Charlie Chaplin and Criterion

[knives]

Countess is not in Criterion's possession.

[ryannichols7]

well, as we can see now, The Kid is surely coming in 2013.

[Brianruns10]

well, as we can see now, The Kid is surely coming in 2013.

i just hope this means we'll get the other First Nationals. I firmly believe The Kid ought to be bundled with those films, since it was originally conceived as a short film for his F.N. contract, but then turned into a feature, with one more short, The Pilgrim, to follow. It is part of a whole, and they all need to be presented together.

[med]

To further give credence to the possibility of Limelight being the next Criterion release, one of the the supplements on Monsieur Verdoux features a brief clip from the later film and it looked very nice.

[Brian C]

They've all been restored and toured in new 35mm prints, though, so they all look plenty nice already without Criterion specifically working on them. I don't think that's much of a tea leaf.

[Lowry_Sam]

If they did a big Chaplin box set I imagine A Woman of Paris would be the Madadayo of the set. A title by the director that may not sell very well on an individual release but would be an essential bit for a collectors edition.

If they do a box, hopefully they ditch the haphazard & unattractive covers and replace them with stills a la (what they are hopefully doing with) Harold Lloyd.

[aox]

City Lights (as well as the already released Modern Times) is the only one I am really pining to purchase. Being a big title in his filmography, I am surprised it hasn't been released yet and that we may have to wait even longer. I figured City Lights would have been high in the queue along with Modern Times, Gold Rush and The Great Dictator.

[agnamaracs]

The Kid was released in February 2016. It is now over three years later. Did they give up?

I'd love to see a First National shorts collection on par with the Flicker Alley/BFI sets. Maybe with The Chaplin Revue as an extra.

[CSM126]

The influx of major studio licenses took precedence. No one else is getting their hands on the Chaplin titles for a long time anyway, so they can afford to wait on them while keeping the studios happy with quick turnarounds on their films.

[tenia]

As long as I'm still alive by the time they release the last Chaplin they own... They might even get their UK branch running smoothly first.

[denti alligator]

What else do they own the rights to besides Woman in Paris and The Circus?

[Shrew]

A King in New York, as well as all the First National shorts (A Dog's Life, Shoulder Arms, Sunnyside, A Day's Pleasure, Pay Day, The Idle Class, The Pilgrim). Basically everything except the pre-1918 shorts and A Countess from Hong Kong.

I expect Filmstruck/Criterion Channel has taken the urgency out of this project, since they're all available there. Plus the remaining films aren't Chaplin's most well-known or best-regarded (sorry, I know swo likes The Circus).

[dustybooks]

Count me with swo, The Circus is my second-favorite just behind CIty Lights. I'll be mildly annoyed if A King in New York gets out first!

A full collection of the First National shorts seems like an easy sell to me. I wouldn't be shocked if that came next whenever they revisit the Chaplin well.

[captveg]

With the release of The Circus, we likely only have two releases left, but it may be a while: Chaplin Revue/First National Shorts, A Woman of Paris/A King In New York.

[denti alligator]

What makes you think they'll lump those last two together?

[bearcuborg]

Just because WB did that, I can’t imagine Criterion would. It would be a great disservice to two great Chaplin films that are often in need of defense/greater exposure.

[Glowingwabbit]

Just because WB did that, I can’t imagine Criterion would. It would be a great disservice to two great Chaplin films that are often in need of defense/greater exposure.

Agreed! A King in New York is great (I'd place it up among with the very best American satires all time) and it definitely deserves its own release. I would hope they would provide plenty of special features to help it gain a greater audience as you said.

I have yet to see A Woman in Paris so I can't speak to that one (do they even have any themes in common?), but I would be shocked if criterion released them as a double.

[bearcuborg]

Just because WB did that, I can’t imagine Criterion would. It would be a great disservice to two great Chaplin films that are often in need of defense/greater exposure.

Agreed! A King in New York is great (I'd place it up among with the very best American satires all time) and it definitely deserves its own release. I would hope they would provide plenty of special features to help it gain a greater audience as you said.

I have yet to see A Woman in Paris so I can't speak to that one (do they even have any themes in common?), but I would be shocked if criterion released them as a double.

Not really, but I have to confess-I’ve only seen half of the movie when I was a teenager. I saw enough to know it was very good, but at the time I realized it was the only major Chaplin film I had yet to see-and as silly as it sounds, I wanted to save it...

For when, I have no idea. It just struck me as sad because there would be no more see. I’ve done that with a few books too.

[FlickeringWindow]

A Woman of Paris and A King in New York were paired on the 1993 Fox laserdisc and 2000 Image DVD in addition to the 2003 Warner/MK2 DVD. However, the films are separate in the editions released by Artificial Eye.

[Glowingwabbit]

I don't think previous releases are anything to go by and Criterion rarely does double features and even then there is some relation between the films beyond director (original/remake, original/sequel, different adaptations of the same source material, genre, etc).

Given that A Woman in Paris doesnt star Chaplin I could see it being relegated to a bonus film but that would be shame.

[captveg]

New 4K of A Woman of Paris at the Film Forum in December

[tenia]

New 4K of A Woman of Paris at the Film Forum in December

It's been released on BD in France a few months ago.

[TheDude391]

Chaplin has all but 3 films in the Criterion already and looking at the current releases and in what "shape they're in" we have:

The Kid - 4k restoration
Gold Rush - 2K restoration (knowing the state of the 1925 original, I don't expect a 4k restoration is possible)
The Circus - 4k restoration
City Lights - 4k restoration
Modern Times - 2k restoration (an older release, any chance of it being restored?)
Great Dictator - HD restoration
Monsieur Verdoux - 2k restoration
Limelight - 4k restoration

All that's missing are:
A Woman of Paris - recently had a 4k restoration and played in theatres earlier this year with the Janus logo
A King in New York - still in SD on the channel, no HD release period
A Countess from Hong Kong - I imagine this would be bundled as the bonus movie with King in New York, similar to how Spite Marriage was bundled with Buster Keaton's The Cameraman

What do you guys think are the chances of the other Chaplin's if not getting 4k uhd releases, but getting new 4k scans of the negatives and re-released are? And if once all his films are on disc, we may get a boxset?

[domino harvey]

It’s wild they haven’t released these in a box already, or at least gotten the remaining films out. I don’t think Countess is part of the Chaplin estate though, so it would be a separate license if they wanted it (note: no one wants it)

[Saturnome]

There's also Shoulder Arms, A Dog's Life, Sunnyside, A Day's Pleasure, The Idle Class and The Pilgim, which could be released along with The Chaplin Revue, and name the disc release the same. The first two titles are among Chaplin's more popular films.
They already have great drawings by Kate Beaton for a Janus poster, if they ever do a boxset.