Groucho

My wife wants a Charlie Chaplin film on DVD for her birthday. I just thought I'd turn to the forum and see what films out there are of good quality (ie no Madacy treatments). She's only interested in his silent films, so nothing after Modern Times. I'm familiar with all his films, so I'm just looking for reviews of the discs themselves.

Thanks

bboisvert

I've seen most of them that are out there and if I had to pick one to recommend, it would probably be CITY LIGHTS. Not only is it probably his best film, but the transfer is amazingly good. (A close second place would go to MODERN TIMES.)

If you're looking for a general guideline, pretty much anything Chaplin put out by Image Entertainment has very good quality.

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My DVDs
My LaserDiscs

nemein

As an additional present I would also recommend the movie Chaplin ( http://us.imdb.com/Title?0103939 ) with Robert Downey Jr. if you don't already have it

voltes5

i would definitely recommend CITY LIGHTS.
it definitely has good transfers as bboisvert mentioned and it has a great storyline.
some even say that the last scene is one of the greatest and most touching moments in film.
you will be ROTFLYAO in the boxing scenes. it is really funny.

Floortex

Go with Modern Times or City Lights. Avoid Gold Rush.

Birdcell

Ooh, City Lights, definitely. I'm a hard-core cynic and I still teared up at the end...

I hear the more-recent Limelight is worth it for the team-up with Buster Keaton.

Groucho

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll go with City Lights and/or Modern Times. I would have chosen Gold Rush if the original version (not the 1942 recut) was available.