’s home. You are entering where
he spent his final twenty-five years,
raised his family and also left this
A scene from the The Tramp - one of many moving
images throughout Chaplin’s World.
world peacefully in his sleep on
Christmas Day, 1977. From your very
first step inside Chaplin’s home you
are beset with thunderous energy. It
is inescapable.
The “212 bus” in Vevey takes one
directly to CHAPLIN’s WORLD, the
bus stop appropriately called, quite
simply “Chaplin.” From there, one
needs a minimum of three-hours to
experience CHAPLIN’s WORLD.
CHAPLIN’s WORLD, Mr. Chaplin’s son
Michael tells us, was created with
sixty-million Swiss francs (almost
the equivalent of 60-million dollars),
and one could not walk a half-block
in either Vevey or Geneva, opening
week, without seeing an image
or announcement of the Grand
Opening on April 17th. Shops too
caught the Chaplin mania. Display
windows throughout Switzerland
that the best statement made about
CHAPLIN’s WORLD was made by
his son Eugene. When asked by
an on camera reporter for Italian
TV how long the entire creation
took to implement, Eugene quietly
replied, “From start to finish the
entire project took about sixteen
years once we decided to do it.
There were many hurdles and
complications. But, in the end we
knew we could do it. After all, we
are Swiss!”
If you want to treat yourself to a
once in a lifetime view of a man’s
achievement, one who literally
changed an art form, and did too
Interactive dressing exhibit
many remarkable things to list in
this brief space, I encourage you to
go and learn what true genius is, by
visiting, and reveling in this grand
testament, worthy of its subject —
CHAPLIN’s WORLD.
http://www.chaplinsworld.com/en
applauded Charlot and showed
artwork, collages, posters, puppets
and dolls, large photographs and
chinaware that all praised the great
clown-filmmaker. Like the residents
of Monte Carlo being very prideful
and mindful of The International
Circus Festival that takes place in
January, where petite Monte Carlo
steps out on the world stage, so too
does CHAPLIN’s WORLD take a well
deserved bow on this premier.
This writer spent a week in
Switzerland taking in the Alps, Lake
Geneva, eating in many restaurants
and talking to many Swiss residents,
some who had lived in the great
country since before the Chaplin’s
arrival in 1952.
While the details of the creation
of this unparalleled museum are Kissing Chaplin
unending, I can assure the reader
 BOOK
The
FREAK
BY PIERRE SMOLIK
Published by Call Me Edouard
Editions/Publishers
A
feast for the eye! The
translation from the French
by Philip Freyder of Mons.
Smolik’s erudition is transcribably
great. It is copiously illustrated and
footnoted by this former Chaplin
biographer. We are entreated to a
detailed examination of what might
have been Charles Chaplin’s final film,
simply titled The Freak. He referred
to it in interviews with the press
shortly after the premier of his film A
Countess From Hong Kong (1967).
The film was never made. Though
copious notes by Chaplin, and
two incomplete scripts have been
assiduously assembled to provide
a final picture of what “the master
of masters” may have had in mind.
Along with the Chaplin archives in
Italy, a slim reproduction of part of a
script of The Freak adorns the exhibit
of the actual wings made for this film
in CHAPLIN’S WORLD (Corsier-sur-
Vevey, Switzerland).
We meet Sarapha, half-bird with
wings, half-female human. She is
intellectual without sexual curiosity,
or assignation, in the ensuing story.
Foreword. Adolphe Nysenholc wrote The Preface. Pierre
But, she is not without great presence of mind. Mixing Etaix supplied the Preface Drawing.
magic and ugly human traits is perfect counter point
told by the master of mixing pathos with broad The book by Call Me Edouard Press is most impressive
humor. with gentle black, white and grey hues inviting the
We are meeting an angel. We are meeting an animal
of myth. Chaplin’s mind may have altered a South
American tale of the Colo Colo bird the author
informs us. This fills out the text with many scholarly
viewer into the most private world of unfinished work by
Charles Chaplin. Yet, can it be, that this “incomplete film”
in book form is actually a completion of sorts? In film
restoration, it is commonly agreed that the project is not
finished until an audience sees the film projected.
details that will enthrall the reader. The time in which
Chaplin lived during the creation of this film and
script is also admirably described. This provides a
lovely, humanly detailed element, to the story of a film
in development (almost to production), when The
Fates changed direction.
The collaborators and Pierre Smolik have succeeded
in bringing at least a great vestige of this otherworldly
presence to our current day! Was The Freak indeed
Chaplin himself? It’s an easy guess made by many.
The surprises that await the reader finish this story in
Little of Chaplin’s grand idea was ever committed style. As well, included is the gentlest understanding of
to actual film. Some in colorful rich Super-8 by growing older, in a world that is different from the past.
his son-in-law-to-be Jean-Baptiste Thierree (who It is likely that The Freak would have been unlike most
would marry the eventual star of the film, Chaplin’s anything produced by Charles Chaplin in his sixty-year
daughter Victoria). She runs and takes flight with
involvement with making movies.
her appendages festively displayed by modern
mechanical wizardry. The other film is taken in 16mm
by Chaplin’s wife Oona. It is well written, beautifully assembled and cleanly
printed.
Highest recommendation.
We see the master gesticulating, edifying his
statement that “space is only felt by the absence of it.”
Cost: 28 Pounds, 38 Euros.
We learn that the feathers of the wings, supported by
the bodice worn by Ms. Chaplin, was made of swan
feathers. The story is complex, not just of a flighted
being, prescient message and futurism, but a story of
weightlessness.
What to be without religion, if all religions are in fact
one? The author is clearly pondering. We have no
idea what would have been included. Chaplin was
able to change his mind broadly and with significant
impact at any time during his creative process. Yet, the
1960’s were not the 1920’s when he could suspend
shooting for over a hundred days, not a frame of film
being exposed with actors on full time salaries. It was
a time of social change and teen rebellion. In the
final decade of his life (1967 – 1977), the work kept
him alive, but when the work ceased due to physical
discomfiture, and the adventurousness of the film, the
entire project receded into memory.
And now, almost four decades later, we meet The
Freak in practical philosophic dissection and poetic
resurrection!
The cast of contributors is amazing and many will
be thankful of the insights this work provides film
students of all mediums. Aurelia Thierree wrote The Wings from The Freak.
 https://youtu.be/HWp_LrktH5U https://youtu.be/u1kVr3cN88Q

1
RUPTLY TV
SWITZERLAND: CHAPLIN’S WORLD MUSEUM OPENS AT
HIS MANSION ON LAKE GENEVA 2 MANOIR DE BAN - CHAPLIN S WORLD
CHAPLIN’S WORLD - FROM BEGINNING TO END 2016

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CHAPLIN’S WORLD MUSEUM OPENS ITS DOORS IN
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‘CHAPLIN’S WORLD,’ AN INTERACTIVE CHARLIE CHAPLIN
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