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T h e D r e a m A c t
by Shin Lim It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Charlie Chaplin. I’ve been a Chaplin fan since I saw his masterpiece “The Circus” (Academy Award, 1928) as an eight-year-old boy in New Zealand. That film inspired a lifetime love for Chaplin 
movies and for my passion about magic. Today I can sit down with my four-
year old son and watch a Chaplin movie and see his eyes light up whenever 
Chaplin walks on screen. The power of a Chaplin movie is that it can reach any 
age; and break down all cultural barriers. His work is still as relevant today as it 
was when these films were first shown over 90-years ago. There are very few 
movies today that have, or will have, the same impact when they are shown 
90 years from now.
When lecturing to magicians live around the world I always give this piece 
of advice: “Sit down and watch a full-length silent comedy movie by Charlie 
Chaplin, Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton.”
You will learn so much about how to craft your own show from these artists. 
If you watch closely, you’ll see these movies have a structure that draws you 
in and takes you on a journey filled with humor and pathos. These great 
filmmakers knew how to tell a story and connect with the viewers that give 
them meaning and a power that makes them last for eternity.
Imagine, as a magician, if you could take these powerful elements and 
bring them to your show. It doesn’t matter if you are a close-up magician, a 
kid’s performer, a comedy magician or illusionist. By studying Chaplin and 
watching his story telling technique you will find yourself connecting with 
your audience in a way that will make a huge difference to your show and 
leave a lasting impression on their minds. My personal suggestions for Chaplin 
would be The Kid, The Circus and The Gold Rush. Watch as he takes you on 
this incredible ride and study how Chaplin really uses the characters to bring 
out the story. Chaplin makes you feel on a gut level and not only is this terribly 
difficult to do, but he does this primarily without words. All performers need 
to think about that. It is not pantomime in the current definition. It is silent 
storytelling. There is a great gulf of a difference.
When Ben Robinson told me he and his wife An were going to the opening of 
Chaplin’s World in Switzerland I knew it would make a perfect Special Edition 
for VANISH. This is a place everybody must visit, not just Chaplin fans but 
anybody who loves movies, magic and the arts. Ben has given VANISH a world-
exclusive and insight in to a truly magical place and an insight in to a man who 
made the world a much happier place to live.
We need Chaplin today just as much as the world needed him back during the 
World Wars and the Great Depression. The world needs to learn how to smile 
and laugh and love again. Enjoy this very special edition of VANISH.
LEARN FROM THE MASTERS
Paul Romhany
ED’S
NOTE
PUBLISHER
Paul Romhany & Joomag
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 
Paul Romhany: editor@vanishmagazine.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Ben Robinson
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Nick Lewin
STAFF WRITERS FOR SPECIAL EDITION 
BEN ROBINSON
COVER ARTWORK
HAIM GOLDENBERG
EDITORIAL SUPPORT EXECUTIVE
Richard Webster and Mick Peck
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR
Paul Romhany & Sydnie Anderson
CREATIVE DESIGNER & LAYOUT
Paul Romhany 
MARKETING EXECUTIVES
Steve Hocevar
CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTION
Harry Morgan
ADDRESS 
1183 Blind Bogey Drive
Qualicum Beach, BC.
V9K1E6
CANADA
COPYRIGHT
All rights reserved. None of this magazine can be 
reprinted electronically OR in hard form without the 
permission of the editor.
Internatonal Magic Magazine
SPECIAL EDITION July 2016
VANISH
mailto:mailto:editor@vanishmagazine.com
mailto:editor@vanishmagazine.com
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ta2KYvcwak
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C
BY BEN ROBINSON
World
Chaplin’s
AN OVERVIEW OF 
OPENING DAY
CHAPLIN’s WORLD, a Foundation Museum, opened 
to the world April 17, 2016. It was one day after 
Charlie Chaplin turned 127. The museum rests in 
Corsier-sur-Vevey, subsidiary to the larger town of 
Vevey, Switzerland. Population twenty-thousand 
in the off-season, and ballooning to fifty-thousand 
in the Summer for those who want to water ski the 
majestic Lake Geneva, also known as Lac Léman 
when viewed from the North. The lake, views, Alps 
and the estate are indeed—magical. This is magic of 
a different order; poetic, transcendental, blissful—yet 
with mountainous calamity always just a step away. 
Switzerland—the heartbeat of Europe. The peaceful 
center of the clock spring that never moves, yet, 
drives the entire show...
CHAPLIN’s WORLD is the most telling example of one 
man raising himself from poverty; and conquering 
the world in many respects. Chaplin’s fame rests in a 
category by itself. No other artist of the 20th century 
has been as noted. His Academy Award presented 
to him in 1972 is on display and the scripture reads 
(in part): “For his profound insight into the human 
condition.” In one wry observation, no other world 
figure adorns as many different postage stamps. His 
birth centenary wrought the US government to issue 
one collector’s edition stamp in 24 ct. gold. Over fifty 
nations have issued stamps in honor of Sir Charles 
Chaplin. Full-blown statues in cast metal inhabit at 
least five countries (Ireland, Switzerland, France, the 
US, and England). 
1918: Chaplin was without question the most 
famous man in the world. That year he also co-
founded United Artists along with Mary Pickford 
and Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith. As well, 
the police estimated over seventy-five thousand 
people came to lower Manhattan to see Chaplin and 
Douglas Fairbanks at Federal Hall in New York City. 
This was when raising money for the War Bond effort 
concerning WWI. 
When Chaplin first returned to England in 1922, he 
recounts in his first autobiography, My Trip Abroad, 
daily he received over two-thousand letters, many 
of which asked him for help of one kind or another. 
His son, Charles Chaplin Jr. (1925-1968) wrote in the 
opening pages to his biography of his father, “...even 
your rankest enemies concede that in your realm of 
talent you have no peer.” 
CHAPLIN’S WORLD 
IS THE MOST 
TELLING
EXAMPLE OF ONE 
MAN RAISING 
HIMSELF FROM 
POVERTY; AND 
CONQUERING THE 
WORLD IN MANY 
RESPECTS.
PHTOTOS: Ben with Chaplin statue. Middle An with Buster 
Keaton. Bottom Ben with opening day sign.
Executed brilliantly by the Grévin Company, 
CHAPLIN’s WORLD is a museum unlike any other 
the world over. How delightful to be able to report 
to the masses of Earth ——— Charlie Chaplin is 
alive!
April 16, 2016, the night before 
the official opening to the public, 
a party was held on the premises 
honoring (and being attended 
by) notables from every sphere of 
the world. Swiss papers reported 
one hundred and fifty journalists, 
from seventy-six countries also 
attending. As well, twenty members 
of the Chaplin family were present, 
including four of his children (Swiss 
papers noted) and at least two of his 
grandchildren. On April 17th, nearly 
every newspaper and TV show in 
Europe held prominent mention of 
the great Charlie Chaplin, and the 
majestic creation CHAPLIN’s WORLD.
Opening Day, April 17, accompanied 
by my wife, being fifth and sixth on 
line, we entered CHAPLIN’s WORLD 
at precisely 10am—when the doors 
of CHAPLIN’s WORLD opened to the 
rest of the world!
CHAPLIN’s WORLD is situated on 
his estate, his home, the Manoir de 
Ban. The thirty-six-acres focal point 
where he began living in 1953, 
after leaving the US under less than 
favorable circumstances that befell 
his kingly stature. 
Chaplin was hounded unethically, 
unmorallyand with venom worthy 
of a man who clearly hated himself, 
J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the 
(US) Federal Bureau of Investigation 
(FBI). Hoover was a man who 
regularly held covert meetings with 
Hedda Hopper, the larger-than-life 
female Hollywood gossip journalist 
and social miscreant. Hoover was 
a cross-dresser complete with 
earrings that almost dragged on the 
floor. No one said anything when 
he showed up like this during the 
1950’s at parties or when leaving 
the FBI building in Washington 
DC. (This was the time of the 
largest, most profane and patently 
ridiculous adventure in fetid 
politics man can offer. Hoover was a 
hypocritical, social malcontent who 
had various assignations with Roy 
Cohn, a mafia lawyer. )
Enough darkness—step into the 
light of CHAPLIN’s WORLD! 
Executed brilliantly by the Grévin 
Company, CHAPLIN’s WORLD is a 
museum unlike any other the world 
over. How delightful to be able 
to report to the masses of Earth 
——— Charlie Chaplin is alive! If 
poetic essence is the intense energy 
of life, then Charlie Chaplin is not 
dead. Was he ever? At this very 
moment, while you read, thousands, 
if not millions, are watching a 
Chaplin film right now, all over our 
planet.
The man who lived, and became, 
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin 
(1889—1977) may have achieved 
Gandhian mythology, but, 
better. (Interestingly, Gandhi 
and Chaplin met in the 1930’s 
swapping philosophy.) While Lord 
Mountbatten said of Mahatma 
Gandhi, “Generations to come will 
scarce believe such a one as he 
walked among us,” this statement 
also applies to Chaplin. Now, 
CHAPLIN’s WORLD proves this 
indelibly. 
“
Chaplin’s original TRAMP suit from THE KID 
Ben with Chaplin’s bowler hat
“ The face is the mirror of 
the mind, and 
eyes without 
speaking 
confess the 
secrets of the 
heart.
Entryway hello from Charlie
A Map of Chaplin’s World
Ben with an original 
Chaplin cane
Original hat, boots and 
cane from Chaplin
CHAPLIN’s WORLD will infuse, 
delight, enthrall, bedazzle and 
cherubically entrance the viewer 
to this spirit who walked among 
us for eighty-eight years. This 
“living effigy” also determinately 
and charmingly introduces Charlie 
Chaplin to the minds, hearts and 
resultant smiles of children of the 
21st century. While this is a serious 
museum, children are inspired 
every step of the way. Many exhibits 
encourage child-like curiosity. 
The Studio at le musée du Charlot 
invites hands-on fun!
His home in Corsier-sur-Vevey, 
Switzerland, a large mansion, 
hidden on a hilltop is truly a 
paradise worthy of such a world-
admired figure. According to 
newspapers in Switzerland, nine 
of his children were involved, 
Overview of the 
interactive studio 
Outside the Chaplin Studio
Part of the exhibition from Chaplin’s youth in London
Map outside 
showing Chaplin’s 
World
including his son Michael, who is the President 
of this museum, and the Vice President, his sister 
Victoria, who would have starred in his final film, 
had it been made. (See Sidebar: THE FREAK). 
Victoria Thierrée Chaplin tours the world with 
her angelically dramatic wonder show called Le 
Cirque Invisible (“The Invisible Circus”), with her 
clown-illusionist husband Jean-Baptiste Thierrée. 
This couple’s children also have theatrical tour de 
force extravaganzas that bring repeat standing 
ovations the world over for the artistry of James 
Thierrée (currently seen in Tabac Rouge) and Aurélia 
Thierrée (see Vanish cover story #11) and her 
spectacular show Murmures des Murs. The Thierrée 
family conspicuously bestill the heart and charm 
the mind with the gifts passed on by their famous 
forebearer. Victoria Thierrée Chaplin is the recipient 
of one of France’s most esteemed theatrical honors: 
The Moliere Award. Her eloquent artistic vision 
designs the sets, costumes, and directs some of her 
progeny’s performance. It cannot have been easy 
to have grown in the shadow of Charlie Chaplin. Yet 
the task of the family to create CHAPLIN’s WORLD 
with Grévin is now an astonishing accomplishment. 
Upon entering Manoir de Ban, the Chaplin family is 
shown, dating back to the 1700’s, in a genealogical 
timeline which alerts the viewer that the home they 
are entering is the son of a man named Charles 
Chaplin who was the son of a man named Spencer 
Chaplin. The family is respectful of names, and 
Chaplin’s great grandson carries the Spencer name. 
Therefore, we now understand that the original 
Spencer Chaplin has a namesake over 150-years 
“The Chaplin we are 
mainly concerned with 
here made nearly one 
hundred films we know 
of, and many that the 
expectant viewer will see 
for the first time - family 
films abound in this 
museum.”
later. The man the entire world has come to love and respect, was named 
Charles Spencer Chaplin but more simply known as “Charlie Chaplin” and in 
Europe, simply as “Charlot.” The Chaplin we are mainly concerned with here 
made nearly one hundred films we know of, and many that the expectant 
viewer will see for the first time — family films abound in this museum. 
Imagine seeing an Easter magic show with multiplying Easter eggs by the 
master himself!? Cineastes and first-timers will rejoice in the warmth of the 
family shown in a variety of situations; while vacationing, on picnic, playing 
sports (Chaplin was an avid tennis competitor); and during the mundane.
Film Director Jean Renoir (The Grand Illusion) called Charlie Chaplin “the 
master of masters” and in so-called retirement (though he was anything 
but “retired”) Chaplin is seen rowing a boat while wearing a tie as well 
as creating clever hilarity by becoming an impromptu boxing referee 
counting out his infant son Eugene as he relaxes on a baby blanket on a 
well-manicured lawn! When he was not being feted internationally, taking 
a round the world tour in 1961, writing essays or working on his final film 
(see sidebar) Chaplin was a very busy and attentive father. A look into 
his life at home shows a man quietly possessed to create, explore and 
enlighten. Though, he always stated his life’s purpose was simply as “a 
theatrical figure that made people laugh.”
Life size wax figures of Chaplin and his wife Oona (formerly Oona O’Neill, 
the daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill) adorn the interior of the two 
floors of the mansion open to the public. All is carefully watched over by a 
staff nattily dressed in casual black slacks and tops with the perfectly royal 
purple waistcoat marking their stance as minders, guides and insuring the 
security of a family home now turned into an entertainingly educational 
experience. 
The “execution” or “réaliser” of CHAPLIN’s WORLD is accredited to “Grévin.” 
This is a company that has engineered the sleek modernist architecture 
and layout of this amazing museum. 
“Amazing” is used not just as an adjective here. It is also a verb. When one 
enters a bath on the second floor, the viewer is literally made to disappear 
— further explanation would rob the ticket-buyer of the genuine surprise 
they have in store. 
There are family photographs, films, programs, letters, his gold watch and 
much, much more stored in this elegant turn of the century (19thcentury) 
building called Manoir de Ban. (The previous owner of the Manoir died 
just six months before Chaplin bought the home. More than one person 
claimed that spirits walked the hallways.) The Chaplin family took up 
residence in this petite/palatial Shangrilah in 1953 after leaving the United 
States by sea on the Queen Elizabeth ocean liner leaving port in New York, 
after a cross-country trip by train. 
Chaplin did not live in seclusion. Hardly. He was nary off the boat at Dover 
Cliffs in England before Italy, France and his native England all festively 
welcomed him with open arms, and a legion of statesman awards inclusive 
of his World Peace Prize, presented to him by Russia, and actually given to 
him at his home, the Manoir. 
Manoir de Ban is just one structure housing Chapliniana thatis mind-
Part of THE KID exhbition
“Amazing” 
is used not 
just as an 
adjective 
here. It is also 
a verb. 
Interactive KID scene
bending to any Chaplin fan. One 
can tour the grounds and see the 
trees Chaplin loved, talked to and 
nurtured. Some are now over three-
hundred years old! The girth of some 
of the beautifully attended to trees 
are as big as a small skyscraper. 
A moderate guess is that the 
circumference of one tree may have 
been as spacious as ten meters. One 
cannot imagine the sheer spirit the 
grounds possess until you feel it for 
yourself. The majesty of the estate is 
not overwhelming, it is inviting. Part 
of the woods surrounding Manoir 
de Ban have been cleared to make 
way for a parking lot for several 
hundred vehicles, the curators and 
producers — head of the Grévin 
Co., Mons. Pigeon perfunctorily 
estimated — that three hundred 
thousand visitors are expected 
yearly. 
Michael Chaplin quipped during 
one interview that the roads 
might have to be widened to 
accommodate the traffic. (Only 
a Chaplin knows the depth and 
breadth of the family name.) 
Opening day estimates varied from 
eight hundred to twelve hundred 
attendees, and other numbers. 
Ticket price for adults is 23CHF, or 
about twenty-three dollars.
The Studio is a very simply named 
dreamland; a true wonder world. 
Harold Lloyd famous scene
Chaplin’s World celebrated all over Switzerland. 
Part circus, film theatre, and historic 
recreation of the past, one of the 
biggest surprises one can possibly 
have begins at the end of the film 
attendees’ watch. 
Imagine falling into one of Chaplin’s 
films! 
Imagine walking the streets of 
Chaplin’s boyhood London! 
It is all there, including an almost 
full-scale one-ring circus complete 
with seats and the wax figure of 
Transformist (“quick change” artist 
for the US readers) Arturo Brachetti 
(who attended opening night). 
As well, actor, director and writer 
Roberto Benigni, sits applauding, 
while iconic film Director Federico 
Fellini stands in creative perch 
directing the action on stage. 
Clearly the presence of these three 
great talents are just one example 
of the spectacular generosity 
Chaplin’s bedroom where he died Dec.25th 1977
Manior de Ban
A view of Lake Geneva by the author.
(and friendships) shown in this 
museum. 
Harold Lloyd hangs from a 
clock-face in near life-size 
replica. Laurel & Hardy, W.C. 
Fields, Georges Melies, the Marx 
Brothers and others are shown in 
full force as spectators watching 
the action in the one ring circus. 
Even Woody Allen is seen in one 
area called The Bank, where his 
life-size figure attempts to pass 
an illegible note to the bank teller 
as he does in his first film comedy 
Take the Money and Run (1969). 
Buster Keaton (1895-1966) is 
praised and presented with all 
the glory due the great clown 
in his one screen appearance 
(Limelight, 1952) with Chaplin, 
and as a figure one may sit, 
converse with and have a photo 
taken with if one so chooses. 
Photography is allowed on 
the premises within reason. 
Those wishing to shoot video 
should check with authorities 
beforehand. (Caveat emptor: the 
eye in the sky watches all.)
If you want to be imprisoned 
with The Tramp, you too can 
exercise similar escape skills by 
being surprised at one way out of 
the theatrical, life-sized cell. Such 
are the really clever, genuinely 
interactive exhibits. A great 
bow must be taken by whoever 
thought up each “set piece” and 
the brilliant rendering. One man 
visiting from Essex England, 
Ian Knowles, a professional 
special effects consultant, and 
his consort Mandy, repeatedly 
expressed to me how “knocked 
out” they both were by the 
extensive nature of the exhibits, 
right down to the unclean sheets 
on the prisoner’s bed. The Studio 
is a wow. Make that a “double 
wow.”
One can “assume a place” in 
Chaplin’s movies by inserting 
himself or herself into the gears that 
consume Charlot in Modern Times 
(1936), or receive a shave from 
The Barber in The Great Dictator 
(1940). These are just two examples 
among the many opportunities 
the delighted spectator has when 
either trying on a Chaplin-like 
chapeau (while learning its origins 
as a “melon hat”), twirling a replica 
bamboo cane or standing in line to 
buy a magazine that offers over one 
hundred different issues all with Mr. 
Chaplin’s face on the cover (these 
are not for sale from a stand, it is an 
exhibit).
Opening Day CHAPLIN’s WORLD 
engaged several live entertainers, 
reminiscent of the soirées Chaplin 
held on Sunday nights in his living 
room. Silhouette artists dressed 
similarly, a lightening sketch 
artist, and two balloon artists (one 
magician-balloonist Cornelius 
Magou decked out in a dashing 
purple and silver silk suit) kept the 
crowds delighted as they waited on 
line in some areas.
There is a restaurant called The 
Tramp. It has table and self-service, and an 
outdoor patio with large umbrellas that 
protect from sunlight or fierce rain (such as 
on Opening Day). Of course, there is the gift 
shop. One enters CHAPLIN’s WORLD through 
this commercial walkway, and exits same. It’s 
worth all of the time spent to see, and pay 
the price for, an unforgettable adventure 
in not just a man’s world, but, indeed, an 
immersion in his life. One gets the feeling 
not just of Chaplin and the things he owned 
and what he spent his life doing. The feeling 
of CHAPLIN’s WORLD is far deeper.
On Opening Day, the very first person 
admitted to the property was a French 
woman named Anouk Benbunan from 
Nice, France. A lifelong Chaplin fan, she 
arrived in time to attain the first position 
of those entering. She was interviewed by 
a documentarian, and photographed. She 
later told me when we met in Mr. Chaplin’s 
living room that she had asked Chaplin’s 
spirit to: 
1. Be the very first person from the 
 outside world admitted.
2. To have a “magical experience.” 
Given that she did enter first, and she then 
met a magician (me) who created magic for 
her, I’d say her wish was granted. As well, the 
ever-lasting wonderment of Charlie Chaplin 
not only persists iconically, but is in full force 
for all those who make the trek to Corsier-
sur-Vevey. There, the viewer will revel in 
what many believe to be the most important 
artist of the 20th century. Be sure—surprises 
abound.
CHAPLIN’s WORLD is the most profound 
statement of familial reverence one can see. 
From the Chagall Museum, in Nice, France, 
to the Tower of London, to the Emperor’s 
Palace in Bangkok, Thailand and the Morgan 
Museum in New York City the intriguing 
sterility honoring its subjects of the 
aforementioned doesn’t “place” in CHAPLIN’s 
WORLD. Rather, CHAPLIN’s WORLD is a 
genuinely interactive museum. It contains 
such detail it all cannot be apprehended 
at one viewing. There is warmth and a 
presence of mind that really thought about 
the statement to be made in honor of this 
exceptional individual. The display of the 
PHTOTOS: TOP - Signed autograph on Chaplin boot.
Middle - a series of Chaplin dolls
items and film accompaniments is 
riveting.
If Chaplin’s perfectionism in making 
films has continued through history, 
one cannot do better to experience 
such delightful detail than to enter 
and relish in CHAPLIN’s WORLD. The 
attention to detail is worthy of the 
man it represents. 
One is greeted immediately upon 
entering his home by the striking 
figure of the master of the Manoir 
himself; with his gorgeous wife 
looking attentively on from just 
behind him in an oversize black 
and white photo. One cannot help 
but to wipe their shoes, remove 
their hat, and offer thanks for the 
invitation to enter this celebrated 
man’s home. You are entering where 
he spent his final twenty-five years, 
raised his family and also left this 
world peacefully in his sleep on 
Christmas Day, 1977. From your very 
first step inside Chaplin’s home you 
are beset with thunderous energy. It 
is inescapable.
The “212 bus” in Vevey takesone 
directly to CHAPLIN’s WORLD, the 
bus stop appropriately called, quite 
simply “Chaplin.” From there, one 
needs a minimum of three-hours to 
experience CHAPLIN’s WORLD. 
CHAPLIN’s WORLD, Mr. Chaplin’s son 
Michael tells us, was created with 
sixty-million Swiss francs (almost 
the equivalent of 60-million dollars), 
and one could not walk a half-block 
in either Vevey or Geneva, opening 
week, without seeing an image 
or announcement of the Grand 
Opening on April 17th. Shops too 
caught the Chaplin mania. Display 
windows throughout Switzerland 
applauded Charlot and showed 
artwork, collages, posters, puppets 
and dolls, large photographs and 
chinaware that all praised the great 
clown-filmmaker. Like the residents 
of Monte Carlo being very prideful 
and mindful of The International 
Circus Festival that takes place in 
January, where petite Monte Carlo 
steps out on the world stage, so too 
does CHAPLIN’s WORLD take a well 
deserved bow on this premier. 
This writer spent a week in 
Switzerland taking in the Alps, Lake 
Geneva, eating in many restaurants 
and talking to many Swiss residents, 
some who had lived in the great 
country since before the Chaplin’s 
arrival in 1952.
While the details of the creation 
of this unparalleled museum are 
unending, I can assure the reader 
A scene from the The Tramp - one of many moving 
images throughout Chaplin’s World.
that the best statement made about 
CHAPLIN’s WORLD was made by 
his son Eugene. When asked by 
an on camera reporter for Italian 
TV how long the entire creation 
took to implement, Eugene quietly 
replied, “From start to finish the 
entire project took about sixteen 
years once we decided to do it. 
There were many hurdles and 
complications. But, in the end we 
knew we could do it. After all, we 
are Swiss!”
If you want to treat yourself to a 
once in a lifetime view of a man’s 
achievement, one who literally 
changed an art form, and did too 
many remarkable things to list in 
this brief space, I encourage you to 
go and learn what true genius is, by 
visiting, and reveling in this grand 
testament, worthy of its subject — 
CHAPLIN’s WORLD. 
http://www.chaplinsworld.com/en
Interactive dressing exhibit
Kissing Chaplin
http://www.chaplinsworld.com/en
BOOK
BY PIERRE SMOLIK
FREAK
The
Published by Call Me Edouard 
Editions/Publishers
A feast for the eye! The translation from the French by Philip Freyder of Mons. 
Smolik’s erudition is transcribably 
great. It is copiously illustrated and 
footnoted by this former Chaplin 
biographer. We are entreated to a 
detailed examination of what might 
have been Charles Chaplin’s final film, 
simply titled The Freak. He referred 
to it in interviews with the press 
shortly after the premier of his film A 
Countess From Hong Kong (1967).
The film was never made. Though 
copious notes by Chaplin, and 
two incomplete scripts have been 
assiduously assembled to provide 
a final picture of what “the master 
of masters” may have had in mind. 
Along with the Chaplin archives in 
Italy, a slim reproduction of part of a 
script of The Freak adorns the exhibit 
of the actual wings made for this film 
in CHAPLIN’S WORLD (Corsier-sur-
Vevey, Switzerland). 
We meet Sarapha, half-bird with 
wings, half-female human. She is 
intellectual without sexual curiosity, 
or assignation, in the ensuing story. 
But, she is not without great presence of mind. Mixing 
magic and ugly human traits is perfect counter point 
told by the master of mixing pathos with broad 
humor. 
We are meeting an angel. We are meeting an animal 
of myth. Chaplin’s mind may have altered a South 
American tale of the Colo Colo bird the author 
informs us. This fills out the text with many scholarly 
details that will enthrall the reader. The time in which 
Chaplin lived during the creation of this film and 
script is also admirably described. This provides a 
lovely, humanly detailed element, to the story of a film 
in development (almost to production), when The 
Fates changed direction.
Little of Chaplin’s grand idea was ever committed 
to actual film. Some in colorful rich Super-8 by 
his son-in-law-to-be Jean-Baptiste Thierree (who 
would marry the eventual star of the film, Chaplin’s 
daughter Victoria). She runs and takes flight with 
her appendages festively displayed by modern 
mechanical wizardry. The other film is taken in 16mm 
by Chaplin’s wife Oona.
We see the master gesticulating, edifying his 
statement that “space is only felt by the absence of it.” 
We learn that the feathers of the wings, supported by 
the bodice worn by Ms. Chaplin, was made of swan 
feathers. The story is complex, not just of a flighted 
being, prescient message and futurism, but a story of 
weightlessness. 
What to be without religion, if all religions are in fact 
one? The author is clearly pondering. We have no 
idea what would have been included. Chaplin was 
able to change his mind broadly and with significant 
impact at any time during his creative process. Yet, the 
1960’s were not the 1920’s when he could suspend 
shooting for over a hundred days, not a frame of film 
being exposed with actors on full time salaries. It was 
a time of social change and teen rebellion. In the 
final decade of his life (1967 – 1977), the work kept 
him alive, but when the work ceased due to physical 
discomfiture, and the adventurousness of the film, the 
entire project receded into memory. 
And now, almost four decades later, we meet The 
Freak in practical philosophic dissection and poetic 
resurrection!
The cast of contributors is amazing and many will 
be thankful of the insights this work provides film 
students of all mediums. Aurelia Thierree wrote The 
Foreword. Adolphe Nysenholc wrote The Preface. Pierre 
Etaix supplied the Preface Drawing.
The book by Call Me Edouard Press is most impressive 
with gentle black, white and grey hues inviting the 
viewer into the most private world of unfinished work by 
Charles Chaplin. Yet, can it be, that this “incomplete film” 
in book form is actually a completion of sorts? In film 
restoration, it is commonly agreed that the project is not 
finished until an audience sees the film projected.
The collaborators and Pierre Smolik have succeeded 
in bringing at least a great vestige of this otherworldly 
presence to our current day! Was The Freak indeed 
Chaplin himself? It’s an easy guess made by many.
The surprises that await the reader finish this story in 
style. As well, included is the gentlest understanding of 
growing older, in a world that is different from the past. 
It is likely that The Freak would have been unlike most 
anything produced by Charles Chaplin in his sixty-year 
involvement with making movies.
It is well written, beautifully assembled and cleanly 
printed. 
Highest recommendation.
Cost: 28 Pounds, 38 Euros. 
Wings from The Freak.
INTERACTIVE 
VIDEO
1
The videos on this page are from news items from around the world 
that featured the opening of Chaplin’s World . 
RUPTLY TV
SWITZERLAND: CHAPLIN’S WORLD MUSEUM OPENS AT 
HIS MANSION ON LAKE GENEVA
3NEWS WORLDCHAPLIN’S WORLD MUSEUM OPENS ITS DOORS IN SWITZERLAND
2MANOIR DE BAN - CHAPLIN S WORLDCHAPLIN’S WORLD - FROM BEGINNING TO END 2016
4WOCHIT ENTERTAINMENT‘CHAPLIN’S WORLD,’ AN INTERACTIVE CHARLIE CHAPLIN MUSEUM, OPENS
https://youtu.be/HWp_LrktH5U https://youtu.be/u1kVr3cN88Q
https://youtu.be/4MZcibHZLw0 https://youtu.be/DRwdhP45gcY
C IN
COIN is the first time Eric has agreed to release any of 
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https://youtu.be/HWp_LrktH5U
https://youtu.be/u1kVr3cN88Q
https://youtu.be/4MZcibHZLw0
https://youtu.be/DRwdhP45gcY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWp_LrktH5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1kVr3cN88Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MZcibHZLw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRwdhP45gcY
http://www.murphysmagic.com