USA, Canada 1911 1912 1913 next previous
Chaplin at Karno´s, USA/Canada Clippings 285/286
Charles Daggott, Variety, New York, January 7, 1942.
„Cruel and boisterous“
Editorial content. „Chaplin Salutes Karno
Comedian Calls His English Mentor Greatest
Of ‘Em All
By Charles Daggott
Hollywood, Jan. 4.
When a little boy of 17, foppish, cocksure, none too
pleasant to be around because of his insufferable
ego, walked into the late Fred Karno‘s office in London back
in 1902 and said he most certainly could play any
role he was required to play, Karno was chermed enough
by the kid‘s effrontry to give him a job.“ (...)
,All of the pieces we did, as I remember them, were
cruel and boisterous, filled with acrobatic humor
and low, knockabout comedy.‘ (...)
,Sid wanted to leave the company, and asked that
I be given a chance, In order to save expenses
Karno finally agreed and gave me a try,
,The part was that of the comedy villain. I was just there
to feed the comedian, but I didn‘t know that at first.
When I found out I put in some new business. The show
opened at the Coliseum, in London. After the third
night they started to applaud my entrance.‘
In explaining the careful way in which Karno
staged his pantomime, Chaplin used his entrance as
an example:
,I came on with my back to the audience. I was
wearing a frock coat and a great false nose.
I went through all the cliches of the villain and then turned
round slowly, with all of the unction in the world.
I tangled my finger in my watch chain and I used a cane
to good advantage.
,I never got rid of the cane.‘
Birth of a Technique
Chaplin is convinced that his work with Karno gave him
the basis for his motion picture technique,“ (...)
Redaktioneller Inhalt
USA, Canada 1911 1912 1913 next previous