Unknown Chaplin

United Kingdom

1983

156 Min

Color, Black and White

1.33:1

English

Currently 4.3/5 Stars.
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DIR Kevin Brownlow, David Gill

PROD Kevin Brownlow, David Gill

SCR Kevin Brownlow, David Gill

CAST James Mason, Albert Austin, Henry Bergman, Charlie Chaplin

Synopsis

A documentary from silent film historians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill. Featuring never before seen out-takes from Chaplin’s films, and other rare footage, Unknown Chaplin gives a valuable insight into the creation of Chaplin’s films. Also included are interviews with people who knew and worked with Chaplin. The documentary is in three parts: My Happiest Years; Hidden Treasures; and The Great Director. Accompanied by excellent music by Carl Davis, some adapted from Chaplin’s own music. —IMDb

Director

Kevin Brownlow

Kevin Brownlow (born on 2 June 1938, Crowborough, Sussex) is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent documenting and restoring film. He has rescued many silent films and their history. His initiative in interviewing many largely forgotten, elderly film pioneers in the 1960s and 1970s preserved a legacy of cinema. Brownlow received an Academy Honorary Award at the 2nd Annual Governors Awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on November 13, 2010. —Wikipedia

David Gill

David Ian Gill (9 June 1928 – 28 September 1997) was born in Papua New Guinea, the son of Cecil Gill, a missionary doctor. His uncle was the sculptor Eric Gill. The family returned to England in 1933 where Gill attended the Belmont Abbey School, Hereford. David Gill was a British film historian, preservationist and documentarian who documented the history of motion pictures and helped restore many early, silent films.

Gill died at his home in Huntingdon, England, aged 69, after a heart attack. He was survived by his wife, Pauline, and two daughters.

Gill was trained as a dancer and joined Britain’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet in 1946, appearing in The Sleeping Princess, which opened in Covent Garden that year. In 1953, he married dancer Pauline Wadsworth, who later taught at The Royal Ballet School.

Gill left ballet in 1955 to work in television, producing his mime play, The Way of the Cross, for the BBC before joining Associated-Rediffusion as an editor. He moved… read more

David Ian Gill (9 June 1928 – 28 September 1997) was born in Papua New Guinea, the son of Cecil Gill, a missionary doctor. His uncle was the sculptor Eric Gill. The family returned to England in 1933 where Gill attended the Belmont Abbey School, Hereford. David Gill was a British film historian, preservationist and documentarian who documented the history of motion pictures and helped restore many early, silent films.

Gill died at his home in Huntingdon, England, aged 69, after a heart attack. He was survived by his wife, Pauline, and two daughters.

Gill was trained as a dancer and joined Britain’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet in 1946, appearing in The Sleeping Princess, which opened in Covent Garden that year. In 1953, he married dancer Pauline Wadsworth, who later taught at The Royal Ballet School.

Gill left ballet in 1955 to work in television, producing his mime play, The Way of the Cross, for the BBC before joining Associated-Rediffusion as an editor. He moved to Thames Television in 1968, working mainly on news and documentaries for, amongst others, the Today and This Week programmes.

Whilst at Thames, he met film historian Kevin Brownlow, with whom he was to work as co-director and producer on several projects including Brownlow’s classic book on silent Hollywood, The Parade’s Gone By, Hollywood – The Pioneers (1980) and a theatrical presentation of Abel Gance’s epic Napoléon, which was performed in 1980 at the Empire, Leicester Square. Brownlow and Gill formed their own company, Photoplay Productions in 1990, in order to continue their restoration work and documentaries on silent cinema. Among the 25 films they restored are Ben Hur, The Phantom of the Opera, The Thief of Bagdad and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Gill’s unexpected death, in September 1997, came as he was planning a series of archival films on dance and working on the 1997 Channel 4 Silent, which was to take place at the Royal Festival Hall later in the year. —Wikipedia

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