Syd Chaplin: A Biography

279 Pages·2010·0.78 MB·English

by  Lisa K. Stein

SYD CHAPLIN
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S C
YD HAPLIN
A Biography
Lisa K. Stein
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Stein, Lisa K.
Syd Chaplin : a biography / Lisa K. Stein.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes filmography.
ISBN 978-0-7864-6035-9
softcover : 50# alkaline paper
1. Chaplin, Syd, 1885–1965. 2. Actors—United States—Biography. I. Title.
PN2287.C516S74 2011 791.430'28092—dc22 [B] 2010040453
British Library cataloguing data are available
©2011Lisa K. Stein. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, i ncluding photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without p ermission in writing from the p ublisher.
On the cover: Sydney Chaplin, 1918
Front cover by TG Design
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 6¡¡, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
To Kate,
with affection, admiration and gratitude
for your belief in this project
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Table of Contents
Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1. Kennington Kid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2. Downstage to Marquee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3. A Keystone Cop Aesthetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4. Surviving Hollywood, 1916–1921. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5. Rebuilding a Film Career, 1922–1925. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6. Stardom and a Tenuous Homecoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
7. “An Incident at Elstree”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
8. Travels with Charlie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
9. Double Exposure: 1932–1938 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
10. Charlie, Gypsy and a Caravan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Appendix A: Filmography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Appendix B: A Selection of Sydney Chaplin Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
vii
Abbreviations
AMPAS Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
BFI British Film Institute
CHACHAA Charlie Chaplin Archive, Cineteca di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
LCLPA Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts
LKSC Lisa K. Stein Collection
MPN Motion Picture News
MPW Moving Picture World
SOC Shunichi Ohkubo Collection
USCCAL University of Southern California Cinematic Arts Library
WGC Walter Gasparini Collection
viii
Preface
THIS IS THE FIRST-EVER LIFE AND ART STUDY of Sydney Chaplin, Charlie Chaplin’s
brother, a person notable not only for his importance in establishing his brother’s career,
but in several other early Hollywood enterprises, including the founding of United Artists
and the Syd Chaplin Aircraft Corporation, America’s first domestic airline. Sydney also
had a very successful film career, beginning in 1914 with Keystone and culminating in a
string of films for Warner Bros. in the 1920s that numbered among that company’s most
popular films for those years. Yet Sydney has received very little recognition in print over
the years, beyond the fact that he secured Charlie a million-dollar film contract with Mutual
in 1916 due to his negotiating skills.
Film critics have expressed their interest in and curiosity about Sydney for many
years. While his brother Charlie’s life was punctuated by ups and downs, scandals and
miscommunications, Sydney’s makes even Charlie’s life pale in comparison. Sydney’s film
career ended abruptly in 1929, for instance, because of an assault charge by a young
actress. This incident proved to be only the last in a string of scandals, each causing him
to move bag and baggage to another place, another studio, or another business venture.
Still, he somehow enjoyed the fidelity of wife Minnie until her death in 1936, then of
second wife, Henriette, until his death in 1965. Sydney, despite his disgraceful departure
from the film world in 1929, had a facility for business and money that far surpassed his
brother. And, it is surely thanks to Sydney that Charlie, too, claimed success and affluence
for himself and his progeny.
This is only a small portion of the fascinating story I was to uncover over the next
four years.
* * *
Having written my dissertation on Charlie Chaplin’s travel narratives, I was a fre-
quent visitor to the Chaplin archive—then in both Paris and Bologna—and often heard
tales about Sydney and his mythological exploits. I also heard exclamations of longing
on the part of my compatriots there—longing for a book on Sydney. It seemed only fair.
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