Registration has concluded. A University of Chicago Graham School Open Enrollment course. Summer 2024. Registration details here.

This course follows six of Charlie Chaplin’s films in a progressive exploration of the filmmaker’s remarkable life and art. Our discussions of Shoulder Arms (1918), The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940) will feature close appreciation of Chaplin’s artistic technique and broader reflections on the social complexities of the interwar era.

Course Description
This course examines selected films from Charlie Chaplin’s career, from the earliest short films (including one made at the Essanay Studio here in Chicago) through the powerful 1940 sound film, The Great Dictator. The course is designed to allow for discussion of each film and some exploration of highlights of Chaplin’s biography.

Each class session will combine discussion of one feature film (which students will have watched in advance) and a relevant topic involving Chaplin’s life and art. Shoulder Arms is a relatively short feature that helps introduce us to both silent film watching and Chaplin’s social focus. The Kid (1921) invites us to consider Chaplin’s own troubled childhood on and off the stage, as well as the emotional impact of cinema on filmmakers and spectators. The Gold Rush (1925) prompts a critical look at the Hollywood studio system and the economic impact of early cinema. City Lights (1931), made after the arrival of talkies, shows us Chaplin expanding the artistic boundaries of “silent film,” while Modern Times (1936) helps illustrate Chaplin’s abiding concerns with technology and social inequality. Finally, Chaplin’s first true “sound film,” The Great Dictator (1940), grounds our discussion of cultural resistance to the rise of fascism.

All of the films for this course are available for streaming on popular platforms, which I will highlight each week. I will provide other material—short films and clips—during the sessions themselves and at my password-accessible webspace on Screencast, which allows us to preview and rewatch any clip that will be shown at any session. I will also provide weekly handouts that include viewing notes, excerpts of film criticism, and my suggestions for specific points of discussion.

Required texts
No required books. Specific recommendations for accessing the feature films will be made available each week. Additional film clips, brief reading materials, and web links will also be made available each week.
In advance of the first session, please watch Shoulder Arms (1918, 36 mins.), streaming at the Criterion Channel, Amazon Prime, and Max, and available on DVD.

Image: Still from The Great Dictator (1940) mk2 dvd.