LGM Film Club, Part 208: Old Man Chaplin

I had never heard of the 1975 documentary on Charlie Chaplin, The Gentleman Tramp, until today. It seems no one else has either. Somehow, it only has 143 people who have rated it on IMDB, which is about the equivalent of a student film shown at Sundance once. Not sure why this doesn’t have more play, especially since several major stars were involved with it, including Richard Dawson, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Laurence Olivier. In any case, this bit with Chaplin talking about his 4th wife Oona (daughter of Eugene O’Neill and who was all of 18 when he married her; Chaplin always did like his women very young and Eugene cut off his daughter entirely when she married him) is really quite lovely. Also, watching Old Man Chaplin use a cane because he needs it rather than the Tramp using a cane as part of his bit is poignant. Even have Matthau playing soccer with Chaplin’s grandkids here for some reason. Might have to try and hunt down the entire film.