The Chaplin Collection: Volume 2

From: Warner Home Video



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Warner Home Video Announces

The Chaplin Collection: Volume 2



The Kid, The Circus, City Lights, A King in New York, A Woman of Paris, Monsieur Verdoux

and Chaplin Revue Debut March 2



Richard Schickel's Oscar® Contender, the acclaimed documentary tribute, Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, offered exclusively in Wave 2 boxed giftset



Burbank, Calif., December 19, 2003 -The second wave of titles in The Chaplin Collection -- The Kid, The Circus, City Lights, A King in New York and A Woman of Paris, Monsieur Verdoux and Chaplin Revue -- is being released on DVD March 2 from Warner Home Video (WHV) and MK2. These timeless masterpieces from one of the most influential artists in motion picture history round out the catalog offerings first released last July (The Gold Rush, The Great Dictator, Limelight and Modern Times.)



All films have again been digitally re-mastered from restored vault elements by the Parisian company, MK 2 under the supervision of the Chaplin family estate. The Kid, The Circus, City Lights, A King in New York and A Woman of Paris and Chaplin Revue, which are each deluxe two-disc sets, will be priced at $29.95 SRP. Monsieur Verdoux, a single disc, will be priced at $24.98 SRP.



The six titles will also be offered as a Chaplin Collection 12-disc gift set. Included is Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, the feature-length documentary which was a highlight of 2003's Cannes Film Festival and is currently a finalist for an Academy Award nomination as Best Documentary. Created by veteran Time Magazine movie critic and filmmaker Richard Schickel, Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin is an extraordinary tribute which includes classic Chaplin comedy routines plus insightful interviews with Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Johnny Depp and Robert Downey. The documentary tribute will only be available as part of the gift set.



More About WHV's The Chaplin Collection DVDs

The Kid - As the opening title reads, this is "a comedy with a smile - and perhaps a tear." When a desperate mother abandons her baby, Chaplin's the Little Tramp discovers the child (wonderfully played by Jackie Coogan) and raises him as his own. But, five years later, the mother, who is now a famous opera singer, begins to search for the baby she left behind.



Unwilling to give the little boy up, the Little Tramp attempts to evade all efforts to retrieve The Kid.

Special Features include:

* Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin biographer

* "Chaplin Today: The Kid," Documentary by Alain Bergala

* "How to Make Movies (1918)" short film in which Chaplin shows the building of his new studio, and how movies are made there

* "Jackie Coogan Dances (1920)," Jackie Coogan performs impromptu dance at Chaplin studios

* "My Boy (1921)," later film starring Coogan

* "Nice and Friendly (1922)," home movie with Lord and Lady Mountbatten, Jackie Coogan and Charles Chaplin

* "Charlie on the Ocean (1921)," Newsreel footage of Chaplin's first trip back to Europe

* "Jackie Coogan in Paris," footage shot during charity fund-raising trip

* Deleted scenes: three scenes deleted by Chaplin for 1971 reissue

* "Recording the new score," footage of Chaplin conducting a section of his new score

* Photo gallery, film posters, trailers, The Chaplin Collection

* Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Original Mono

* Interactive menus, scene access, subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean



The Circus - Chaplin's Little Tramp finds himself an accidental sensation when he is chased around The Circus by police who mistake him for a pickpocket. In an effort to elude the police, the Tramp runs underneath the big top and thrills the audience with his efforts to escape his pursuers. Impressed by the audience's response, The Circus ringmaster hires the Tramp on the spot, but later discovers that the Tramp cannot be funny on the spot. Desperate to keep the Tramp around, the ringmaster hires him as a janitor and places him onstage during showtime.

Special Features include:

* Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin biographer

* "Chaplin Today: The Circus," documentary by Francois Ede

* Deleted 10-minute sequence

* "October 7-13, 1926," Outtakes from a week of shooting

* Three home movies from the archives of Lord Louis Mountbatten

* "The Hollywood Premiere (1928)," Reportage on the L.A. premiere

* "Camera A, Camera B," shots made simultaneously from the two cameras used

* 3-D Test footage by Roland Totheroh

* Excerpts from "Circus Day" with Jackie Coogan -- an adaptation of a favorite children's book

* Photo gallery, film posters, trailers, The Chaplin Collection

* Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Original Mono

* Interactive menus, scene access, subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean



City Lights - Released in 1931, this is widely considered to be Chaplin's best feature-length film. City Lights is both a wonderful comedy and a poignant love story in which Chaplin's Little Tramp falls in love with a blind flower girl, played by Virginia Cherrill. Chaplin produced, directed, edited, scored and starred in this timeless masterpiece.

Special features include:

* Introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin biographer"

* "Chaplin Today: City Lights," Documentary by Serge Bromberg

* "The Champion (1915)," excerpt

* Georgia Hale screen test: "Gold Rush" actress who almost replaced Virginia Cherrill

* Rehearsal footage, outtakes, on-set footage of scene being shot

* Footage of Chaplin boxing with visiting prizefighters on the set

* Historical footage of Winston Churchill visit

* Footage shot on trip to Bali with brother Sydney

* "Chaplin Speaks!" Chaplin speaks for the first time on film during a 1931 trip to Vienna

* Photo gallery, films posters, trailers, The Chaplin Collection

* Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Original Mono

* Interactive menus, scene access, subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean



A King in New York and A Woman of Paris - These two classic Chaplin titles are combined on one double-disc. A King in New York (1957) tells the story of King Shandov, a man who leaves his country during a revolution and travels to New York in search of a new life. With little money, the king begins making television commercials and later befriends a child with communist parents. In the silent-era classic A Woman of Paris, Chaplin's frequent leading lady Edna Purviance stars as a young French woman believes she has been jilted by her fiancé and decides to travel to Paris alone. A year later, she is married to another man but is still in love with her old fiancé, who she meets again unexpectedly with disastrous results.

Disc One Special Features -- A King in New York

* Introduction by David Robinson, discussing historical and cinematic context of film

* "Chaplin Today: A King in New York," Documentary by Jerome de Missolz

* Deleted scenes

* Mandolin Serenade: Rehearsing one of the film's main musical themes

* Photo gallery, film posters, trailers, Chaplin Collection



Disc Two Special Features - A Woman of Paris

* Introduction by David Robinson, discussing historical and cinematic context of film

* "Chaplin Today: A Woman in Paris," Documentary by Mathias Ledoux

* "Camille 1926," An amateur movie by Ralph Barton based on "La Dame aux Camelias" and featuring numerous personalities of the time

* "Paris in the '20s," Images of the city in the Roaring Twenties

* "United Artists," signing the contract creating UA: Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith

* Deleted Shots, photo gallery, film posters, trailers, The Chaplin Collection

* Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Original Mono

* Interactive menus, scene access, subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean



Chaplin Revue - Seven funny and touching classics made for First National Studios between 1918 and 1923 are presented on this double disc. A Day's Pleasure, Sunnyside, The Idle Class and Pay Day are presented on disc one, while three Chaplin silent comedies, A Dog's Life, Shoulder Arms and The Pilgrim, are strung together to form a single feature length film. Chaplin also provides new music, narration and a small amount of connecting material to the film.

Disc One Special Features:

* Introduction by David Robinson

* "The Visitors," Behind-the-scenes footage of visitors to Chaplin's sets

* "Harry Lauder (1918)," Footage that Chaplin and the great British Music Hall comedian shot for an uncompleted short

* Photo gallery, film posters, The Chaplin Collection

Disc Two Special Features:

* Introduction by David Robinson

* "How to Make Movies (1918)," short film in which Chaplin shows the building of his new studio, and how movies are made there

* "The Bond (1918)," WWI propaganda film featuring Chaplin, his brother and Edna Purviance

* Shoulder Arms deleted scenes

* Photo gallery, film posters, the Chaplin Revue trailer

* Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Original Mono

* Interactive menus, scene access, subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean



Monsieur Verdoux - As a bluebeard, Monsieur Verdoux marries wealthy women and then kills them in an effort to get the money he needs for his family. His scheme works out until he meets two women with whom he has bad luck. Chaplin co-stars with famed comedienne Martha Raye.

Special Features include:

* Introduction by David Robinson

* "Chaplin Today: Monsieur Verdoux," Documentary by Bernard Eisenschitz

* Plan drawings and preparatory sketches

* Photo gallery, film posters, trailers, The Chaplin Collection

* Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as Original Mono

* Interactive menus, scene access, subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai and Korean



Chaplin DVDs Spark Excellent Chaplin Events

1. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) feature Charlie Chaplin as the TCM "Star of the Month" in March. Kicking off the tribute on March 3rd will be the television premiere of Richard Schickel's documentary, which will be repeated several times later. Various Chaplin films will be aired regularly throughout the month. TCM will also promote the DVD releases as part of the monthly on-air interstitial "TCM Movie News," in the "Now Playing" guide, and on the TCM Web site (www.turnerclassicmovies.com), where the Chaplin films will be available for purchase.



2. UCLA will also be honoring Chaplin's work with a Film Retrospective beginning February 21. The film series will run over the course of five evenings and eight of Chaplin's films will be shown, accompanied by rare never-before-seen outtakes. The films scheduled include The Kid, A Woman of Paris, THE IDLE CLASS, The Circus, Monsieur Verdoux, City Lights, THE PILGRIM and A King in New York.



3. On Feb 13th through the 19th, Landmark's Sunshine Cinema in New York will play an exclusive theatrical engagement of Richard Schickel's documentary "Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin."



4. In March the Los Angeles History Museum will present a special audio-visual display on Chaplin that will also include Chaplin's full costume from City Lights as well as the overalls he wore in Modern Times...not seen by the public in 40 years.



5. Harry N. Abrams has just published a new, definitive photographic overview of Chaplin's life and films, Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema by Jeffrey Vance, film historian and former Chaplin family archivist. The book draws on exhaustive research and interviews with those who knew Chaplin and was composed with full access to the Chaplin family archives. The book chronicles Chaplin's entire life story in 500 photographs, many of them rare and recently discovered.



The Chaplin Collection Volume 2

Street date: March 2

The Kid

$29.95 SRP

Rating: NR

Run Time: 50 minutes

The Circus

$29.95 SRP

Rating: G

Run Time: 69 minutes

City Lights

$29.95 SRP

Rating: G

Run Time: 82 minutes

A King in New York and A Woman of Paris

$29.95 SRP

Rating: King G; Woman NR

Run Times: 100 mins./78 mins.

Chaplin Revue

$29.95 SRP

Rating: NR

Run Time: 214 minutes

Monsieur Verdoux

$24.98 SRP

Rating: NR

Run Time: 119 minutes



With operations in 82 international territories Warner Home Video, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment.