Charlie Chaplin is not only known for his iconic mustache and bowler hat, but for his remarkable body of work as well. The actor has appeared in more than 80 films throughout his career, and most of them are even directed and produced by him. To know more about his movies, here is a list of the complete film works of Charlie Chaplin with a short description and overview for each movie.

1914

Making a Living

Making a Living is the first film that Charlie Chaplin appeared in, and he played Edgar English, a swindler who is seen charming a lady before being chased by the Keystone Cops. The film was produced by Keystone Studios, and it only ran for 13 minutes.

Kid Auto Races at Venice

The second Chaplin film, Kid Auto Race at Venice features the protagonist causing trouble at a baby-cart race by getting in the way of the camera that is filming the race and annoying the audience. The movie was the first appearance of Chaplin’s classic “The Tramp” character that sports a mustache and a bowler hat. The movie was only 6 minutes and 19 seconds long.

Mabel’s Strange Predicament

Mabel’s Strange Predicament is the film where Charlie Chaplin perfected the look for his “The Tramp” character. The movie stars Chaplin along with Mabel Normand, who will appear in more movies with Chaplin for Keystone Studios. Mabel’s Strange Predicament ran for 17 minutes.

A Thief Catcher

A Thief Catcher is the first film in this list where Charlie Chaplin was not credited as an actor since he was not the one playing the protagonist. Instead of Chaplin, the movie has Ford Sterling as the one playing the main character. Charlie Chaplin claimed that he played as one of the policemen in the film. A Thief Catcher had a running time of 7 minutes and 35 seconds.

Between Showers

Between Showers stars Charlie Chaplin and Ford Sterling as they fight for the right to help a woman cross a street. Chaplin still wore his recognizable hat in the film. Between Showers was only 15 minutes long.

A Film Johnnie

In A Film Johnnie, Charlie Chaplin plays the titular character, who went to see a movie and fell in love with the girl who is seen on the screen. The Film Johnnie then went to the studio where the movie was made to find the girl, and he unintentionally causes trouble in a shooting of a film, which leads to the entire studio being caught on fire. The movie ran for 12 minutes.

Tango Tangles

Tango Tangles stars Charlie Chaplin as the Tipsy Dancer, who is shown in the entire film to be drunk and is fighting the Clarinettist (Roscoe Arbuckle) and the Band Leader over a girl that they have a crush on. It was one of the few movies in the early years of Charlie Chaplin’s acting career where he doesn’t wear the signature hat. Tango Tangles was 12 minutes long.

His Favourite Pastime

His Favourite Pastime features another drunk protagonist who also went into a fight over a girl. The movie also stars Roscoe Arbuckle as the other drunk man inside the bar. The movie ran for about 16 minutes.

Cruel, Cruel Love

In Cruel, Cruel Love, Charlie Chaplin doesn’t play The Tramp character; instead, his plays as Lord Helpus, who had a fight with his girlfriend when she saw Helpus being embraced by their maid. Helpus tried to end his life by drinking poison after his girlfriend left her, by upon seeing the letter of apology sent by the girlfriend, he immediately regrets drinking the concoction. Luckily, his butler switched the glass of poison with a normal glass of water before Helpus could drink it. Like His Favourite Pastime, Cruel, Cruel Love was also 16 minutes long.

The Star Boarder

Known as The Landlady’s Pet in the 1918 reissue, The Star Boarder has Charlie Chaplin playing as the favorite boarder of the house’s landlady. The other boarders of the house were jealous of Chaplin since he receives special treatment, so they arrange to prank him by scaring Chaplin with a dummy. The tension between the boarders and owners of the house escalated when scandals involving Chaplin, the landlady, and the landlord were exposed.

Mabel at the Wheel

Mabel at the Wheel is another film starring both Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand. Instead of playing the protagonist in the film, Chaplin plays as the villain who tries to stop Mabel from winning The Auto Race. The running time for Mabel at the Wheel is 18 minutes.

Twenty Minutes of Love

Twenty Minutes of Love is Chaplin’s directorial debut, although it is unofficial since Joseph Maddern was the one credited for directorial duties. The film stars Charlie Chaplin along with Minta Durfee in a romantic comedy story. Chaplin plays the Pickpocket, who falls in love with a woman in the park and tries his best to suit her. Despite the movie having “twenty minutes” in its title, it was only 10 minutes long.

Caught in a Cabaret

A film directed by Mabel Normand, Caught in a Cabaret has Charlie Chaplin playing as a waiter in a restaurant who pretends to be the Prime Minister of Greenland in order to woo a girl. The waiter then gets into trouble when he was invited to the girl’s party, where his boyfriend is also present. Caught in a Cabaret was the first Chaplin-starred film that had a 30-minute running time.

Caught in the Rain

Caught in the Rain is the official directorial debut of Charlie Chaplin, who also starred as the lead character in the movie who experienced a series of unfortunate events while drunk. The story for the movie was also written by Charlie Chaplin, but he was left uncredited on the final cut. Caught in the Rain only ran for 16 minutes.

A Busy Day

In A Busy Day, Charlie Chaplin portrays a woman who gets jealous of a girl who is flirting with her husband during a military parade. It is one of the three films wherein Chaplin plays a woman, and also one of the few where he doesn’t sport his iconic mustache. The movie is quite short, as it is only 6 minutes long.

The Fatal Mallet

Another film that had Mabel Normand as an actress, The Fatal Mallet stars Chaplin as a funny suitor to a woman named Mabel. During the course of the film, the suitor had to win the girl against a rival, who teamed up with another just to ruin Chaplin’s chances. The Fatal Mallet had a running time of 18 minutes.

Her Friend the Bandit

Her Friend the Bandit is directed by Charles Chaplin and Mabel Normand, and it also stars them as well. In the movie, Chaplin plays a bandit who goes inside a party hosted by Mabel. The Keystone Cops eventually caught Chaplin during the commotion, where he was found out to be an intruder. There are currently no known copies that are stored in the archives for Her Friend the Bandit, making it a lost film. The movie is believed to have run for 18 minutes.

The Knockout

The Knockout is a movie that stars Roscoe Arbuckle as the lead character in the movie. Interestingly, it is one of the few movies wherein The Tramp character by Chaplin only plays a minor role, and the character even only appears during the second half of the movie. The Knockout’s run time was 27 minutes.

Mabel’s Busy Day

Mabel’s Budy Day is a Mabel Normand-directed film that has her playing the lead character. The story of the film revolves around Mabel, a hot dog seller who was able to get access to the racecourse by bribing a policeman. When she left the hot dogs somewhere in the area, Chaplin’s character noticed the box of hot dogs and tried to give all of them away to the people watching the race. After finding out the Chaplin gave away all the hot dogs, Mabel called the police, and a wild chase ensued.

Mabel’s Married Life

Directed by Charlie Chaplin, Mabel’s Married Life featured The Tramp character being drunk and doing annoying things at a park after being jealous of a man who is wooing his wife, Mabel. The total running time for Mabel’s Married Life was 17 minutes.

Laughing Gas

A film also directed by Charlie Chaplin, Laughing Gas centers around a dental assistant, played by Chaplin, who causes mischief inside Dr. Pain, the Dentist’s clinic. The film has been reissued numerous times, with its title being changed for every rereleased. The popular titles include Down and Out, Laffing Has, The Dentist, Busy Little Dentist, and Tuning His Ivories. The movie was only 16 minutes long.

The Property Man

The Property Man sees the return of The Tramp character, who is managing the props that are going to be used for a stage play, and also the luggage and properties of the actors of the play. Charlie Chaplin is the director of the film, and it is produced by Mack Sennett and Keystone Studios. The Property Man is one of the longer films in the early years of Chaplin’s career, as it has a running time of 31 minutes.

The Face on the Bar Room Floor

The Face on the Bar Room Floor is a Chaplin-directed film that is loosely based on High Antoine d’Arcy’s poem of the same name. The story of the film is about a painter who slowly got even drunker throughout the film as he is coping with his failure to woo the woman of her dreams. At the end of the film, the painter tried to draw the face of the woman she adored on the floor of a bar, but he was unable to finish it since he passed out on the floor due to drunkenness.

Recreation

Recreation stars Charlie Chaplin as the Tramp, who tries to woo a beautiful girl in the park. However, what he didn’t know is that the girl has a boyfriend, who saw him flirting with the girl and fought him until the end of the film when the Tramp pushed the sailor into the lake. It is one of the shorter Chaplin films, as the reel lasted for only seven minutes.

The Masquerader

The second film written by Chaplin, but the tenth film directed by him, The Masquerader focuses on an awful actor who gets kicked off the studio after a lousy audition on the set. After being kicked out, he came back to the studio dressed as a woman in order for him to get a female role in the film. The actor eventually gets caught and was chased by the security guards inside the studio. The total run time for The Masquerader is 13 minutes.

His New Profession

His New Profession is a comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story is about the Tramp, who was hired to wheel or move the injured uncle of a rich man. Of course, as with most of the Tramp’s appearance in movies, he is constantly failing at doing his job, which gets him kicked out or fired by his employer.

The Rounders

A movie starring Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe Arbuckle, The Rounders is centered on two men who were hated by their wives and decided to go to a café for a drink. Their spouses then tried to look for them, and when the wives were finally able to catch up, the two men were already on a rowboat that is leaking water. Because The Rounders is a short film, it was only 16 minutes long.

The New Janitor

Considered one of his best films produced by Keystone Studios, The New Janitor stars Chaplin as the titular character who works for a greedy manager. The janitor will eventually thwart the plans of his manager to seal from the vault of the bank. Similar to The Rounders, The New Janitor has a running time of 16 minutes.

Those Love Pangs

Those Love Pangs is a comedy film that has Charlie Chaplin playing The Masher, who is fighting with his rival, played by Chester Conklin, for the adoration of several women throughout the movie. Like the first two movies before Those Love Pangs, its running time is also 16 minutes.

Dough and Dynamite

Dough and Dynamite is another film wherein Charlie Chaplin is paired with Chester Conklin, but this time, they are waiters at a restaurant who are lazy and clumsy. According to writer and producer Mack Sennett, he was absent for the majority of filming for the movie, so he tasked Chaplin and Conklin to brainstorm ideas for the comedy segments. The film’s run time is 33 minutes.

Gentlemen of Nerve

After a few movies, Mabel Normand came back to star in Gentlemen of Nerve, along with Charlie Chaplin and Chester Conklin. In Gentlemen of Nerve, Charlie Chaplin is Mr. Wow-Woe, who wanted to enter the racecourse with his friend Mr. Walrus. The policemen then arrested them after Mr. Walrus got stuck in a hole that leads to the course. The running time for Gentlemen of Nerve is 16 minutes.

His Musical Career

Starring Charlie Chaplin and Mack Swain, His Musical Career is about two workers at a piano store who were tasked by their boss to give a piano at 666 Prospect Street to Mr. Rich and to get a piano at 999 Prospect Street from Mr. Poor. The worker will get the task mixed up, and they did the opposite of what they were supposed to do in each house. The total run time for His Musical Career is 16 minutes.

His Trysting Place

His Trysting Place is a film that paired Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand again. The story of His Trysting Place is about two friends who accidentally swapped coats. Chaplin’s friend, Ambrose, was supposed to send a love letter to his wife, and he kept that letter in his coat pocket. With Ambrose’s coat already worn by Chaplin as he went home, Chaplin was then accused by her wife Mabel of cheating on her when she saw the letter in the coat pocket. The problem was solved in the end when the two couples met at a park to talk about the exchange of coats. His Trysting Place ran for 32 minutes.

Tillie’s Punctured Romance

Tillie’s Punctured Romance was the first feature-length film by Keystone Film Company, with a total running time of 74 minutes. The movie is based on A. Baldwin Sloane and Edgar Smith’s stage play title Tillie’s Nightmare. Furthermore, the film is mostly known for being the final movie that Charlie Chaplin did not direct or write, as he went on to be creditor as a writer/director for the films that he starred and made after this. Tillie’s Punctured Romance is about a girl named Tillie who was constantly heartbroken through the course of the film.

Getting Acquainted

After the success of Tillie’s Punctured Romance, Keystone Studios followed it up with a regular short film title Getting Acquainted. The movie is another “park comedy” wherein Charlie Chaplin will cause chaos or mischief around the park while the other people around him are annoyed or baffled by his actions. Getting Acquainted was the last time that he appeared on a film with Mabel Normand.

His Prehistoric Past

His Prehistoric Past is the final movie for Keystone Studios that starred Charlie Chaplin, and the story of the film is set during the Stone Age, where a man named King Low-Brow ruled the land. Interestingly, despite being set in the Stone Age, Charlie Chaplin’s character still wore a bowler hat and mustache. The running time for this film is 21 minutes and 49 seconds.

1915

His New Job

The first of 15 films that Charlie Chaplin directed, written, and starred in for Essanay Studios, His New Job is about a fairly unknown actor who took the job of another actor who didn’t show up on set. However, he will eventually get fired from the job after performing terribly and causing accidental mayhem on the set. Many people say that the title of the film has a double meaning, and the hidden meaning behind it is that the transfer of Charlie Chaplin to Essanay Studios is “his new job.”

A Night Out

A Night Out is the first Chaplin-directed film that featured Edna Purviance, who would go on to be Chaplin’s leading lady for eight years. In addition, this was also the first Chaplin film that is set in Niles, California, as the actor didn’t like the weather and the temperature in the Chicago studio where His New Job was filmed.

The Champion

The Champion is a comedy film directed and written by Charlie Chaplin that stars the actor as a boxer who cheated his match inside the ring by putting a lucky horseshoe inside one of his boxing gloves. The running time for this film is 33 minutes, and this was the second film in Chaplin’s filmography that featured boxing as the main focus of the story.

In the Park

Another park comedy, In the Park has Charlie Chaplin portraying The Tramp again as several mishaps occurred within the park. The restored version of In the Park has a running time of 15 minutes.

A Jitney Elopement

In A Jitney Elopement, Edna Purviance plays a woman who was arranged to be married to a stranger by her father. Unbeknownst to her father, Edna is already in love with Charlie Chaplin’s character, the Suitor. Both Edna and The Suitor rode a jitney, a popular type of taxi in the U.S. during that period, in order to run away from Edna’s father. The original cut of the film was 33 minutes long.

The Tramp

The Tramp is the last movie that used the Niles, California studio for filming the Chaplin-directed movies. It is most notable for being the first film that emphasized the “Tramp” name for Chaplin’s most iconic character, although, as seen in previous films, the character has already appeared in the past. The Tramp was also the first serious-toned Chaplin film, as he wanted to stay away from the stereotype that he only plays slapstick characters.

By the Sea

By the Sea also features The Tramp, who went on the beach to woo women who are on the location. Trouble ensues as other men compete with him and eventually get into a fight where policemen tried to stop them. Many comedy enthusiasts consider By the Sea as the first film that showed the classic banana skin slip gag.

Work

The eighth film directed by Charlie Chaplin for Essanay Studios, Work is a comedy film about an assistant to painter and paper hanger Izzy A. Wake, who frequently fails to do his job and annoys his boss. In the film’s credits, it was only Chaplin who was credited as the actor in the film, with the other being omitted.

A Woman

Created at the Majestic Studio in Los Angeles, A Woman stars Charlie Chaplin, who plays a man who had a fight with a father who is cheating on her wife with the woman that he and Chaplin both like. The total running time for the film is 26 minutes.

The Bank

In the Bank, Charlie Chaplin plays a janitor working on a bank and has a crush on the secretary played by Edna Purviance. It is highly regarded as one of the best Essanay Studios film that Chaplin created.

Shanghaied

Shanghaied is set on a fictional ship called S.S. Vaquero, wherein the captain’s daughter fell in love with Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp character. Of course, trouble ensues inside the ship as the captain disapproves of the relationship between her daughter and the tramp. The film has a running time of 30 minutes.

A Night in the Show

Another film featuring The Tramp, A Night in the Show is about a man named Mr. Pest who tried to sit on several seats in a theater, thus annoying the other people inside the building. Charlie Chaplin played two characters in the film, with one being Mr. Pest while the other is Mr. Rowdy. A Night in the Show was 30 minutes long. An interesting fact about the movie is that it is based on the stage work he created for a play titled Mumming Birds.

A Burlesque on Carmen

A film that is supposed to be a parody of the silent film Carmen by Cecil B. Demille, A Burlesque on Carmen follows almost the same storyline as the film that it parodies, but with added comedy segment and humor. Edna Purviance played the title character in the movie. A Burlesque on Carmen’s original version is 31 minutes long, but the 1928 sound reissue version has a running time of 44 minutes.

1916

Police

Police are the second to the last movie directed and written by Charlie Chaplin for Essanay Studios, and its story revolves around an ex-convict who returned to his evil ways of stealing things from others with his partner, who is also a burglar. The total run time for the fil is 34 minutes.

The Floorwalker

The Floorwalker is Charlie Chaplin’s first film directed for the Mutual Film Corporation, and it stars the actor as The Tramp, who causes mischief in a department store. He would then get involved in the wicked plan of the store’s manager and floorwalker to steal money from the business. It is credited as the first film to use the “running staircase” gag wherein the chasers and the chased are all trying to climb the staircase while remaining stationary in one or two steps of the stairs. The film had a running time of 24 minutes.

The Fireman

The second short film Chaplin Directed under the Mutual Film Corporation, The Fireman tells the story of a firefighter who tried to rescue the daughter of a rich father who is trapped inside a burning house. The house caught on fire as the father wanted to burn it with the help of the local fire chief in order to collect the insurance money. However, the fire chief would only help if the father arranges her daughter to marry the chief. The plan was eventually thwarted by Chaplin unknowingly.

The Vagabond

The Vagabond is a romantic comedy film starring Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance. It has a similar tone and story to his 1915 film The Tramp, but Chaplin opted to add more drama and seriousness to its plot in order to not turn it into a pure comedy film. The entire movie ran for 24 minutes.

One A.M.

One A.M. is the first film where Charlie Chaplin is the only one who appeared on the screen throughout the entire run, although there is a very short scene of an actor named Albert Austin who appeared as a taxi driver. The movie was made in two reels and had a running time of 34 minutes.

The Count

The Count features Chaplin as the tailor’s handyman, who burned the count’s trousers and was fired from his work. The rest of the film follows the handyman as he falls in love with the count’s daughter and fights for her love with the tailor. Like the previous film, the run time for The Count is also 34 minutes.

The Pawnshop

The sixth film that Charlie Chaplin directed for the Mutual Film Corporation, The Pawnshop is about an assistant to the pawnshop owner who constantly gets into a fight with another assistant, causing them to get fired from work. Chaplin’s character is then seen wooing the daughter of the pawnbroker, who disapproves of their relationship.

Behind the Screen

Behind the Screen is a short comedy film directed again by Charlie Chaplin. The plot of the film is about a stagehand, who always messes up the position of props and sometimes destroys them accidentally. Edna Purviance also appears in the film as a country girl who dreams of becoming a popular actress. Behind the Screen has a run time of 23 minutes.

The Rink

The Rink is a classic Charlie Chaplin movie that showcased the actor’s roller skating skills, as the film takes place on a skating rink. One of the most famous Chaplin scenes, wherein he uses roller skates to move around the set, is shot during the production of this movie. The entire running time for The Rink is 24 minutes.

1917

Easy Street

Easy Street is a film about The Tramp working as a policeman, who is maintaining peace and order on Easy Street. Like many of Chaplin’s slapstick films, his character usually does terribly in any task that he does. The original cut of Easy Street ran for 19 minutes, but the restored German version is 24 minutes.

The Cure

Starring Charlie Chaplin, The Cure is about ta drunkard who goes inside a health spa to unwind. However, because of how he is always drunk, he causes chaos inside the spa while the employees and the customers are stopping him from moving around clumsily.

The Immigrant

The Immigrant is a controversial film where Charlie Chaplin played as the titular character who struggles to cross the United States via a ship after being accused of stealing items from passengers. One of the scenes in the movie, wherein Chaplin’s character kicked an immigration officer, was used as evidence for the actor’s anti-Americanism, which strengthened the government’s power to kick him out of the U.S. in 1952.

The Adventurer

The last film directed and written by Chaplin for the Mutual Film Corporation, The Adventurer tells the story of an escaped convict played by Chaplin who tries to run away from the law. This was the final film of actor Eric Campbell, who played roles in numerous Chaplin films. Campbell passed away on December 20, 1917, after being involved in a car accident.

1918

A Dog’s Life

After a few months of not appearing in movies, Chaplin finally came back into the silver screen when A Dog’s Life released on April 14, 1918. A Dog’s Life is the first Chaplin film under First National Films and is reportedly the first movie that Chaplin produced and edited, alongside his usual directorial, writing, and acting work. The true hero or protagonist of the film was the dog named Scraps, who tried to mend the relationship between Chaplin’s character and Edna Purviance’s character.

Triple Trouble

Triple Trouble is the last film that Chaplin directed for Essanay Studios, although the company did not ask for Chaplin’s permission to release it after he left the studio to work under First National Films. Fans don’t consider Triple Trouble to be an official Chaplin film, as Essanay Studio only put together outtakes directed by Chaplin and mixed them with new shots taken by another director, Leo White.

The Bond

The Bond is a propaganda film made by Charlie Chaplin and was given to the Liberty Loan Committee to help them sell Liberty Bonds during World War I. Besides talking about Liberty Bonds, Chaplin also went on to discuss other kinds of bonds in the film, such as marriage and friendship. The run time for The Bond is 11 minutes.

Shoulder Arms

Shoulder Arms is the second feature film that Chaplin starred it, but it was the first one that he directed. The story of the film is about a clumsy soldier who won the war for the country he is fighting for. However, the ending reveals that the victory was all just a dream, and the fight still goes on outside their bunkers. Shoulder Arms is the shortest Chaplin feature film, as it only ran for 46 minutes.

1919

Sunnyside

A slapstick comedy movie, Sunnyside is about a farm handyman who always mishandles equipment and tools around the farm. Because of several mishaps in his life, he tried to commit suicide by the end of the film. Many people who watched the film argued if the character really died at the end, or if the suicide scene was all just inside the character’s mind. The total run time for the film is 34 minutes.

A Day’s Pleasure

A Day’s Pleasure is the fourth Chaplin film under First National Film and was made as a filler movie that frequent moviegoers can watch while Chaplin and the crew are working on the production of the next film, The Kid. The film stars Charlie Chapman and Edna Purviance, who played as parents who had a bay day while taking their kids on an outing.

The Kid

The Kid is a comedy-drama film directed, produced, written, and edited by Charlie Chaplin, and its story involves a man who struggles to protect and raise his adopted son. This film was the first full-length film directed by Chaplin, and it was a commercial success after being the second highest-grossing film in the year it was released. The Kid is highly regarded by film critics to be one of the best films in the silent movie era.

1921

The Idle Class

Charlie Chaplin took a break from appearing in movies for one year, and then he came back in 1921 to direct and star in another First Nation Pictures short movie titled The Idle Class. The movie sees the return of The Tramp character, who is now going on a vacation by heading to a resort and playing golf.

1922

Pay Day

In Pay Day, Charlie Chaplin plays the role of a worker on a house construction site. After getting the pay for his labor, he went drinking in order for the money to not get into the hands of his demanding wife at home. The movie ends on a scene where Chaplin just got home from a night of drinking and immediately left when he saw her wife, to make it look like he is about to go to work. Pay Day is the last short film directed by Chaplin before moving on to directing only feature or full-length films.

1923

The Pilgrim

The Pilgrim is the last movie that Charlie Chaplin directed and written for First National Pictures, and it is also the last time that Edna Purviance was partnered with Chaplin for the love interest role. Chaplin plays the title character, who is an escaped convict looking for a better life outside of prison. The Pilgrim is the second shortest feature film by Chaplin, and it only has a running time of 46 minutes.

A Woman of Paris

A feature film wherein Chaplin only appeared for a brief cameo, A Woman of Paris stars Edna Purviance, who plays the role of a country girl in France who leaves his village with his friend to marry a man in Paris. However, her family disapproved of her plan and tried to make her stay in the village, but she eventually escaped their clutches and was finally able to go to Paris. A Woman of Paris didn’t get enough praise for the audience during its time of release, mainly due to the fact that they expected Chaplin to appear as a lead character in the movie. Their disappointment only led to negative audience reviews for the film.

1925

The Gold Rush

The Gold Rush marked the return of The Tramp character after years of hiatus. In this movie, The Tramp works as a gold miner who isn’t always lucky in finding gold inside the mine. However, despite the unluckiness, The Tramp still thrives on getting gold in spite of feeling hunger and loneliness. The original cut of the movie was 95 minutes long, but it was trimmed to only 72 minutes for the 1942 rerelease.

1928

The Circus

The Circus is the seventh highest-grossing film in silent film history, as it was able to get $3.8 million in the box office. However, the success of the film hid the tragedy and hardships that Chaplin went through during its production. A fire in the studio occurred in the middle of shooting a scene, and Chaplin’s mother died while he was busy directing and acting on the movie. It was also during that time when he was going through a divorce with Lita Grey, his second wife.

1931

City Lights

City Light is a romantic comedy film that centers on The Tramp, who falls in love with a blind girl that he always helps whenever he sees her. Even though films with sound are becoming popular during the early 1930s, Chaplin still preferred to make silent movies, as he believes that the genre was his specialty. The running time for City Light was 87 minutes.

1936

Modern Times

In Modern Times, The Tramp works in a factory where he brings chaos and trouble not only for the other workers but also for his bosses as well. Chaplin initially planned the movie to have long lines of dialogue, but later abandoned it after being satisfied with only having sound effects and minimal dialogue.

1940

The Great Dictator

Considered as one of the best movies of all time, The Great Dictator was the first film with sound and dialogue directed, produced, and written by Charlie Chaplin. The story mainly focuses on the happening during the end of a war that mimics the real-world events during World War II. At the end of the film, the protagonist, Schultz, who pretends to be the leader of the regime, Adenoid Hynkel, delivered a speech that wanted everyone to unite in order to bring true peace and prosperity in the world. The speech was regarded by people who have watched the movie to be amongst the most moving speeches in film history.

1947

Monsieur Verdoux

Monsieur Verdoux is notable for having its story credited to Orson Welles, a famous author who wrote classic novels such as Animal Farm and 1984. The movie is a black comedy that tackled serious and violent issues and tried to present it in a lighter and funnier tone. Charlie Chaplin plays a wife-killer in the movie, and his character is inspired by the infamous serial killer Henri Désiré Landru.

1952

Limelight

Limelight is a comedy-drama film that is based on a novella written by Charlie Chaplin title Footlights. In the movie, Charlie Chaplin plays the role of an old comedian who saved the life of a dancer who has suicidal tendencies. Robert Aldrich and Jack Verne were credited as assistant directors for Chaplin in the film.

1957

A King in New York

When he was in England to attend the premiere of Limelight in 1952, he was informed that he is no longer allowed to return to the United States. Because of this, the last two films that he directed were created in studios around England. The first U.K. film that Chaplin created was A King in New York, where he plays as King Shahdov, who comes to New York City to start a new life after being deposed in his fictional home country named Estrovia. A King in New York was the last film where Chaplin had a starring role.

1967

A Countess from Hong Kong

Similar to A Woman of Paris, A Countess from Hong Kong does not feature Charlie Chaplin as the main character, but he did direct and write it. Instead of Chaplin, the lead role was given to Marlon Brando. The story of the film, according to Chaplin, is loosely based on the life of a stateless woman that he met while he was in France. Chaplin had a cameo appearance during one of the scenes in the film, which was the last time that Chaplin appeared on the silver screen.