I got some useful Marx Bros. pointers (-- i'm going to look for 'Duck Soup')

Now I wonder if anyone can recommend a good first Chaplin purchase.

What would you say is his funniest movie on DVD?

--thanks in advance
(i'm trying to use up an Amazon $10 coupon and it turns out that Amazon is out of Duck Soup )

I'd get Modern Times and City Lights. I think City Lights is one of the five best films ever made.But I also know people who like Modern Times more. They're presented with good transfers. I'd avoid The Gold Rush because it isn't silent like it originally was, but includes voice-over by Chaplin himself. I think this would be kinda strange.
You can't go wrong with either City Lights or Modern Times.

[This message has been edited by Floortex (edited December 28, 2000).]

Funniest - Modern Times. Best film - City Lights.

The Kid(his first one), The Gold Rush, City Lights(probably his best), and Modern Times(his last appearance as the Tramp).

[This message has been edited by Kim Deal (edited December 28, 2000).]

As everyone has said, you should definitely get either CITY LIGHTS or MODERN TIMES (or both!) as your first Chaplin. Both are probably in the top-20 films of all time (IMHO) and are a great intro to Chaplin. After that, you can branch out and get others like THE KID and THE CIRCUS (two of my other favorites)...

Try some Buster Keaton too, start with Our Hospitality and then move to The General

For the first-timer, I would recommend starting with Image's Chaplin Mutuals, Vol. I.

Containing the early shorts The Immigrant, Easy Street, The Adventurer, and The Cure, they distill the hilarious essence of Chaplin's genius for comedy, without the heavy straining for pathos that sometimes plagued his later work.



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"The important thing for a star is to have an interesting face. He doesn't have to move it very much. Editing and camerawork can always produce the desired illusion that a performance is being given." --George Sanders.

Thanks, all

I ordered 'City Lights' from Amazon.

I'll use your suggestions for future Chaplin purchases.

Galant Pig, you read my mind. Buster Keaton is my next project. First I gotta watch City Lights, tho.