1947 - MONSIEUR VERDOUX, Chaplin's legendary black comedy is a pretty poor film

I would have to give Charles Chaplin credit for trying to pull off something like this especially during the late 1940's.  A black comedy about a serial murderer was certainly an audacious idea for a film.  However, the execution of this idea is mediocre at best and just plain bad at several points in the film.

The two biggest problems in Monsieur Verdoux are the production and the direction by Chaplin.  The whole film just looks cheap.  Crappy painted backgrounds, sets that look like sets.  The film has a cramped studio look to it and I'm not talking a major studio like MGM or Warner Brothers.  As for Chaplin the director, Monsieur Verdoux is almost painful to watch.  It's essentially a film made with an outdated silent film technique which makes it one of the most old fashioned films I've seen from the 1940's.  Chaplin was a pioneer filmmaker in the early days of Hollywood but it seems like his directing style hadn't evolved much past the 1920's.

In every Charles Chaplin film the star is Chaplin himself and is he ever the star.  Every scene is about him.  He has a weird effeminate acting style and nonstop hamming technique for the camera.  No other actor even gets a remote shot at creating a character in this film since the whole thing is all about Chaplin all the time.

Finally, the whole film is kind of distasteful.  Since Chaplin is playing a serial killer of women every woman he kills seems to deserve it.  It's as if he is doing the world a favor getting rid of these shrews.
Towards the end of the film Chaplin makes a speech where he compares war to his murder sprees as if to justify his actions this seems like the height of hypocrisy since you could probably make the case that however awful these women were they certain deserved every right to live even if they weren't the moral and intellectual equal of Chaplin's character.

Unsurprisingly this film was not successful in the United States.  Between the subject matter and Chaplin's communist politics this was a further alienation of an audience that had worshiped him during the silent film phase of his career.

124 minutes.

1923 - A WOMAN OF PARIS, impressive drama from Charlie Chaplin

A sophisticated dramatic film from Charles Chaplin. 

Looking to stretch himself as a filmmaker, Chaplin put his leading lady/lover/girlfriend in a film he didn't appear in and wasn't a comedy.  A Woman of Paris was made as Chaplin was coming off his series of Mutual short films.  Chaplin subtitled the film "a drama of fate" and even put in a disclaimer to the public that he did not appear in it.  The film was not successful which is unfortunate, this is one of his best films. 

Chaplin had a close relationship with his star, Edna Purviance and was looking to launch her as a major leading actor, unfortunately that didn't work out.  Edna Purviance gives a very good performance going from country girl to the mistress of a rich millionaire.  Her acting is somewhat spoiled by some ridiculous head pieces she wears which are a minor distraction.

Incredibly Chaplin filmed A Woman of Paris, without a script, and in sequential order.  What could have been a melodramatic mess of a film is completely redeemed by his skill with the actors and his use of small bits of comedy to temper the melodrama of the film, very effective. 

An impressive film without all the sloppy sentiment that tended to overwhelm his films.  A Woman of Paris is clearly an influence on directors like Ernest Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock with it's skilled mix of comedy and drama .

One of Chaplin's best films.

93 minutes.