Charlie Chaplin hone his craft as he moved to the Essanay, Mutual, and First National corporations. By 1918, he was one of the best-known figures in the world. In 1919, Chaplin co-founded the distribution company United Artists which gave him complete control over his films. His first feature-length film was "The Kid" (1921), followed by "A Woman of Paris" (1923), "The Gold Rush" (1925), and "The Circus" (1928). He refused to move to sound films in the 1930s, instead producing "City Lights" (1931) and "Modern Times" (1936) without dialogue. He became increasingly political, and his next film "The Great Dictator" (1940) satirized
The Chaplin Revue often used scenes featuring The Tramp, such as The Tramp's final appearance in "Modern Times", as a vehicle for expressing his ideas. Critic and friend James Agee wrote a script placing Chaplin's trademark character, the Tramp, in apocalyptic New York City. Chaplin decided the best way to bring the tramp into the new era was by re-releasing three silent films he made with First National as a feature-length film. Released in 1959, "The Chaplin Revue" consisted of "A Dog's Life", "Shoulder Arms" and "The Pilgrim" – each of which was introduced by Chaplin and juxtaposed with behind the scenes footage