Carl Davis and Cadogan Hall present
Charlie Chaplin Complete Mutuals 1916-17

Special guests just announced:

Each night will be introduced by a well-known Charlie Chaplin fan. The first night guest will be Paul Ross (journalist, television and LBC Radio presenter).
On Thursday 16 August actor Richard Briers (TV The Good Life, Ever Decreasing Circles and Monarch of the Glen).
The third night will be introduced by David Robinson, who wrote the definitive biography of Charlie Chaplin which inspired the film ‘Chaplin’.
The final night in the series will be introduced by Michael Chaplin (Charlie's son) and will feature an audience Q&A with Carl Davis.

These magnificent short films made by Charlie Chaplin for the Mutual Film Company between 1916 and 1917 will be screened at Cadogan Hall just as they were originally shown to the public in the early days of cinema. This will be the first ever opportunity to see all twelve of the restored and remastered Mutuals along with scores composed and conducted by Carl Davis. The widely acclaimed soundtrack will be performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Mutuals are a fascinating group of films because they serve as a bridge between Chaplin’s apprenticeship days, working for other companies and not always being in control of the material, to this series where he was afforded far greater artistic freedom. There was also the sense that Chaplin was short-story writing, in that not only did he work in feature length films but that he could also make masterpieces, which I believe these are, on a smaller scale.

When Charlie Chaplin made his feature films they were very opulently scored for large symphony orchestra, so with these ‘bridging’ films Carl Davis decided to have an orchestra of more modest, chamber proportions. Each film has its own unique character and atmosphere and within this group of 16 players Davis was able to reflect all the various moods and orchestral needs that these films required. "I am very much looking forward to performing them live, which adds this tremendous other dimension of the large screen accompanied by real orchestra.”

An hilarious evening’s entertainment for Charlie Chaplin fans young and old!

Click on a title for more information about each film.