Chaplin in Los Angeles

At the beginning of the 20th century, Hollywood seemed almost like a town. Land remote from the city was cheap, which is why famous studios were built here. At the same time, Los Angeles can hardly be called a single city: the high hills prevent those 80 small Los Angeles towns from coming together. So when doing a tour of Los Angeles, divide it into several parts and choose a qualified guide. There are plenty of those in Los Angeles, by the way. Still, what is Los Angeles best known for? That’s right, it’s cinema, Hollywood. Who was the best known inhabitant of Hollywood? Charlie Chaplin.

He arrived in Hollywood in 1913 at the age of 24, when he was already known in England. His first contract said he would be paid $150 a week. They say that two years later his income was 13,000 a week. It was then, in February 1914, that Chaplin invented the famous image of himself that he would not change for some thirty years: bowler hat, toothbrush mustache, oversized trousers and shoes. This happened when he was acting in his second movie, Kid Auto Races at Venice.

Venice Beach remains one of the nicer beaches in Santa Monica, in West Los Angeles. The place is full of an old-fashioned sort of thing, and you’re likely to run into someone walking around like Chaplin, with a bowler hat on their head.

In 1922, when his income was much higher than at first, Chaplin began looking for a suitable house in Beverly Hills. Souvenir shops sell maps that guide tourists through houses that once belonged to local stars. Chaplin’s 1085 Summit Drive is one of them: one could say that it is an eclectic and tacky building. However, it contains 40 rooms, a cinema and an organ. Just like in those bygone days, today Beverly Hills is the best-known and most expensive ZIP code in the country.

But what about Hollywood? In 1917, Chaplin built a studio at the corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. The famous “Gold Rush”, “Modern Times”, “City Lights” and “The Great Dictator” were filmed here. There are even Chaplin’s footprints immortalized in cement around Hall 3 – this, by the way, is believed to be the predecessor of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Charlie Chaplin left this studio in 1953, but this was the end of the studios. In 1985, a group of famous singers, including Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Kenny Rogers and Stevie Wonder, recorded the song “We are the world” here. Today the studio belongs to Jim Henson Productions, and its front door is adorned with a wonderful statue of Kermit the Frog, dressed as Chaplin.

Los Angeles residents still remember Charlie Chaplin. For example, there is The Silent Movie Theater located on Fairfax Avenue. The theater has 224 seats, is decorated in an elegant art deco style and shows films from the silent era that Chaplin kept. The first sound film, “The Jazz Singer,” appeared in 1927, but Chaplin was silent until 1940, when “The Great Dictator” appeared, his first film with dialogue. He was a talented composer and musician, but his principles, his goal of saving the original film language, meant so much more to him.

Chaplin received his Oscar in 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Many stars visited the hotel, but there is a statue that adorns the entrance: that of Charlie.