 Charlie Chaplin's DVD and VHS Guide An Index and Shop for Chaplin films available in the USA (including Blu-Ray)  |
| Welcome to Charlie Chaplin's DVD, Blu-Ray and VHS Index Guide for the USA This guide created by ednapurviance.org to help you find your favorite Chaplin and Edna Purviance films for the USA. In this section I have gathered information on the best DVD, Blu-Ray and VHS available from Amazon. Each page is divided into the Essanay and Mutual films, The Chaplin Collections, Chaplin documentaries and other works of interest. With the newly restored version of Chaplin's work available from Warner Home Video and MK2 and the completely restored Essanay and Mutual Films from Image Entertainment, the selection could not be better! I have also included a listing for rare DVDs and Videos which are still available at Amazon. The film collections below are divided into the periods described below. Click on the links to view the films and collections from the period of your interest. If interested in buying, just click on the DVD/VHS buttons on the different pages in the right hand side to view the Amazon video page on the film. Review and Comparison of the Arte 2013 Mutuals and the Flicker Alley 2014 Mutuals Latest - Flicker Alley Essanays 2015 CHARLIE CHAPLIN FILM RELEASES ON DVD & BLU-RAY. CNN REPORT ABOUT THE CHARLIE CHAPLIN KEYSTONES. REEL CLASSIC DVDs - If you have your favorite official Chaplin versions, and looking for something more, the REEL CLASSIC DVDs is the place to look. These earlier versions of the films, show edits and takesn, not seen on the official versions. The Kid and Shoulder Arms is closer to what audiences saw, during his peak years. Great addition to your collection! Here's a report on THE KID, and how it is different than the official release. Click on the DVD/VHS button to view the video's page information on Amazon.com Couldn't find what you wanted? Check this search link. This guide is for videos coded for the USA market. Follow these links below to the different sections and/or read below on more information about each section: |
| WARNER HOME VIDEO - 2003-04 | IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT | DOCUMENTARIES AND MORE |
| THE CHAPLIN COLLECTION | ESSANAY AND MUTUALS - DVDS | UNKNOWN CHAPLIN |
| CHAPLIN COLLECTION EXTRAS | ESSANAY AND MUTUALS - VHS | CHAPLIN DOCUMENTARIES |
| CHAPLIN - DVD & VHS INDEX | FIRST NATIONAL/UNITED ARTISTS | KEYSTONE - DVD AND VHS |
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CHAPLIN'S BLU-RAY AND KEYSTONE COLLECTIONS - (2010 - 2012)
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USA CRITERION COLLECTION |
UK PARK CIRCUS - 2010-2011 |
FLICKER ALLEY AND BFI |
| FOLLOW-UP: • The HOLLYWOOD SERIES by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill (DVD Collection) has been removed from the Amazon UK list fall 2006. It was pulled off due to copyright issues. Currently only available on VHS. |
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2012 - Blu-Ray Edition for European/UK Market from Park Circus/MK2 - USA through Criterion Released from Park Circus/MK2. DVD or, Blu-Ray or dual DVD/ Blu-Ray play for Pal. Reviews mixed on Amazon. See comments from buyers. Link to USA Criterion and Park Circus release.  The Charlie Chaplin Collection - Roy Export, Warner Video and MK2 - 2003/2004 This Warner Brother Collection has been retired. About the Warner collection: All these films have returned to the versions Chaplin re-edited from 1940's to the mid-1970's, as seen in the previous Centennial Collection from 1989. First National, United Artists and British Productions are included. Chaplin re-edited all his films during this time to suit the tastes of modern audiences. This collection is loaded with extras and new documentaries like the series Chaplin Today and Richard Schickel's Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin. And for Chaplin fans of the 1925 silent version of The Gold Rush, that version is now available in this collection. One note: I have been a black and white photographer and printer for over 20 years, and quickly noticed some of these films on DVD are more contrasty than the original films and some more noticeably so than others. The Chaplin Revue with the newly restored collection of First National Films have the biggest problem. While most of the features look excellent, features like The Idle Class, a First National Film, looks overly contrasty. Comedy bits, like Chaplin on the back of the car, are lost in blackness. Another example is in Shoulder Arms. Sydney, one of Charlie's war buddies, is reading sheet music in their bunks. In this Warner version, the sheet music looks like a blank piece of bright white paper. The famous tree scene also has lost detail. Fine light details are also burned out when viewed on the TV screen. The soft film glow of the earlier version is lost, in exchange for deeper blacks and whiter whites. In some cases, this has not been an improvement. The restored sound is very good in this collection. And you will find a few new added sound effects in The Chaplin Revue Collection. |
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 Chaplin First National, Untied Artists, British Production - 1990's David Shepard While the Charlie Chaplin Collection was the latest, these films restored by David Shepard and released by Image Entertainment are out-of-print but still available. This collection is the closest to the original theatre releases of the First National Films Collection. This collection also has a luminous softness and are not quite as contrasty as the new Warner Home Video Collection. Fine details can be seen easily and are not burned out on the TV screen. All the silent made films before City Lights required film speed correction. The main downside of restoring the films is that the music Chaplin created from the 1940's to the 1970's for the modernized edits was no longer in sync with the original theatrical release edits. The obvious changes can be observed in The Kid and in The Charlie Chaplin First National Collection, which have become a collector's items for the reasons cited above. The corrected film speeds, the original scenes re-edited back in and softer contrast make the First National Collection restored by David Shepard from Image Entertainment a must have for any Chaplin collection. It is no longer in print, but still available at Amazon at collector prices. |
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 Unknown Chaplin and other Documentaries There are many documentaries about Chaplin, and many of the older ones are still on video. One of the best documentaries on Chaplin is Unknown Chaplin Series by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill. It is a great collection that any Chaplin fan or anyone interested in film should have. This section has more to choose from including Chaplin's Goliath, Eric Campbell. |
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 Essanay and Mutual Collection DVDs - restored by David Shepard Chaplin did not own the copyrights for his Essanay and Mutual films, so ownership changed hands many times over the years. David Shepard and his great staff spent nine years gathering all the Chaplin films and strips available around the world to put together the best collection of Essanay and Mutual films available to date. New music was scored with each. You can find them in small collections of a few films or the complete boxed set collection containing the Mutuals and Essanays and the bonus film Chaplin's Goliath. In 2006, a USA collection called The Chaplin Mutual Comedies 90th Anniversary Edition is the same film collection as the BFI collection with Carl Davis scores but includes extras like 'The Gentleman Tramp'.
The latest restored 2014 USA version is called Chaplin's Mutual Comedies' from Flicker Alley. This collection was presented for a limited time in a collector's SteelBook Case. When I first posted here, I thought the French and USA Mutuals would be exactly a like. After side by side comparisons, they are not. I did a review on both of these collections to help buyers to learn more about them. A 2006 collection called '90th Anniversary Edition - The Chaplin Mutual Comedies' has Carl Davis musical scores and is available only used as the collection is out-of-print. Another set from 2003, called Charlie Chaplin Short Comedy Classics - The Complete Essanay & Mutual Collection is still available, but these are not the latest restored films. But the reviews have been overall positive, so would do for someone liking to have the Essanay and Mutuals at a decent price. (Note: I have never bought this 2003 set, so only going by the reviews. It is from Image Entertainment, but not the latest restored. Also, while I have seen the 2013 French Mutuals, which have excellent picture quality, I don't know what the Flicker Alley ones will be like, until I actually see them. So hoping the transfers will be the same high quality. It would be hard to beat the pre-order price from Flicker Alley, so certainly pre-order today to not miss out.) |
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 VHS Essanay and Mutuals restored by Shepard with Keystones and others If you own a VHS player and still want the best of Chaplin's Mutual and Essanay works, look for the Kino collection. Kino features the David Shepard restorations.
Chaplin at Keystone Collection on DVD USA Release from Flicker Alley The best of the Chaplin Keystones, with the release of all 35 films on DVD from Flicker Alley have been released in the USA. You can order at Flicker Alley or at Amazon. Please note: There are many other Chaplin videos, but beware. There are many poorly produced videos still on the market. In general, if the cover of the video is not shown on these pages, then the item is likely one of the poor quality knock-offs. This section also has The Chaplin Movie and Chaplin's last film, Countness of Hong Kong. |
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Chaplin Films from The First National, United Artists and British Productions. If you are new to Chaplin's world, you may be bit confused by the different video collections being marketed. In 1940's, Chaplin restored 'The Gold Rush' for release in theatres. When he did this, he composed a music score and added a voice narration where he spoke instead of using the original silent film caption slides. He also changed several scenes, like the ending. Over the years, the original silent 1925 version resurfaced from another collection, and ironically became the fans' favorite instead. Over the next 25 years, Chaplin continue to create accompanying music scores and edit his films to accommodate the tastes of modern day audiences. Many of these were seen on television, theatres or were even sold as 16mm or 8mm films. Then in the early 80's videotapes and lazer discs swept across the nation. Chaplin collections around the world had a brand new audience and numerous video versions flooded the market. Many were very poor quality, with visible scratches, poorly recorded music, cropped off images, over and under exposure, and on and on. Some were literally videotaped off films projected on a screen! It was the worst, but also the best thing to happen. Due to renewed interest in Chaplin, there was an incentive in saving these films and creating a better product. The first major restoration of Chaplin's films after his death was done for the Chaplin Centennial Collection. This 1989 videotape collection became the first complete set of Chaplin films available. But videotape has its limits, and DVD techologies were just around the corner. DVD and the digitizing age The second major restoration project after Chaplin's death came in the 1990's when David Shepard and his team worked with Roy Export (The Chaplin Family company created by Charlie Chaplin) and this time to remaster using new digital techology. But to make this different and not just a copy of the 1989 Centennial Video Collection, the parties agreed to return all the deleted scenes Chaplin took out when he was personally 'modernizing' his work. Also, for the first time the previous too-fast film speeds were corrected. What this collection created was the first collection to see some of the films as audiences would have seen them in their original theatrical release. This fact alone makes this collection valuable for fans who want to see Chaplin's original work as first edited at Chaplin Film Studios, especially for First National Films, which had the most editing. In films like The Kid, most of the scenes of the mother and father, played by Edna Purviance and Carl Miller, were removed, leaving little about their story and how the child was abandoned. The Shepard restoration created the best films available for its day, except for one thing. Because of the scenes being edited back in and the speed being corrected, the music Chaplin created for the modernized versions no longer was in sync with the films. Still, this was the best available until the latest restored edition. After the release of the Shepard edited collection, the Chaplin family decided to change the collection again. The Chaplin Collection, released by Warner Home Video and MK2, are the new DVDs reverted to the same modernized versions as in the Centennial Video Collection, and include the latest DVD technology and newly produced packages and featurettes. It is a great collection, but does lack the original film release edits in some of the earlier films. The key thing to realize, however, is that you now have two distinct choices of quality films. First are the David Shepard restorations which are films closest to the original theatrical release versions with softer contrast where you can see the fine details better. Second are the current Warner Video and MK2 versions which are the modern versions Chaplin edited during his life, with fine restored music and picture quality, loaded with extras. There has never been a better time to own Chaplin Films for your collection. In the USA or UK! Update March 12, 2012 - Several years have passed and new ways of saving films have arrived. Since I wrote and build this guide, Chaplin's Keystone films have been restored and now available on DVD. AND, Chaplin's films are now on Blu-Ray. I am very happy to finally get to see the Keystone films, and what I have seen is very good. But, to be perfectly frank, when I want to watch Chaplin's classic films, I still watch the Shepard edited films from IMAGE, the most. I like seeing all of Chaplin's original work, over his re-edited films. For my research into Edna's life, I found having as close to the original films, as possible, most important, in understanding Charlie's and Edna's relationship. As for fans you need to buy, what you are most happy with. With the 2012 editions, you have even more choices. Enjoy! Linda Wada ednapurviance.org  Special Thanks to Garen Ewing (Charlie Chaplin UK DVD and Video Guide and Shop), David Robinson (Chaplin: His Life and Art, Glenn Michell (The Chaplin Encyclodedia), Warner Home Video, MK2, Kino International, Amazon and to Wes Wada for editing help. Chaplin USA Video Guide created by Linda Wada for ednapurviance.org. |
| CHAPLIN MUSIC CDs | CHAPLIN BOOKS | HOME |
| CHAPLIN MUSIC CDS | CHAPLIN BOOKS | EDNA'S HOME PAGE |
| WARNER HOME VIDEO - 2003-04 | IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT | DOCUMENTARIES AND MORE |
| THE CHAPLIN COLLECTION | ESSANAY AND MUTUALS - DVDS | UNKNOWN CHAPLIN |
| CHAPLIN COLLECTION EXTRAS | ESSANAY AND MUTUALS - VHS | CHAPLIN DOCUMENTARIES |
| CHAPLIN - DVD & VHS INDEX | FIRST NATIONAL/UNITED ARTISTS | KEYSTONE - DVD AND VHS |
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CHAPLIN'S BLU-RAY AND KEYSTONE COLLECTIONS
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| CRITERION COLLECTION |
UK - PARK CIRCUS |
FLICKER ALLEY AND BFI |
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