[Editor’s note: Charlie Chaplin by Max Linder was originally published in the daily Comoedia dated February 2, 1920 – translated from the original French by Google Translate]
Comoedia of February 2, 1920
MAX LINDER AT CHARLOT: CHARLIE CHAPLIN
How right we are to say that the Americans do everything in a big way: here, train delays are not counted by minutes, but by hours, even days. This is how I arrived in Los Angeles at 4 a.m. instead of arriving there at 4 p.m.!
Charlie Chaplin , whom I had not seen for two years, is still the affectionate comrade I left; came to visit me at the hotel the day after my arrival; so, following protocol, I went to visit him within twenty-four hours. Charlot had summoned the photographers from the main cinematographic journals and together we faced the “Let’s not move anymore!” classic. But how difficult it is for two cinematographic artists “in the movement” to stay still for a few seconds!
Here are some samples from this unique photographic report which captured us both in work clothes. Charlot then did me the honors of his village; there is no other word, since Charlie Chaplin ‘s studio is none other than the faithful reconstruction of an English village. (This is certainly a treatment for “homesickness” which is not within the reach of all budgets.)
In a vast park, a certain number of cottages are built, each of which contains one of the departments of its film company: cash register, accounting, car garage, artists’ dressing rooms, equipment stores, set stores and shooting theater .
Charlot ‘s personal lodge is a marvel of comfort; it is a large, elegantly furnished room to which are adjoined, on one side, the cloakroom and a bathroom; on the other, a bathroom with showers. But that’s not all, when Charlot wants to take a dip, he has a large swimming pool dug in the center of a lawn very close to his lodge. This pool, which reaches a depth of six meters at one end, is of course also used to film aquatic scenes; this is where the trench scenes in Soldier Charlot were played .
In this delicious setting, in this cinematographic installation equipped with the latest comfort and the most recent improvements, Charlot is not happy…
Comoedia of February 2, 1920
Just as much, two years ago. when I left him, Charlie Chaplin exuded cheerfulness, carefreeness and the joy of living, just as I found him preoccupied, anxious and above all very disgusted at having to finish the contract he signed, there about two and a half years old. To think that all this is still the fault of the high cost of living!
—Two and a half years ago , Charlie Chaplin told me , I signed a million dollar contract for eight “pictures”; at that time, in the summer of 1917, I spent an average of 20 to 25,000 dollars per film; but currently, the cost of living, labor, costumes, sets, artists’ salaries, etc., have risen to such proportions that each film currently costs me nearly $100,000. I am currently finishing a five-reel film, on which all told I will have spent $225,000. Already on Charlot Soldier and Une Vie de Chien , I have not made a dollar of profit .
I had to ask the President of the Company with whom I am unfortunately! committed, to give me a raise; he refused to give me a cent and yet I know that each of my films brings in more than a million dollars for the Company. Finally, however, I hope that I will be allowed to screen the film in five reels that I am currently finishing, by the “Big Four” association. In this case, my fortune is made, but in the meantime…
And poor Charlot , while telling me about his misfortunes, tore out in despair, not his hair which is very real, but his mustaches which fortunately are false.
Comoedia of February 2, 1920
One hundred thousand dollars, two hundred thousand dollars! – which makes, at the current exchange rate, 1,100,000 and 2,200,000 francs – one seems to be dreaming when hearing commonly spoken of such sums which, in France, seem formidable; but in the United States, and especially in Los Angeles, there is at the moment, in cinematographic circles, a real gold fever: Fatty , the big Fatty, who is still only a “small” American star, has just signed a three-year contract at the First National Exhibition Circuit, for eight films of two acts per year for one million dollars, which makes 3,000,000 dollars for the duration of his contract and 31 million francs at change!
Douglas Fairbanks ‘ last film earned him, for America alone, 900,000 dollars, or at current prices: 10 million francs. Finally Charlie Chaplin told me that the next “picture” in five acts by Mary Pickford would bring in 2 million dollars: 22 million francs. It is true that Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks , along with Charlie Chaplin and Griffith , the famous director, are part of the “Big Four” who themselves exploit their films in a sort of cooperative, without capital or shareholders to remunerate, and this is how they manage to achieve such profits. But, as I said above, Charlie Chaplin , bound by his previous contract, cannot yet shoot for the destination company “Big Four”, of which he is however part.
And yet, never has this admirable artist been in better shape, more in possession of all his comic strength; this is why I consider that its effective entry into the “Big Four” association will allow it, by increasing its financial resources, to give its full potential.
Finally, Charlot told me that he intended to come to France soon, because Mary Pickford , Douglas Fairbanks , Griffith and he are going to undertake, in the spring, a tour of the world (in more than 80 days) on a yacht specially chartered for them.
Of course, Paris features prominently on the itinerary, and Parisians will be able to see in the flesh the beloved artists they have so often applauded on screen.
Max LINDER
Source: gallica.bnf.fr / Bibliothèque nationale de France