Charlie Chaplin take in "The Kid". For "The Immigrant", a 20 minute-short, Chaplin shot 40,000 feet of film – enough for a feature-length. Describing his working method as "sheer perseverance to the point of madness", Chaplin would be completely consumed by the production of a picture. Robinson writes that even in Chaplin's later years, his work continued "to take precedence over everything and everyone else." The combination of story improvisation and relentless perfectionism – which resulted in days of effort and thousands of feet of film being wasted, all at enormous expense – often proved taxing for Chaplin who, in frustration, would
The Chaplin Revue and "Sunnyside", with Chaplin's 1918 propaganda short "The Bond" as a special feature. Introductions by David Robinson, and behind-the-scenes footage are also included. During the silent era, Charlie Chaplin was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Unfortunately for Chaplin though, he fell victim to McCarthyism and in the 1950s, he lived in exile in Switzerland with his wife Oona O'Neill. He latest three films, "Monsieur Verdoux", "Limelight", and "A King in New York", were not universally acclaimed and his star power was fading. The idea of reviving his role as The Tramp for modern audiences was entertained. Chaplin had