The Best Movies Directed by Charlie Chaplin
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1Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry BergmanThis comedic masterpiece finds the iconic Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) employed at a state-of-the-art factory where the inescapable machinery completely overwhelms him, and where various mishaps keep getting him sent to prison. In between his various jail stints, he meets and befriends an orphan girl (Paulette Goddard). Both together and apart, they try to contend with the difficulties of modern life, with the Tramp working as a waiter and eventually a performer.More Modern Times
- #433 of 704 onThe All-Time Greatest Comedy Films
- #424 of 633 onThe 600+ Funniest Movies Of All Time
- #51 of 91 onThe 90 Best Black And White Movies
2Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack OakieAfter dedicated service in the Great War, a Jewish barber (Charles Chaplin) spends years in an army hospital recovering from his wounds, unaware of the simultaneous rise of fascist dictator Adenoid Hynkel (also Chaplin) and his anti-Semitic policies. When the barber, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Hynkel, returns to his quiet neighborhood, he is stunned by the brutal changes and recklessly joins a beautiful girl (Paulette Goddard) and her neighbors in rebelling.More The Great Dictator- #231 of 704 onThe All-Time Greatest Comedy Films
- #2 of 61 onThe Funniest Movies About Politics
- #54 of 91 onThe 90 Best Black And White Movies
3Charlie Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Sydney ChaplinDepressed over her failed dance career, Terry (Claire Bloom) attempts suicide, only to be rescued by Calvero (Charles Chaplin), an impoverished, once-famous stage clown. Calvero revives Terry's health and prospects, and in the process recovers his own self-esteem as well. When Terry proposes marriage, Calvero thinks their age difference is too great, and leaves to become a street clown so that Terry's friendship with a promising young composer (Sydney Chaplin) can instead blossom.
4Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Harry MyersA hapless but resilient tramp (Charlie Chaplin) falls in love with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) on the tough city streets. Upon learning that she and her grandmother are to be evicted from their home, the tramp undertakes a series of attempts to provide them with the money they need, all of which end in humiliating failure. But after a drunken millionaire (Harry Myers) lavishly rewards him for saving his life, the tramp can change the flower girl's life forever.More City Lights- #2 of 86 onThe Best Silent Movies of All Time
- #347 of 704 onThe All-Time Greatest Comedy Films
- #83 of 90 onThe 85+ Most Inspirational Movies Of All Time
5Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna PurvianceChaplin's first full-length feature is a silent masterpiece about a little tramp who discovers a little orphan and brings him up but is left desolate when the orphanage reclaims him. Chaplin directed, produced and starred in the film, as well as composed the score.More The Kid- #281 of 704 onThe All-Time Greatest Comedy Films
- #41 of 41 onThe 100+ Best Movies Streaming On The Criterion Channel
- #566 of 633 onThe 600+ Funniest Movies Of All Time
- 6Charlie Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom MurrayIn this classic silent comedy, the Little Tramp (Charles Chaplin) heads north to join in the Klondike gold rush. Trapped in a small cabin by a blizzard, the Tramp is forced to share close quarters with a successful prospector (Mack Swain) and a fugitive (Tom Murray). Eventually able to leave the cabin, he falls for a lovely barmaid (Georgia Hale), trying valiantly to win her affections. When the prospector needs help locating his claim, it appears the Tramp's fortunes may change.More The Gold Rush
- #8 of 86 onThe Best Silent Movies of All Time
- #319 of 704 onThe All-Time Greatest Comedy Films
- #36 of 41 onThe 100+ Best Movies Streaming On The Criterion Channel
7Charlie Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, Al Ernest GarciaWrongfully accused of criminal acts, a tramp (Charlie Chaplin) unwittingly ducks into a big top, where his bumbling attempts to avoid pursuing police officers earn the laughter and applause of the circus-goers. Impressed, the ringmaster (Allan Garcia) decides to employ the tramp as an entertainer. In between getting trapped in a lion's cage and partaking in clumsy high wire escapades, he falls for a beautiful show rider (Merna Kennedy), who unfortunately has eyes for a daring tightrope acrobat.More The Circus- #5 of 86 onThe Best Silent Movies of All Time
- #190 of 695 onThe All-Time Greatest Comedy Films
- #521 of 675 onThe Best Movies Roger Ebert Gave Four Stars
8Charlie Chaplin, Eric Campbell, Edna PurvianceThe Adventurer is a short comedy film made in 1917 written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, and is the last of the twelve films made under contract for the Mutual Film Corporation.
9Charlie Chaplin, Mady Correll, Allison RoddanMonsieur Verdoux (Charles Chaplin) is a dapper Parisian family man who loses his job as a bank clerk. In order to support his wife and child, he devises a plan to woo and marry rich widows under a variety of aliases, then murder them for their money. His scheme works until his 14th victim, the loud-mouthed Annabella Bonheur (Martha Raye), proves impossible to kill, and he takes pity on a beautiful but down-on-her-luck prostitute whom he was going to test a poison on.
10Charlie Chaplin, Eric Campbell, Edna PurvianceThe Cure is a 1917 short comedy film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin.
11Charlie Chaplin, Eric Campbell, Edna PurvianceEasy Street is a 1917 short action-comedy film by Charlie Chaplin.
12Charlie Chaplin, Wesley Ruggles, Eric CampbellThe Pawnshop was Charlie Chaplin's sixth film for Mutual Film Corporation. Released on October 2, 1916, it stars Chaplin in the role of assistant to the pawnshop owner, played by Henry Bergman. Edna Purviance plays the owner's daughter, while Albert Austin appears as an alarm clock owner who watches Chaplin in dismay as he dismantles the clock; the massive Eric Campbell's character attempts to rob the shop. This was one of Chaplin's more popular movies for Mutual, mainly for the slapstick comedy he was famous for at the time.
13Charlie Chaplin, William Gillespie, Eric CampbellThe Immigrant is a 1917 American silent romantic comedy short film. The film stars the Charlie Chaplin Tramp character as an immigrant coming to the United States who is accused of theft on the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, and falls in love with a beautiful young woman along the way. It also stars Edna Purviance and Eric Campbell. The movie was written and directed by Chaplin. According to Kevin Brownlow and David Gill's documentary series Unknown Chaplin, the first scenes to be written and filmed take place in what became the movie's second half, in which the penniless Tramp finds a coin and goes for a meal in a restaurant, not realising that the coin has fallen out of his pocket. It was not until later that Chaplin decided the reason the Tramp was penniless was that he had just arrived on a boat from Europe, and used this notion as the basis for the first half. Purviance reportedly was required to eat so many plates of beans during the many takes to complete the restaurant sequence that she became physically ill.
14Charlie Chaplin, Billy Gilbert, Mack SennettA Busy Day is a 1914 short film starring Charlie Chaplin and Mack Swain.
15Charlie Chaplin, Eric Campbell, Edna PurvianceAfter passing the hat and taking the donations intended for German street musicians Charlie heads for the country. Here he finds and rescues a girl from a band of gypsies. The girl falls in love with an artist whose portrait is later seen in a shop by the girl's real mother. The mother and the artist arrive in a chauffeured auto and offer Charlie money for his services, money which he rejects.
16Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Kitty BradburyA tramp (Charles Chaplin) breaks out of jail and chances upon the deserted robes of a clergyman. He dons the disguise and train-hops his way to a tiny Texas town, where the residents just happen to be awaiting the arrival of their new priest. The runaway convict is welcomed into the community with open arms, and through quick wit he is able to convince the locals he's a man of God. But, just as he begins wooing the lovely Miss Brown (Edna Purviance), an old cellmate arrives and stirs up trouble.
17Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Henry BergmanSunnyside is a 1919 American short silent film written, directed and starring Charlie Chaplin. It was his third film for First National Pictures.
18Charlie Chaplin, Dawn Addams, Oliver JohnstonWhen King Igor Shahdov (Charles Chaplin) flees the revolutionaries of Estonia, he arrives in New York City with almost nothing. With a theater background, Shahdov finds work in TV commercials. But when he befriends 10-year-old Rupert Macabee (Michael Chaplin) and the boy's communist parents, the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee deems Shahdov a communist and arrests Rupert's family. Enraged at American paranoia, Shahdov fights the HUAC for the family's freedom.
19Charlie Chaplin, Lloyd Bacon, Bud JamisonThe Tramp is Chaplin's sixth film for Essanay Studios in 1915. Directed by Chaplin, it was the fifth and last film made at Essanay's Niles, California studio. The Tramp marked the beginning of The Tramp character most known today, even though Chaplin played the character in earlier films. This film marked the first departure from his more slapstick character in the earlier films, with a sad ending and showing he cared for others, rather than just himself. The film co-stars Edna Purviance as the farmer's daughter and Ernest Van Pelt as Edna's father. The outdoor scenes were filmed on location near Niles.
20Charlie Chaplin, Eric Campbell, Edna PurvianceBehind the Screen is a 1916 short silent film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and also starring Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance.
21Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Albert AustinA Dog's Life is a silent film written, produced and directed by Charlie Chaplin. This was Chaplin's first film for First National Films. Chaplin plays opposite an animal as "co-star". "Scraps" was the hero in this film, as he helps Charlie and Edna toward a better life. Edna Purviance plays a dance hall singer and Charlie Chaplin, The Tramp. Sydney Chaplin had a small role in this film; this was the first time the two brothers were on screen together. Charles Lapworth, a former newspaper editor who had met Chaplin when he interviewed him, took a role as a consultant on the film.
22Charlie Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Sydney ChaplinCharlie is in boot camp in the "awkward squad." Once in France he gets no letters from home. He finally gets a package containing limburger cheese which requires a gas mask and which he throws over into the German trench. He goes "over the top" and captures thirteen Germans ("I surrounded them"), then volunteers to wander through the German lines disguised as a tree trunk. With the help of a French girl he captures the Kaiser and the Crown Prince and is given a statue and victory parade in New York and then ... fellow soldiers wake him from his dream.
23Charlie ChaplinOne A.M. was a unique Charlie Chaplin silent film created for Mutual Film in 1916. It was the first film he starred in alone, except for a brief scene of Albert Austin playing a cab driver.
24Charlie Chaplin, Lloyd Bacon, Edna PurvianceEdna's father wants her to marry wealthy Count He-Ha. Charlie, Edna's true love, impersonates the Count at dinner, but the real Count shows up and Charlie is thrown out. Later on Charlie and Edna are chased by her father, The Count, and three policeman. The pursuers drive off a pier.
25Charlie Chaplin, Lloyd Bacon, Bud JamisonThe Floorwalker is a 1916 American silent comedy film, Charlie Chaplin's first Mutual Film Corporation film. The film stars Chaplin, in his traditional Tramp persona, as a customer who creates chaos in a department store and becomes inadvertently entangled in the nefarious scheme of the store manager, played by Eric Campbell, and the store's floorwalker, played by Lloyd Bacon, to embezzle money from the establishment. The film is noted for the first "running staircase" used in films which is used for a series of slapstick that climaxes with a frantic chase down an upward escalator and finding they are remaining in the same position on the steps no matter how fast they move. Edna Purviance plays a minor role as a secretary to store manager, Eric Campbell.
26Charlie Chaplin, Lloyd Bacon, Eric CampbellThe Fireman is the second film Charlie Chaplin created for Mutual Film Corporation in 1916. Released on June 12, it starred Chaplin as the fireman and Edna Purviance as the daughter to Lloyd Bacon.
27Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna PurvianceA Day's Pleasure is Charlie Chaplin's fourth film for First National Films. It was created at the Chaplin Studio. It was a quickly made two-reeler to help fill a gap while working on his first feature The Kid. It is about a day outing with his wife and the kids and things don't go smoothly. Edna Purviance plays Chaplin's wife and Jackie Coogan one of the kids. The first scene shows the Chaplin Studio corner office in the background while Chaplin tries to get his car started.
28Charlie Chaplin, Ben Turpin, Lloyd BaconThe Champion is a comedy film released in 1915 by Essanay Studios, starring Charles Chaplin alongside Edna Purviance and Leo White. Essanay co-owner and star, Broncho Billy Anderson can be seen as an enthusiastic audience member in the boxing match scene.
29Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Charlie ChaplinA Countess from Hong Kong is a 1967 British comedy film and the last film directed, written, produced and scored by Charlie Chaplin. It was one of two films Chaplin directed in which he did not play a major role, and his only color film. Chaplin's cameo marked his final screen appearance. The movie starred Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Tippi Hedren, and Sydney Earle Chaplin, Chaplin's second son. The story is based loosely on the life of a woman Chaplin met in France, named Moussia Sodskaya, or "Skaya" as he calls her in his 1922 book, My Trip Abroad. She was a Russian singer and dancer that "was a stateless person marooned in France without a passport". The idea, according to a press release written by Chaplin after the movie received a negative reception, was that the story "resulted from a visit I made to Shanghai in 1931 where I came across a number of titled aristocrats who had escaped the Russian Revolution". It was originally started as a film called Stowaway in the 1930s, planned for Paulette Goddard, but production was never completed.
30Charlie Chaplin, Bud Jamison, Edna PurvianceIt is windy at a bathing resort. After fighting with one of the two husbands, Charlie approaches Edna while the two husbands themselves fight over ice cream. Driven away by her husband, Charlie turns to the other's wife.
