Hannah Hill, Chaplin's mother, was perhaps the most influential figure in his life. Unfortunately, her career was frequently interrupted by ill-health. It was during one such occasion, when her voice gave out during a performance, that young Charlie Chaplin, at just five years old, had his first experience on stage, stepping in as an impromptu replacement.
Even in the depths of poverty, Hannah Chaplin brought joy and delight to her children's lives. She would surprise them with small treats, sing and dance to her old music hall tunes, and perform pantomime acts for their amusement. Charlie later credited his success as a pantomime artist to his mother's remarkable talent for mimicry and keen observation.

Chaplin appeared in his first stage performance this year.

As their financial condition worsened, his mother took some jobs such as nursing and dressmaking to sustain the family. She eventually returned to the stage again to perform in front of a crowd that mainly consisted of soldiers in Canteen, Aldershot. Her health at that time was failing and her voice failed her at one point, leading to hostile heckling by the crowd. As a result, the manager, who had seen little Charlie perform comic acts to entertain his mother's colleagues backstage, asked him to become an impromptu replacement. He performed the hit song 'E Dunno Where 'E Are and the crowd showered him with praise and rewarded him by throwing money on the stage.

Times of turbulence soon returned for the Chaplin brothers, owing to their father's absence and mother's deteriorating mental conditon. She was put in an infirmary for treatment and the children were separated from each other; Sydney went to a boarding school and Charlie started living with the Hodges, his relatives from his grandmother's side. They eventually started living in the Central London District Poor Law School at Hanwell, with little to no support from their father.

He joined William Jackson's Eight Lancashire Lads troupe and thus began his stage career professionally.
It is possible that in the brief stay with his father, he realised his child's talent of mimicry, singing and dancing and got him acquainted to William Jackson, the founder of the children's performing troupe called the Eight Lancashire Lads. It has been speculated that me made his debut in the Christmas pantomime titled Babes in the Woods at Theatre Royal, Manchester. He continued touring with the troupe throughout 1899 and 1900.

His mother's mental health was precarious and she was admitted to a mental asylum. At one point, the brothers had to live with their father and his new wife, but the experience was not amiable. Towards the end of 1898, his mother's health started to stabilize and the children were put under her care again.

On May 1, 1901 their father met his untimely demise after battling cirrhosis of the liver and dropsy. The family wished to give him a proper funeral but lacked the money for the arrangements. Eventually, Charles Chaplin Sr.'s younger brother Albert had to step in and make a monetary contribution for the funeral service.

Sydney had left for a voyage and owing to the deteriorating condition of his mother's health, Charlie had to find ways to fend for themselves. He worked as a flower-seller and assistant for a barber and a doctor among other jobs. He even lost a job when the employer found out that the boy is underage. Although they lived hand to mouth, his mother always disapproved of little Charlie working these jobs that did not suit his age.

In May, 1903, Charlie arrived at his residence and was informed by his friends that his mother's sickness had increased and she was losing her grip on reality. The older brother Sydney was away on a voyage and it was the responsibility of the fourteen year old Charlie to get his mother to the hospital. Not wanting to go the workhouse, Charlie stated that he would be living with his aunt. But that set up did not last long and eventually went back to his earlier home where he began waiting for his brother's return. This was a precarious time in young Charlie's life, spent in miserable solitude. When his brother returned, they went to see their mother who had been shifted to a mental asylum where she lived for eight months.

Later in the year, he joined the prestigious theatre agency of H. Blackmore in Bedford Street, Strand. He was sent to Charles Frohman's theatre and was engaged to play the role of Billy the pageboy in a tour of William C. Gillette's Sherlock Holmes. It was a role that was well received by the audience and continued to reprise his role in the years to come. Charlie bought his first camera from the earnings of the play.

H. A. Saintsbury, who played the role of Sherlock and himself wrote several plays for stage, took a liking to young Charlie and got him part in plays such as The Silver King and Jim, A Romance of Cockayne. Saintsbury was an influential figure in the life of a fifteen year old impressionable Charlie as he learned a lot of things from him, including the art of stagecraft and acting.

Sydney's aspiration to become a stage actor had preceeded Charlie's and finally the brothers had reunited and working alongside for their passion. By the end of previous year, Charlie had got his brother Sydney a role, too, in Sherlock Holmes as Count Von Stalberg. The brothers continued to tour together with the troupe up until June, 1904. The family was briefly reunited during this time, with their mother discharged from the Cane Hill Asylum (unfortunately, she relapsed again in the following year in March). After that, the role Sydney was playing was filled by someone else and he embarked on a sea voyage again. There, he discovered his potential as a solo comedian.

He rejoined William C. Gillette and reappeared as Billy in the Sherlock Holmes plays but they weren't met with critical approval, despite praises for the performances. However, working with Gillette instilled in Charlie significant theatrical experience.

Andrew Robinson writes about the influence of working with Gillette on Chaplin:
“Working with Gillette provided other valuable tuition. Gillette was highly intelligent and very successful. His father was a senator and he himself had been educated at Harvard, the University of Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Though his background was primarily intellectual, he brought an aggressively populist approach to the theatre, both as actor and playwright. The dramatist, he said, should not study dramaturgy, but the public. He held that the drama should be derived from observation of life and not from concerns about correctness of grammar, diction and aesthetics. He reacted against current melodramatic, declamatory conventions of acting, adopting a casual, downplayed style which suited light comedy rather better than love scenes. His guiding principle was that the actor must always strive to convince the audience that what he is doing he is doing for the first time.”

Sydney had found success performing in ships' smoking concerts and was able to find work for the brothers as comedy actors.

This was followed by Charlie's engagement with Casey's Court Circus troupe headed by impresario Harry Cradle and continued to work with them till July 20, 1907.

Charlie was signed by impresario Fred Karno after an impactful performance despite getting a minor role. For the first time in their lives, the brothers had attained financial stability, being signed for two years or more while getting paid weekly. With the Karno troupe, he performed in Paris at Folies Bergères in 1909.

Chaplin's biographer Andrew Robinson notes the universality and positive critical reception of Charlie's performances from these days which would establish him as the greatest comedian on screen. He writes, "There were clearly elements in the business and character which Chaplin was later to use in films; descriptions of his glare of mute distaste and the dismissive wave of the hand to indicate boredom anticipate the screen character."

In the autumn of the year 1910, Charlie first visited America in 1910 as part of the Fred Karno's troupe. There, he performed as the top-billed comedian in A Night in an English Hall, a reprisal of the play he used to perform in England under the title Mumming Birds.

"Audiences had seen it before but welcomed it back joyously. Chaplin won his usual praise at every theatre. In Butte, Montana, he was said to prove himself 'one of the best pantomime artists ever seen here'. 'Charles Chaplin as the inebriated swell is a revelation and is given a big hand many times during the act.' 'Charles Chaplin, as the polite drunk, is an artist and even though doing the broadest burlesque, never gets out of the part for an instant. His falls in and out of the boxes are wonderful, and were he not a skilled acrobat, he would break his neck.'
After the Sullivan and Considine tour, the company was booked for another six-week New York season by the William Morris Agency and then embarked on a further twenty-week Sullivan and Considine tour, which finally ended in May 1912 in Salt Lake City.”

Chaplin left England to return to America for his second tour in October, 1912.


In Charlie Chaplin's own words, "[…] for fourteen weeks we played the halls around London. The show was received well and the audiences were wonderful, but all the time I was wondering if we'd ever get back to the Stages again. I loved England, but it was impossible for me to live there; because of my background I had a disquieting feeling of sinking back into a depressing commonplaceness. So that when news came that we were booked for another tour in the States, I was elated."

On 25 September, 1913, Charlie Chaplin signed a contract with Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company which was under the parent company New York Motion Pictures, which was owned by Adam Kessel and Charles Baumann. He joined the film company on 16th December, roughly three weeks after his last theatrical performance with Karno Company at Empress, Los Angeles. After some negotiations, it is decided that he will be paid $150 weekly for the first three months, and then $175 for the remainder of the year. To Charlie's delight, it was an unusually high amount for him as he was paid less than half of this amount during his stint with Karno Company.

Late in 1912, Mack Sennett, the founder of Keystone studio, and his then-girlfriend Mabel Normand went to the American Theatre at 42nd Street and 8th Avenue to watch A Night in an English Music Hall. They remember being awestruck by Charlie Chaplin's comic performance as a drunkard, and Sennett recounts the event in his autobiography in the following manner:

"'Feller's pretty funny,' Mabel said.
'Think he'd be good enough for pictures?' I said.
'He might be,' Mabel said...
'I don't know,' I said to Mabel. 'He has all the tricks and routines and he can take a fall, and probably do a 108, but that limey make-up and costume — I don't know.'"

Charlie's first film with Keystone was Making a Living, directed by Henry Lehrman. The film featured Charlie in a round hat, monocle and a drooping moustache. The resemblance of his persona with Archibald Binks, a character he played in The Wow-Wows and A Night in a London Club during his days of working with Karno Company. From his first film itself, Charlie wasn't merely a puppet in the hands of the director but significantly contributed to the overall process of the film, suggesting gags and improvising on set. However, Charlie disliked the film as most of the gags he came up with were omitted from the final cut by Lehrman. Keystone Film Company had brought in Charlie as a replacement to the comic actor Ford Sterling, who had left to form his own company with Universal. Therefore, many people in the studio were doubtful of Charlie's potential to replace a well-established actor like Sterling. Later, Lehrman admitted that he had butchered Charlie's portions in order to teach the new actor, who he believed was too arrogant for his own good, a lesson.

For his second film, Charlie is credited with introducing the world to a character that has since then become a part of its popular imagination. The character of the clumsy vagabond who has a gentle soul, The Tramp, donning his contrasting Derby hat and baggy pants, revolutionised screen comedy forever since making his first appearance in Kid Auto Races at Venice, released five days after Charlie's first film. Although Kid Auto Races at Venice was released first, it was actualy shot after Mabel's Strange Predicament, Charlie's first Tramp film to be shot.

Andrew Robinson recounts the story of inception of the Tramp costume, “The tramp costume, which was to be little modified in its twenty-two-year career, was apparently created almost spontaneously, without fore-thought. The legend is that it was concocted one rainy afternoon in the communal male dressing room at Keystone, where Chaplin borrowed Fatty Arbuckle's voluminous trousers, tiny Charles Avery's jacket, Ford Sterling's size fourteen shoes, worn on the wrong feet to keep them from falling off, a too-small derby (bowler) belonging to Arbuckle's father-in-law, and a moustache intended for Mack Swain's use, which Chaplin trimmed to toothbrush size. This neat and colourful version of the genesis of the tramp seems to have originated in the Keystone Studio, and was certainly never endorsed by Chaplin. In his autobiography, he states that he decided on the style of the costume 'on the way to the wardrobe'. His idea was to create an ensemble of contrasts – tiny hat and huge shoes, baggy pants and pinched jacket.”

During the shooting for his next Keystone film, Charlie got into an argument with the director and actor Mabel Normand, who was also close to Mack Sennett, and almost risked the termination of his contract. However, by that time, the popularity of Charlie had catapulted and the exhibitors demanded more films featuring him and Keystone could not afford to let him loose.

In the same year, Twenty Minutes of Love was released, which featured Charlie as a first-time director and actor. Mack Sennett considered it risky to let Charlie direct a film and act in it and was worried about the losses the studio might have to incur if the film could not be released. Therefore, Charlie himself offered $1,500 on the condition that if the film could not find any proper releases and exhibitors, Sennett may keep this money. The film was a success and Charlie went on to direct most of the films of Keystone that he featured in that year.

Charlie Chaplin sheds light on how his conception of film direction changed after he transitioned from being an actor to an actor-director. He writes:

"The mechanics of directing were simple in those days. I had only to know my left from my right for my entrances and exits. If one exited right from a scene, one came in left in the next scene; if one exited towards the camera, one entered with one's back to the camera in the next scene. These, of course, were primary rules.
But with more experience I found that the placing of a camera was not only psychological but articulated a scene; in fact, it was the basis of cinematic style. If the camera is a little too near, or too far, it can enhance or spoil an effect. Because economy of movement is important you don't want an actor to walk any unnecessary distance unless there is a special reason, for walking is not dramatic. Therefore, placement of camera should effect composition and a graceful entrance for the actor. Place of camera is cinematic inflection. There is no set rule that a close-up gives more emphasis than a long shot. A close-up is a question of feeling; in some instances a long shot can effect great emphasis."

Tillie's Punctured Romance, released in November, 1914, was the last film to feature Charlie under someone else's direction, except a few films with Charlie as guest appearances in the next decade. It was also the first and only ocassion to feature him playing second fiddle to another actor, who in this case was Marie Dressler.

With the growing success, Charlie wished for a raise in his salary but Sennett did not agree with his demand of $1,000 per week. Therefore, Charlie decided to move to another studio for his work. Carl Laemmle of Universal wanted to sign him but decided not to pay the weekly salary of $1,000, so that deal was called off. At one point, Charlie even discussed with his brother Sydney to come together and create their own studio. The young and ambitious Charlie told him that he only needed a camera and a back lot in order to make films, but the older brother, who had joined Keystone in late 1914 and achieved significant success, thought it was a risky move. Ultimately, Jess Robins, a representative of Essanay Film Manufacturing Company, signed him and compensated Charlie with more money than he was demanding. Thus began Charlie's stint with Essanay Company.

In His New Job, Charlie Chaplin's first film with the Essanay, he portrays a tramp hired by a movie studio that seems to employ vagrants off the street. Charlie begins his work as a crew member, aimlessly roaming around the set, annoying people, causing disruptions, and generally being a comic nuisance. The legendary comic actor Ben Turpin stars alongside Charlie, serving as the target for much of the humor. One memorable scene features Turpin bending over, prompting Charlie to grab a saw and start sawing at Turpin's protruding behind. One can only imagine the roaring laughter Charlie's absurdity would have resulted in.

Another significant film from Charlie's days with Essanay was His Night Out. While it retains many of the familiar tropes from Keystone, such as men with exaggerated facial hair, women who flirt with drifters, dim-witted policemen, jealous husbands, hotel and bar settings, and a world where conflicts often end in physical comedy. It also shows a more refined sense of timing and a more thoughtful approach to the gags.
Additionally, the film has a longer runtime compared to the typical shorter films Chaplin made at Keystone. One standout moment is a scene in a hotel room, where Charlie, in a drunken stupor, mistakes a phone for a water dispenser and repeatedly attempts to pour water into his cup from it. Ben Turpin, Chaplin's drinking companion in the movie, brings his usual slapstick style and Edna Purviance also makes her first appearance in a Chaplin film here, beginning a professional and personal relationship that would last for the next eight years.

When Charlie started building his own stock company, he hired many of the iconic comic actors such as Ben Turpin, Billy Armstrong, Leo White and Bud Jamison. Andrew Robinson writes:
“A key task, however, was to find a leading lady. One of Broncho Billy Anderson's cowboys, either Carl Strauss or Fritz Wintermeyer, recommended a girl who frequented Tate's Café on Hill Street, San Francisco. The girl was traced and turned out to be called Edna Purviance. Born in Paradise Valley, Nevada, and brought up in nearby Lovelock, she had trained as a secretary but (at least according to later publicity biographies) had done some amateur stage work. She was blonde, beautiful and serious and Chaplin was instantly captivated by her. Only after he had engaged her did he have some qualms as to whether or not she had any gift for comedy. Edna convinced him of her sense of humour at a party the night before she started work, when she bet him $10 that he could not hypnotize her, and then played along with the gag, pretending to fall under his spell. She was to appear with him in thirty-five films over the next eight years and to prove his most enchanting leading lady, with a charm exceeding even that of Mabel Normand. For some time their association, both professional and private, was to be the happiest of Charlie's youth."

Between March 11 and April 11, four subsequent Charlie Chaplin films are released. They are In The Park, A Jitney Elopement, The Champion and The Tramp.

While discussing Chaplin films that came after The Champion, Andrew Robinson notes, “With this film, genuine romance begins to emerge in the love scenes. At our first sight of Charlie he is caressing a flower, as tenderly as the romantic vagabond of City Lights. Perhaps this new romantic element owed much to Chaplin's growing relationship with Edna. A charming note has survived, dated 1 March 1915, from the time they were working on The Champion. Chaplin addresses his leading lady as 'My Own Darling Edna' and tells her that she is 'the cause of my being the happiest person in the world'. […] The romantic element is still more pronounced in The Tramp. Made in only ten days, this remarkable film shows a staggering leap forward in its sense of structure, narrative skill, use of location and emotional range. Charlie is now clearly defined as a tramp.”

While The Tramp, with its keen attention to gentle romance, established Charlie as someone who brings a sweet sensibility to comedy, it was The Bank, released in the same year, which had a sad ending laden with pathos, established Charlie's rapport as a filmmaker who delves into thoughtful themes and thus began to be noticed by the serious critics of that time.

The Charlie Chaplin craze was growing more rapidly than ever among the media and public alike. There were several cartoons, comic strips, games, toys, costumes, life-size cut-outs, etc. catering to the high public demand.

Chaplin's fourteenth film with Essanay Company titled Police is released.

Charlie's contract with Essanay came to an end, with a tussle involving lawsuits and bitter feelings. There were several major studios eyeing the opportunity to hire Charlie Chaplin - The Triangle, Famous Players, Universal, Mutual, Vitagraph and Fox, to name a few. The most convincing deal was offered by Mutual - $10,000 per week plus an additional bonus of $150,000 on signing- and he became the highest paying film star of the whole world.

In the photographs, we can see (Left to Right) Mutual president, John Freuler, Syd Chaplin and Charlie Chaplin signing the contract. At that time, Syd was serving as the manager of his brother.

Charlie was given maximum creative control to make his films and was given his own studio called Lone Star Studio, in the Colegrave district of Los Angeles. He formed his own company of collaborators which included Edna Purviance, Albert Austin, Henry Bergman and Eric Campbell - one of the most celebrated villains of his films.

Charlie, being on the receiving end of criticism and gossips for getting paid such a high amount, gracefully justified his stand in a press statement:

“A great many people are inclined to make wide eyes at what is called my salary. Honestly, it is a matter I do not spend much time thinking about. Money and business are very serious matters and I have to keep my mind off of them. In fact I do not worry about money at all. It would get in the way of my work. I do not think that life is all a joke to me, but I do enjoy working on the sunny side of it. What this contract means is simply that I am in business with the worry left out and with the dividends guaranteed. It means that I am left free to be just as funny as I dare, to do the best work that is in me and to spend my energies on the thing that the people want. I have felt for a long time that this would be my big year and this contract gives me my opportunity. There is inspiration in it. I am like an author with a big publisher to give him circulation."

Charlie himself describes his stint with Mutual that lasted eighteen months as one of the happiest phases of his life. He enjoyed total freedom in his work and dished out one memorable film after another. A fascinating film during this period was One A.M., and it featured Charlie Chaplin at his mercurial best. The film was a thoroughly a one-man show where Charlie features as the Tramp who has returned home drunk after a drinking bout. Several props are employed in the film for comic gags as a drunken Tramp takes pratfalls while engaging in physical humour of the highest order. The film does not dwell on intertitles, as it is Charlie alone who graces the screen with several props and pratfalls employed to perfection in the gags.
Equipped with creative authority over art at Mutual, Charlie would reshoot a scene multiple times if he wasn't satisfied with it— a feat rare for even highly ambitious contemporary projects of that time including Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Several footages of outtakes survive which depict Charlie reworking the scenes meticulously until the desired shot is acheived.

"Mutual in time vanished, but the out-takes were preserved. When Chaplin closed down his studio in 1952, Totheroh was ordered to destroy the great mass of material. He was no longer young and not well and, perhaps fortunately, did not do the job very efficiently. Several hundred reels survived and eventually came into the possession of the distributor Raymond Rohauer. In 1982, they were to provide the basis for a remarkable series of three television programmes, Unknown Chaplin, directed by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill. Brownlow and Gill demonstrated that an analysis of Chaplin's rushes, with a comparison of the shot numbers, provided an incomparable insight into his methods.
The out-takes reveal, first of all, that Chaplin rehearsed, practised, perfected and refined his gags in front of the camera. We can see him, for example, tentatively trying out and then developing the best ways to use a wonderful new prop he had had built for his first Mutual film, The Floorwalker – a moving staircase."

Chaplin's last four films for Mutual are released.

Andrew Robinson comments, "By this time serious critics and commentators were beginning to discuss Chaplin's films in quite different terms from those applied to other comedies, and most other film productions of the time. After Easy Street, The Cure and, above all, The Immigrant (all 1917), the word 'artist' was frequently used about this little clown working in the hitherto disdained medium of the cinema.
Significantly, these masterpieces were much longer in production than any Chaplin films before them. The first eight films under the Mutual contract were each made in four weeks; the last four films together took almost eleven months."

During World War I, Charlie Chaplin faced intense public scrutiny in Britain for his refusal to enlist, despite his immense fame. With no conscription in place until 1916, the British government relied on voluntary enlistment, and societal pressure to join the military was overwhelming. Women handed out white feathers to men not in uniform, symbolizing cowardice, while propaganda painted non-enlisting men as unpatriotic. As Chaplin's celebrity grew, he became a prime target for this social shaming, receiving white feathers, threatening letters, and harsh media attacks.
Chaplin's absence from the war sparked resentment, particularly among those who had lost loved ones. To many, his refusal to serve epitomized the divide between the privileged and the ordinary citizen. The situation worsened when an unauthorized interview, Charlie Chaplin's Own Story, appeared in the press, heavily embellished with false details including the fake information that he was born in Fontainebleau, France. Although Chaplin attempted to suppress it legally, the syndication rights were sold to Lord Northcliffe's Harmsworth Press, which waged an aggressive anti-Chaplin campaign.
Despite this, Chaplin sought to contribute by campaigning for Liberty Bonds in the United States. His campaign raised millions, though even this was met with criticism. Media outlets like Photoplay pointed out that Chaplin's income could fund an entire regiment for a year, fueling perceptions of hypocrisy. Ultimately, Chaplin was rejected for military service in the U.S. due to being underweight, which ended the media attacks. . However, his wartime reputation remained clouded by these public controversies.

In 1917, seeking greater creative control and independence from the restrictive contracts imposed by major studios, Charlie Chaplin decided to build his own production facility. This move was catalyzed by the creation of the First National Exhibitors' Circuit Inc., a newly formed theatre chain that had become the largest in the United States. In order to collaborate with First National Pictures, Chaplin needed to establish his own studio, as the theater chain required a direct production partnership. By October 1917, Chaplin announced plans to build a studio at the southeast corner of La Brea and Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, marking a significant step toward his autonomy in the film industry. It was the studio that served Charlie for the rest of his career in America.

Chaplin's first project with First National was the charming three-reeler A Dog's Life, in which his iconic Tramp character outwits two corrupt cops by skillfully maneuvering through a dilapidated fence near his makeshift home. He then rescues his lovable canine sidekick, Scraps, from a literal dogpile. The two form a bond, relying on stolen food and mutual care. The Tramp becomes infatuated with a downhearted cabaret singer, Edna Purviance, but struggles to provide for her. Fortunately, Scraps' love for digging leads to the discovery of a hidden fortune. However, before the trio can realize their rural dream of farming, they must first contend with a group of determined thieves.

Charlie Chaplin's 1918 film A Dog's Life remains a beloved classic, especially for dog-lovers, due to its touching portrayal of the bond between the Tramp and a stray dog named Scraps. By drawing parallels between their lives as marginalized figures, the film highlights their mutual struggles and deepens their connection through humor and warmth. The timeless themes of loyalty, love, and resilience in A Dog's Life continue to influence films like Hachiko, Umberto D., and Turner & Hooch, which similarly explore the profound impact of human-animal relationships. Chaplin's depiction of this connection serves as a lasting reminder of how animals provide comfort, companionship, and hope even during life's most challenging times, resonating with generations of viewers and filmmakers.

Triple Trouble is released by Essanay Company. The film was released after his stint with Essanay had ended and he had no legal control over the material he shot for the studio.

Charlie's relationship with his frequent collaborator Edna Purviance had come to an end, though they continued to work later as well. Early in 1918, he met a sixteen-year-old actress, Mildred Harris. In September, they married abruptly after Charlie was incorrectly told by her mother that she is pregnant. They had a child together in June, 1919, but the child died due to health complications three days after his birth. It was a turbulent marriage that ended in November, 1920.

Chase Me Charlie is released by Essanay Studio on April 8,1918.

The film was released at a time when Charlie was not signed to the studio, possibly in an attempt to cash in on the megastar's fame. It compiled scenes from his earlier films such as In the Park, A Night Out, His New Job, The Champion, The Tramp, By the Sea, Shanghaied, The Bank, and A Woman.

The major figures in cinema did their part to represent and support the war effort— Cecille B. DeMille made The Little American (1917) and D.W. Griffith made The Birth of a Nation (1915) — and soon Charlie Chaplin contributed in his own eccentric manner. His contribution came in the form of the patriotic film Shoulder Arms, though by the time it was released, the war was nearly over. In the film, Chaplin's iconic character, the Tramp, goes to the front lines, humorously performs heroic feats, and audaciously kicks the Kaiser in the rear.

Chaplin's Shoulder Arms is historically significant as it offers insight into Chaplin's filmmaking process and the creative freedom he enjoyed. Initially conceived as his first feature-length movie, Shoulder Arms remained his longest film at the time. Chaplin made the bold decision to cut the already shot first and expensive third acts, ultimately reworking the film into just the middle portion of his original vision. It was a bold move that many filmmakers would not have the freedom or resources to make. Balancing a pro-war message with slapstick humor and burlesque battle scenes might seem difficult, but Chaplin pulls it off effortlessly in Shoulder Arms.

By this stage in his career, Chaplin had become a master of screen comedy, showing that a film with fewer, more thoughtfully crafted gags which are carefully timed and refined could be far more effective than a chaotic farce full of pratfalls. The memorable sequence in Shoulder Arms where Chaplin disguises himself as a tree is a perfect example of his evolving artistry. Even amid the horrors of war, Chaplin had the ability to lift the spirits of millions, as the film garnered praise from the men involved in the army.

Sunnyside, Charlie Chaplin's third film for First National Pictures is released.

Charlie Chaplin, along with D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks inaugrated the United Artists and revolutionalised the distribition practices of Hollywood. This independent studio was set up with the aim to curb the monopoly of the studio system that underpaid and exploited the actors.

In January 1919, United Artists had been incorporated with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, D. W. Griffith and Chaplin as partners. The seeds of the plan had been sown in the course of the Liberty Bond tours, when Chaplin, Fairbanks and Pickford had met Oscar Price, press agent of William Gibbs McAdoo, Secretary of the Treasury, in Washington. 'Why,' Price asked them, 'don't you folks get together and distribute your own pictures?' They began to consider the idea more seriously at the end of 1918, when their suspicions were aroused by the behaviour of their various employers. First National were adamant in their refusal to better Chaplin's existing contract; Paramount showed no interest at all in renewing the contracts of Pickford and Fairbanks, which were due to expire. The three stars got together with Griffith and William S. Hart, the stone-faced Western hero, and speculated that the film companies were planning a strategy to put a stop to the astronomical salaries that the major stars were able to command. The idea, they rightly guessed, was to organize a great merger of the producing companies and a monopoly of distribution outlets, and in this way bring the stars to heel once more.

After a long lasting and tumultous struggle with First National, The Kid was released. The Kid, Charlie Chaplin's first full-length feature film, holds a significant spot in cinema history as one of the earliest full-length comedies and a pioneering example of blending comedy with drama. While it showcases the lighthearted antics of Chaplin's Little Tramp and the titular kid hustling to earn a quick dollar, it also delves into the heartfelt bond of this unconventional family unit, revealing how these two mischievous characters genuinely care for and protect one another.

From August to September 1919, Chaplin developed the scenario for The Kid passionately with the precocious Jackie Coogan in mind. He filmed the story in a continuous sequence, as was his preference. Charles D. Hall, the distinguished art director who would later design Universal's Dracula and Frankenstein, created the set for the Tramp's attic home.
Midway through production, Chaplin realized that The Kid was evolving into a far more extensive and intricate narrative than any he had tackled before. To buy more time from First National, he paused work for several weeks and quickly shot another two-reeler, A Day's Pleasure, which was produced as a simple, no-fuss project for swift release. After resuming work on the latter half of The Kid, Chaplin gave his cherished child actor and co-star, Jack Coogan, a special Christmas gift by shutting down the studio for a week so Coogan could visit his grandmother in San Francisco. From January to April, they wrapped up the film's challenging and dramatic scenes leading up to the climax.
Chaplin encountered a dispute with First National regarding their compensation terms, having invested $500,000 of his own funds into the project while facing a reimbursement offer of just $405,000 based on their previous agreement. Fearing that his ex-wife (Mildred Harris) could have colluded with the studio to claim the unedited negatives as alimony, Chaplin, together with cinematographer Roland Totheroh and close aide Alf Reeves, relocated nearly 400,000 feet of film negatives to a hotel room discreetly. There, they transformed the space into a makeshift editing room and completed the movie, which ultimately released to widespread acclaim from audiences everywhere.

From August to September 1919, Chaplin developed the scenario for The Kid passionately with the precocious Jackie Coogan in mind. He filmed the story in a continuous sequence, as was his preference. Charles D. Hall, the distinguished art director who would later design Universal's Dracula and Frankenstein, created the set for the Tramp's attic home.
Midway through production, Chaplin realized that The Kid was evolving into a far more extensive and intricate narrative than any he had tackled before. To buy more time from First National, he paused work for several weeks and quickly shot another two-reeler, A Day's Pleasure, which was produced as a simple, no-fuss project for swift release. After resuming work on the latter half of The Kid, Chaplin gave his cherished child actor and co-star, Jack Coogan, a special Christmas gift by shutting down the studio for a week so Coogan could visit his grandmother in San Francisco. From January to April, they wrapped up the film's challenging and dramatic scenes leading up to the climax.
Chaplin encountered a dispute with First National regarding their compensation terms, having invested $500,000 of his own funds into the project while facing a reimbursement offer of just $405,000 based on their previous agreement. Fearing that his ex-wife (Mildred Harris) could have colluded with the studio to claim the unedited negatives as alimony, Chaplin, together with cinematographer Roland Totheroh and close aide Alf Reeves, relocated nearly 400,000 feet of film negatives to a hotel room discreetly. There, they transformed the space into a makeshift editing room and completed the movie, which ultimately released to widespread acclaim from audiences everywhere.

Following the success of The Kid the previous year, which marked Charlie Chaplin's triumphant entry into feature filmmaking, Pay Day became his final film belonging to the shorter format. The film presents the world's most famous tramp in steady employment for a change. Mack Swain, Edna Purviance, and Phyllis Allen deliver memorable performances as the foreman, the foreman's daughter, and the laborer's wife, respectively, with Chaplin's half-brother Sydney appearing as the "Mustachioed Workman." At this stage, Chaplin was completing these shorter films as part of his contractual obligations to First National, paving the way for him to create the features he truly desired with the newly established United Artists.

The premiere of A Woman of Paris is held at Criterion Theatre, Hollywood in 1923.

The film did not perform well at the box office, presumably because it was the only film directed by Charlie Chaplin that did not feature him as an actor. However, the film gained unanimous praise from the critics and fellow filmmakers. Ernst Lubitsch, who had recently shifted to America from Germany to make films in Hollywood, named this film as one of his biggest influences. Reflecting on the film, he told The New York Times, “I like it because I feel that an intelligent man speaks to me and nobody's intelligence is insulted in the picture.” During the summer of 1923, Lubitsch, accompanied by scenarist Paul Bern, attended a private screening of an early rough cut, personally invited by Chaplin. The experience was transformative for Lubitsch, who later confided to his biographer that if it wasn't for this film, he would have returned to Germany. For years, he continued to champion Chaplin's work, often comparing him to literary giants like Molière and Ibsen.

Chaplin, due to the commercial failure of A Woman of Paris, pulled it from public exhibition, but in 1976, just a year before his death, he re-released a heavily-edited version featuring a new musical score that he composed himself, replacing the original 1923 score by Ferdinand Gottschalk. This new score became the final completed work of his remarkable 75-year career. Remarkably, a few years ago, more than 19 hours of home and studio recordings were recovered, dating back as early as 1951, capturing Chaplin composing at the piano. No written scores of this music were ever found.

In 1923, a theater owner in Atlantic City, New Jersey, introduced a "Keystone Comedy Day," which quickly gained popularity and spread to other cities throughout the remainder of the decade. This poster, created by German-American puppeteer Tony Sarg, showcases a series of comedic illustrations of the Charlie Chaplin and other renowned comedians.

In this year, Charlie Chaplin got married to Hollywood actress Lita Grey in Guaymas, Mexico. She appeared in three of Chaplin's films: The Kid, The Idle Class and The Gold Rush.

On July 6, 1925, Charlie Chaplin became the first film personality to appear on the cover of Time Magazine.

The Gold Rush is premiered at Strand Theatre, New York on August 16, 1925

Charlie himself said that if there is one film he would like the world to remember him through, it would be The Gold Rush. This explains why he chose this as the first film which he chose to rerelease in 1942, with added sound effects and intertitles replaced by voiceover. The rerelease was nominated for two Oscars in 1943: for Best Sound and Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

Some of the iconic scenes of The Gold Rush have been recreated in films across the world. In Bollywood, the famous climatic scene in Welcome (2007) where people are comically hanging onto each other at the edge of the cliff is a direct reference to the Chaplin film.

The production of The Circus began in January, 1926 and after several hardships, the film premiered at Strand Theatre, New York on January 6, 1928.

When The Tramp makes his first appearance in The Circus, a narrative intertitle introduces him with the words, “At the sideshows. Broke and hungry.” While this depiction might have simply inspired sympathy in 1928, it would strike a much deeper chord just a year later, with the onset of the Great Depression.
Chaplin, meanwhile, seemed to embody elements of the Tramp's struggles during the chaotic production of the film. The making of The Circus was notoriously troubled: marked by a bitter divorce, a series of mishaps on set, and even the collapse of the big tent due to strong winds. For these reasons, The Circus holds a special place in Chaplin's body of work— not for its familiar sentimentality, but for how it gracefully weaves a sense of defeat with unexpected lightness.

On this day, Winston Churchill visited Charlie Chaplin on the set of City Lights, accompanied by Randolph Churchill, John Churchill, John Churchill Jr., and Ambassador Alexander Moore. Studio manager Alf Reeves was also present. After sharing a meal, Chaplin gave his visitors a tour of the studio where he was creating his silent masterpiece, City Lights. He delighted the group by performing a piano recital, singing English ballads, and acting out scenes from his new film. To cap off the visit, Chaplin hosted a private screening of his acclaimed 1918 movie Shoulder Arms and showed them the rushes for City Lights.

World premiere of City Lights is held at Los Angeles Theatre on January 19, 1931..

By this year, technological advancements had been accomplished in the field of sound and the audience was all ears for talkies. It comes as a huge revelation that Charlie Chaplin could have been the one to revolutionalise moving pictures with inclusion of sound almost a decade earlier when Eugène Augustin Lauste wrote to him about his invention that records visuals and sound synchronously on the same device. However, Charlie did not respond to the letter. Charlie Chaplin, being sure of his vision inside out, must have known that his style of comedy utilises the range of the cinematic medium thoroughly. He did not cave in to the convenient mode of relying on dialogue for the gags, he went a step ahead and conjured up scenarios that required more attention to detail from the viewers and hold endless potential for rewatching. He establishes more with having the Tramp walk rather than talk, but still spins the newly developed possibilities of sound to suit his demands, using it to go beyond the making the character simply speak workds. For instance, City Lights, opens with a "speech" dedicated to a new monument with the speaker's voice distorted heavily. It is not only funny but also an impactful commentary on how these sort of speeches are merely rhetorical nonsense to the ears of the public. Chaplin would later use dialogue a decade later in The Great Dictator.

Charlie Chaplin met Mahatma Gandhi at 45, Beckton Road in Canning Town, Newham. The plight of the factory workers and their working conditions was a prominent topic of discussion for Charlie and Gandhi. It is believed that the conversation had a deep influence on Modern Times, a film that would delve into the theme of pitfalls of rapid industrialisation and go on to become one of the greatest films of all time.

Charlie Chaplin writes about his meeting with Gandhi, "I met him in a humble little house in the slum district off the East India Dock Road. Crowds filled the streets and the Press and the photographers packed both floors. The interview took place in an upstairs front room about twelve feet square. The Mahatma had not yet arrived; and as I waited I began to think of what I would say to him. I had heard of his imprisonment and hunger strikes, and his fight for the freedom of India, and vaguely knew of his opposition to the use of machinery."

He continues, "'Naturally I am in sympathy with India's aspirations and struggle for freedom,' I said. 'Nonetheless, I am somewhat confused by your abhorrence of machinery.' The Mahatma nodded and smiled as I continued: 'After all, if machinery is used in the altruistic sense, it should help to release man from the bondage of slavery, and give him shorter hours of labour and time to improve his mind and enjoy life.' 'I understand,' he said, speaking calmly, 'but before India can achieve those aims she must first rid herself of English rule. Machinery in the past has made us dependent on England, and the only way we can rid ourselves of that dependence is to boycott all goods made by machinery.'"

Charlie Chaplin's influence on Indian cinema is truly undeniable. The most popular example is the celebrated actor-director Raj Kapoor, who adopted the iconic traits of Chaplin's Little Tramp, such as his distinctive shuffle. This tribute to Chaplin's genius led to Kapoor becoming known as the Indian counterpart to the Tramp, with his film Awara, which translates to "tramp" in Hindi, achieving immense popularity both domestically and internationally.

Following Kapoor's lead, numerous actors, including Sridevi (Mr. India), Rishi Kapoor (Naseeb) Mehmood (Aulad), Kamal Haasan (Punnaigai Mannan), and Chiranjeevi (Chantabbai), incorporated Chaplin-like characteristics into their portrayals. However, it was Noor Mohammed who first graced the screen while bringing her own spin to the Tramp persona. He also used the character name "Charlie" in some films such as The Indian Charlie, Toofan Mail and Musafir.

In 1932, Charlie Chaplin narrowly escaped an assassination attempt during his visit to Japan. The attack was orchestrated by a group of ultranationalists known as the "League of Blood," who sought to assassinate prominent figures to destabilize the government and provoke war. Their primary target was Japanese Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi, but they also intended to kill Chaplin, believing his death would strain US-Japan relations.

Chaplin was invited to a sumo wrestling event by Inukai's son, and this unplanned outing saved his life. On the same day, the assassins stormed the Prime Minister's residence and murdered Inukai. Despite the tragic events, Chaplin remained composed and continued his tour, expressing admiration for Japanese culture.

Modern Times opened at Rivoli, New York on February 5, 1936.

The film is one of the most staggering feats ever accomplished in the history of cinema. Releasing this silent masterpiece at a time when silent films were already something that belonged to the past and talkies were dominating theaters, Chaplin blazingly shows the world that silent films were more than just a technological limitation of their time and they possessed unique storytelling merits that made them both valuable and irreplaceable. With the Modern Times, Chaplin bids farewell to his Tramp persona.

The Great Dictator had its world premiere at Capitol and Astor Theatres, New York in 1940.

For a long time, Charlie Chaplin opposed the transition to talkies, but in The Great Dictator, he embraced the format for the first time, driven by a desire to speak out against atrocities of World War I. This film featured his vocal debut, culminating in a powerful three-minute monologue. In it, Chaplin, portraying a Jewish barber mistaken for the dictator Adenoid Hynkel delivers a passionate speech condemning oppression and imperialism, while earnestly advocating for racial tolerance and humanist ideals.

Britain's policy of appeasement continued until March 1939, and the United States remained neutral until December 1941, a year after the film's release. While The Great Dictator was under production, Chaplin's colleagues at the studio he co-owned feared the movie would be banned by governments worldwide. However, by the time it premiered, the UK was already at war with Germany, and the film was embraced by the government, partly due to its evident propaganda significance.

In the wake of the controversy of the paternity suit filed by Joan Barry, Chaplin announced his fourth marriage. He married Oona O'Neill, the eighteen-year-old daughter of renowned American playwright Eugene O'Neill. In Oona, Chaplin found his true love and remained with her till his death in 1977.

Ideas for several projects were floating in Chaplin's mind: an adaptation of Paul Vincent Carroll's play Shadow and Substance, which never saw the light of day, was one of them. Another was a film based on French serial killer, Henri Landru. He bought a story from Orson Welles, who was in dire need of money. The story was completely transformed into a new entity by Chaplin and thus began the production of the film. However, the production was marred by delays due to controversies. First, a legal tussle with Joan Barry over paternity of her child where the outcome was in Chaplin's favour. Then, several journalists slinging mud at Chaplin over his wealth, taxes, relationships, etc. But the most damaging accusation came in the wake of Red Scare, when Chaplin was branded a communist by the American government. Chaplin's political views became increasingly controversial after World War II. His outspoken opposition to fascism, capitalism, and U.S. foreign policy, coupled with his friendships with known leftists, placed him under growing scrutiny by the FBI.

Premiere of Monsieur Verdoux is held at Broadway Theatre, New York, in 1947.

This was a film that was completely different from Charlie's usual motif and was a dark comedy about a bank clerk who lost his job and began to marry and murder wealthy women in order to support his own family financially. Chaplin was booed at the premiere and members of the Catholic War Veterans organization held a protest calling for Charlie to be deported. Critical reception of the film was entirely different and Charlie was lauded again for yet another bold feat in cinema. French experimental filmmaker Jean-Marie Straub, who is known for his collaborations with his wife Danièle Huillet, while compiling a list of his favourite films placed Monsieur Verdoux as his first, second and third favourite film of all time.

Towards the end of filming Monsieur Verdoux, he was summoned to Washington to appear before the House Un-American Activities to speak about his ties to the Communist Party.

While Charlie never received an official subpoena to clarify his links with communism, he replied by sending a telegram that read. "I will tell you what I think you want to know. I am not a Communist, neither have I ever joined any political party or organisation in my life. I am what you call 'a peace-monger'".

Since his next release, Limelight, was set in London, Charlie decided that it should premiere at London as well. The day he left for England, he was informed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that he his re-entry permit has been rescinded. If he were to return to America, the officials would have to hold him for questioning over his communist ties and moral turpitude.

Premiere of Limelight, his last American film, was held at Odeon, Leicester Square, London, on October 23, 1952.

Limelight is a melancholic semi-autobiographical film about an aging star performer of music hall with his prime behind him. Charlie Chaplin's beloved Tramp persona reemerges, embodied by Calvero, who dreams of a more glorious past and delivers one last performance. This moment is as much Calvero's final opportunity to shine before the public as it is Chaplin's. Chaplin in his sixties takes the stage with a mix of vaudeville and slapstick, showing that the Tramp's spirit is very much alive and ready to bring joy. He moves with remarkable grace, singing and dancing, which is a stark contrast to the heavy gait he carries at the film's start, reaffirming that the stage is his true home. Yet, behind his eyes lies the melancholy of knowing his final bow is near.

Charlie Chaplin and his wife, Oona, settled in Manoir de Ban, Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.

Charlie Chaplin met Jawaharlal Nehru when he was in Bürgenstock, Switzerland to attend the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.

Charlie Chaplin wrote in his autobiography about their meeting: "I was surprised to find a small man like myself. His daughter, Mrs. Gandhi, was also present—a charming quiet lady. Nehru impressed me as a man of moods, austere and sensitive, with an exceedingly alert and appraising mind. [...] He spoke highly of Lord Louis Mountbatten, who, as Viceroy of India, had done an excellent job in terminating England's interests there. I asked him in which ideological direction India was going. He said, "In whatever direction, it is for the betterment of the Indian people," and added that they had already inaugurated a five-year plan."

Charlie Chaplin made his return to America to receive a Special Academy Award.

While based in Europe, he made films such as A King in New York (1957) and A Countess in Hong Kong (1967). He never set foot in America again except to receive an honorary Oscar for his immense contribution to cinema. With the Red Scare and McCarthyism alleviating, his films regained popularity in America and continue to be loved by people from all walks of life.

Charlie Chaplin was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and thus he became 'Sir' Charles Spencer Chaplin at the age of 85.

Charlie Chaplin died in his sleep at Manoir de Ban, Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.