The Tramp has to be the most imperishable character in the history of physical comedy. Buster Keaton, his stoic and graceful attitude toward the beleaguered lives of his characters, his immense poise in the midst of disaster, the well-thought-out stunts and set designs—his might have been a greater talent. And Harold Lloyd might have been more entertaining, more daring, and more versatile as a mainstay of the same pantheon of physical comedy. But the Tramp is the most individualized and memorable character of all time—as much as his distinct appearance, his movements and body language are so clear and identifiable that it seems just that he should have inspired an…
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Charlie Chaplin, the director of his mid-career film The Circus, was a libertine and a rake. A diminutive ladies’ man, he was having multiple affairs as the film was in production, going through a divorce settlement with his underage wife, and facing back taxes totaling six or seven figures. He was also at odds with the inevitable avalanche of the sound era, which was coming as the (apparent) demise of all that he had worked for. It was a heady, pressure-packed time in his life; and yet he managed to make this colorful circus film as authentic as any other Chaplin film, and moving in the vein of The Tramp,…
