Whenever anyone speaks of Charlie Chaplin, the image that will come to mind is his signature character, the Little Tramp. Chaplin himself called the him The Little Fellow. The character rarely was referred to by any name onscreen.

The Little Tramp was first seen by the public when Keystone released the comedy short Kid Auto Races at Venice on February 7, 1914. This was actually the second time Chaplin played the character. The first filmed production was Mabel's Strange Predicament, which was released two days later on February 9th.

It's not hard to picture the character. He wore a pair of baggy pants, tight coat, a derby hat, large shoes and had a small mustache. Chaplin said in his autobiography, "%u2026 on the way to the wardrobe I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. I wanted everything to be a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large. I was undecided whether to look old or young, but remembering Sennett had expected me to be a much older man, I added a small moustache, which I reasoned, would add age without hiding my expression."

The Little Tramp soon became a very popular character. Chaplin made 34 short films in 1914 with Keystone, before moving to Essanay Studio in 1915 and Mutual in 1916. Chaplin would assume control of his productions in 1918. There were only a few productions during the Silent Era that Chaplin played characters other than the Little Tramp.

Perhaps the best film to feature the Little Tramp was the 1925 film The Gold Rush. It was in that film that the classic scene of the starving man, during the Yukon Gold Rush, carved and ate an old boot.

In 1981, IBM acquired the rights for the Little Tramp from the Chaplin family to used the character in a series of ads for their new personal computer. The idea was that even Charlie the common man could use a computer.

When speaking of comic of the silent era it's not uncommon to think of Laurel and Hardy, although most will recall their sound pictures, and Charlie Chaplin. But there have been many Silent Clowns that have simply been forgotten, although at their heyday, they were some of the most popular people of films.

Mabel Normand


The first time that Charlie Chaplin performed his famous 'Little Tramp' (Although this was the second film released with him as that character. The first released was A Day at the Race at Venice) was in the film Mabel's Strange Predicament starring Mabel Normand. Normand is credited as being the most prominent comedienne of silent films. Not only did she perform in her silent films she also wrote and directed quite a few of them. In 1918 she signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn that gave her $3,500 a week leaving Keystone studios as well as the male star of many of her films there, Roscoe 'Fatty Arbuckle.

Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle



Arbuckle was one of the most popular stars in films from 1914-1922. He was the leading male comic, director and screenwriter. Unfortunately he is better remembered today for the scandal in which at a San Francisco party held in his room a young woman died. He was tried three times, the first two in mistrials with the 3rd resulting in an acquittal and a written apology issued by the court. The trial of public opinion ended his career in films.

Buster Keaton


Buster Keaton was given his first big break by Roscoe Arbuckle in the film The Butcher Boy. Keaton's films feature clever visual gags and camera trickery. The man himself performed with a deadpan expression that earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face". For film historian he is considered one of the greatest directors of all time. His film The General is perhaps the best of all of the silent comedy films.

Harold Lloyd


Harold Lloyd made nearly 200 films between 1914 and 1947 and is considered along with Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin as one of the most influential film comics of the silent era. Many of his films featured extended chase scenes and daredevil feats by his ordinary man in glasses. One of the most famous comic image is of Lloyd hanging onto the hands of a clock way above the street in the film Safety Last!

Harry Langdon


Many of the comic greats of silent film work with or was discovered by Mack Sennett. Harry Langdon was one of them. His screen character was of a wild-eyed innocent man with childlike characteristics. His best work was when he was directed others with those that he took creative control being less appealing. In his later career he played the role of comic goofs, but it was in his silent films that his talent shone.

Edna Purviance


Edna Purviance may be the most forgotten of all of the silent film clowns by name, but not her face. She appeared in 33 of Chaplin's productions including his classic the Kid.

A Christmas Carol (1923) Also Released as Scrooge
This 1923 version of Charles Dickens immortal tale was produced by Edward Godal, directed by Edwin Greenwood and the screenplay was by Eliot Stannard. The stars were Russell Thorndike, Nina Vanna, Jack Denton and Forbes Dawson.

There Ain't No Santa Claus (1926)
This movie was the 1926 Christmas release for comedian Charley Chase. It's the story a a man (Chase) trying to get his wife (Eugenia Gilbert) a watch for Christmas. The rent is due and the landlord wants payment. The Watch.

And from a collection called A Christmas Past
D.W. Griffith's "A Trap For Santa" (1909, 16 min.)
Tthe Edison Studio's "A Winter Straw Ride" (1906, 7 min.)
"A Christmas Accident" (1912, 15 min.)
"The Adventures of the Wrong Santa Claus" (1914, 14 min.)
"Santa Claus Vs. Cupid" (1915, 16 min.)
"A Christmas Carol" (1910, 10 min.)
"The Night Before Christmas (1905, 9 min.)
"A Holiday Pageant At Home" (1901, 5 min.)
"Santa Claus" (1925, 29 min.).
Features an original score by Al Kryszak.

6) Frankenstein (1910). Perhaps the first Horror film. The 16 minute film was made at Edison Studios directed by J. Searle Dawley with Charles Ogle as the Monster.

5) Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923). The Victor Hugo classic starred Lon Chaney as Quasimodo with Wallace Worsley as Director.

4) Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920). Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's story called The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The movie starred John Barrymore in what some consider his greatest performance.

3) Nosferatu (1922) - Okay folks, this 1922 F.W. Murnau film is really creepy. Based on Bram Stoker's epic novel Dracula, directed by F.W. Murnau and starring Max Schrek as the amazingly frightening as the Vampire Nosferatu.

2) The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Lon Chaney is again brilliant in his role as the disfigured Phantom of the Opera.

1) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1921) stars Werner Krauss as Dr. Caligari tells the story of his connection to a string of murders in a German mountain village, Holstenwall. This could be the best horror film ever made.

1. Gilbert Roland. Roland began his silent film career in 1925 and worked with such stars as Clara Bow and Norma Talmadge. He had no problems changing over to sound pictures. His voice was strong and clear even though he did have an accent. He acted in movies until 1982.

2. Fay Wray. Wray began working in short silent comedies in 1923 and was selected in 1926 as the starlet most likely to succeed. She will always be remembered as the damsel that the great Ape Kong fell in love with in King Kong.

3. Laurel and Hardy. Both Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel had separate careers in silent comedies, but it was their teaming that made them stars. Many of their short films are considered classic silent comedies. A few they even remade with sound.

4. Gloria Swanson. Swanson was prolific during the silent film era. Although her career declined with the 'talkies', she is now best known for her comeback role in the film Sunset Boulevard , a role in which she portrayed a former silent movie star largely forgotten by audiences of the day.

5. William Powell. Powell began in silent films in 1922 making 40 films between then and 1929. He worked in the 1950's with one of his last roles as 'Doc' on Mister Roberts. He may be most remembered for the Thin Man movie series of the 1930's and 40's.

6. Joan Crawford. Crawford was a MGM studio actress who began in films in 1925 and by the end of the decade her popularity had blossomed. She was able to switch from being the glamour girl of the 20's to full roles of the hard working American woman in the 1930's and beyond.

6. The Crowd - 1928 - King Vidor, Director;
Cast: Eleanor Boardman [Mary Sims], James Murray [John Sims], Bert Roach [Bert], Estelle Clark [Jane], Daniel G. Tomlinson [Jim], Dell Henderson [Dick], Lucy Beaumont [Mary's mother], Freddie Burke Frederick [John Sims Jr.], Alice Mildred Puter [daughter]; Sidney Bracey [John's supervisor], Johnny Downs [John Sims, age 12], Sally Eilers [the party girl at Bert's Place], Warner P. Richmond [Mr. Sims, John's father], Virginia Sale [Mary's sister-in-law], Larry Steers [doctor], Claude Payton

Plot: The life of a man and woman together in a large, impersonal metropolis through their hopes, struggles and downfalls.

5. Greed - 1924 - Erich von Stroheim, Director;
Cast: Gibson Gowland [John 'Mac' McTeague], ZaSu Pitts [Trina Sieppe McTeague], Jean Hersholt [Marcus Schouler], Dale Fuller [Maria Miranda Macapa], Tempé Piggot [Mother McTeague], Sylvia Ashton ['Mommer' Sieppe, Trina's mother], Chester Conklin [Hans 'Popper' Sieppe, Trina's father], Joan Standing [Selina, Trina's cousin]; Austin Jewell [August Sieppe, Trina's little brother], Oscar Gotell [Max Sieppe, Trina's little twin brother], Otto Gotell [Moritz Sieppe, Trina's little twin brother], Günther von Ritzau [?] (same as Erich von Ritzau?) [Dr. 'Painless' Potter, a traveling dentist], Frank Hayes [Charles W. Grannis, the Modern Dog Hospital owner], Fanny Midgley [Anastasia Baker, a retired dressmaker], Max Tyron [Rudolph Oelbermann, Trina's uncle and owner of the toy store], Hughie Mack [Mr. Heise], E. 'Tiny' Jones ('Tiny' Jones) [Mrs. Heise], J. Aldrich Libby [Mr. Ryer], Rita Revela [Mrs. Ryer], Lon Poff [lottery company man], S.S. Simon [Joe Frenna, the saloonkeeper], [?] William Mollemhauer or William Mollenheime? [the palmist], Hugh J. McCauley [the photographer], William Barlow [the minister], Jack McDonald [?] [Placer County sheriff, or Cribbens, a prospector]?, James F. Fulton [?] [Placer County sheriff, or Cribbens, a prospector]?, James Gibson [deputy sheriff], Jimmy Wang [Chinese cook], Erich von Stroheim [balloon vendor], Lita Chevrier, Edward Gaffney, Harold E. Henderson, Cesare Gravina [Zerkow, the junkman (role cut from final film)], Jack Curtis [McTeague Sr. (role cut from final film)], Florence Gibson [old hag at Mike's Saloon (role cut from final film)]

Plot: The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.

4. The Gold Rush - 1925 - Charlie Chaplin. Director;
Cast: Charles Chaplin [the lone prospector], Georgia Hale [Georgia], Mack Swain [Big Jim McKay], Tom Murray [Black Larsen], Henry Bergman [Hank Curtis], Betty Morissey [Georgia's friend], Malcolm Waite [Jack Cameron], John Rand, Albert Austin, Heinie Conklin, Allan Garcia, Tom Wood

Plot: The Tramp goes the Klondike in search of gold and finds it and more.

3. City Lights - 1931 - Charlie Chaplin, Director;
Cast: Charles Chaplin [the little tramp], Virginia Cherill [the blind girl], Harry Myers, Hank Mann, Florence Lee, Allan Garcia, Henry Bergman, Albert Austin, Stanhope Wheatcroft, John Rand, James Donnelly, Eddie Baker, Robert Parrish, Granville Redmond, Jean Harlow [extra], Ray Erlenborn [newsboy], [?] Robert Graves?, Anna May the elephant.

Plot:The Tramp struggles to help a blind flower girl he has fallen in love with.

2. Sunrise (A Song of Two Humans) - 1927 - F.W. Murnau, Director;
Cast: George O'Brien [the man], Janet Gaynor [the wife], Margaret Livingston [the woman from the city], Bodil Rosing [the maid], J. Farrell MacDonald [the photographer], Ralph Sipperly [the barber], Jane Winton [the manicure girl], Arthur Housman [the obtrusive gentleman], Eddie Boland [the obliging gentleman], Gibson Gowland, F.W. Murnau [man on ferryboat], Sally Eilers, Gino Corrado, Barry Norton, Robert Kortman, Sidney Bracey, Harry Semels, Phillips Smalley.

Plot: A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

1. The General - 1926 - Buster Keaton, Director;
Cast: Buster Keaton [Johnny Gray], Marian Mack [Annabelle Lee], Glen Cavender [Captain Anderson], Jim Farley [General Thatcher], Frederick Vroom [Southern general], Charles Smith [Annabelle's father], Frank Barnes [Annabelle's brother], Joseph Keaton [Union general], Mike Donlin [Union general], Tom Nawn [Union general], Jackie Lowe, Jackie Hanlon, Frank Agney, Ross McCutcheon, Charles Phillips, Jack Dempster, Red Thompson, Anthony Harvey, Ray Hanford, Tom Moran, Bud Fine, Jimmie Bryant, Al Hanson

Plot: When Union spies steal an engineer's beloved locomotive, he pursues it single handedly and straight through enemy lines.

As rated on http://www.silentera.com/info/top100.html

1. On the morning of February 2, 1922, the body of silent film director William Desmond Taylor was discovered at his home. The director had been killed by a shot in the back. In his pockets was his wallet with 78 dollars, a silver cigarette case and an ivory toothpick. A 2 caret diamond ring was on his finger.

2. Mabel Normand, the popular film comedy actress was at the Taylor home on February 1, leaving the house at 7:45. It is thought that she was the last person, other than the murderer who saw him alive. She left the house in a happy mood.

3. Taylor was born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner on April 26, 1872 in Ireland. he came to America in 1890. He married in 1901 to Ethel May Harrison whose father was a wall street broker. He vanished in 1908 deserting his wife and daughter.

4. While there were many suspects including Mabel Normand, Edward Sands - a former Taylor's Valet, and Henry Peavy - Taylor's Valet.

5. It has been discovered that Taylor had a relationship with teen screen actress Mary Miles Minter. At his death Taylor was 49 and she was 19, but they may have had an intimate relationship prior to her turning 18. Minter's mother Charlotte Shelby has also been linked as a possible suspect in the murder. It was also possible that Shelby may also have had an intimate relationship with Taylor.

6. From 1993 to 2000, Bruce Long collected and compiled information about Taylor and the murder. He called his effort Taylorology. It can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/

Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle was born on March 24, 1887 in Smith Center, Kansas, to Mollie and William Goodrich Arbuckle. His mother died in 1899 and his father abandoned him shortly afterwards. Arbuckle survived by doing odd jobs at a hotel in San Jose, California. He entered an amateur night contest where he caught the attention of showman David Grauman, who took him into vaudeville as a singer and dancer.


From 1902 to 1908 he toured in stock companies, and on vaudeville and burlesque circuits. He was in San Francisco during the great Earthquake in 1906 and was forced to clear debris. In 1908 he appeared as an extra for Selig's Polyscope Company.

Between 1909 and 1921 Arbuckle made more than 150 silent films defining the art of slapstick at Keystone Studios, where he excelled as a performer, writer and director. Even though he had a bulky, 250-pound frame (the reason for the nickname he hated, Fatty) he was an able acrobat and played the hero who saved the day by pie-throwing, back-flipping and outwitting his opponent. In "A Noise from the Deep," Arbuckle became the first film comedian to be hit with a pie on film. He also had the ability to throw two of them at the same time in different directions.

While on vacation in September 1921 he hosted a party at his room. Virginia Rappe, who attended the party, died of an inflammation of the lining of the pelvis. Arbuckle was accused of raping Rappe. After two trials resulted in hung juries a third ended in an acquittal.


Even though he was acquitted of any crimes and having support from Hollywood friends, the motion picture industry, partly through public opinion, wasn't. He was able to work behind the scenes, under the name William B. Goodrich as a director and gag writer. He also performed on the vaudeville stage under his own name

In 1932, Warner Brothers gave Arbuckle a chance to star in a comedy short called "Hey, Pop." The public loved "Hey, Pop," and its success led to five more talkie shorts. On June 30, 1933, hours after completing his sixth Warner's short and signing to make a feature-length film, Arbuckle died of a heart attack. He was only 46.

Mabel Normand was born on November 9, 1892, in New Brighton, Staten Island, New York. Her parents were Mary Drury Normand and Claude G. Normand. There are accounts that give her birth as November 10, with the year given usually being 1894 or 1895. Of their children, only four survived childbirth: Ralph, Claude, Jr., Gladys, and Mabel; and of these, Ralph died in his teens of tuberculosis.

During the early days of moving pictures she was one of the greats in short comedies.

The world lost Mabel Normand on February 23, 1930. She was only 38.

More on Mabel Normand can be found at the lens Silent Film Actresses

'The Birth of a Nation' was produced and directed by D.W. Giffith and released on February 8, 1915. It starred Lillian Gish, Henry Walthall and Mae Walsh. The 3 hour 10 minute film was originally presented in two parts separated by an intermission. The film cost $110,000 (over 2 Million in 2006) and grossed over 10 million ($300 in 2006). In 1992 the United States Library of Congress deemed it "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

It is a story of Northern Stoneman family and the Cameron family from Piedmont, South Carolina. Through their eyes we see how their friendship is affected by the Civil War. The consequences of the War in their lives are shown in connection to major historical events, like the development of the Civil War itself, Lincoln's assassination, and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.

The movie was based on Thomas Dixon Jr's 'The Clansman'. Dixon had committed his entire writing career arguing in favor of the superiority of whites and the Ku Klux Klan's use of violence. After being angered by a staging 'Uncle Brown's Cabin' in 1901 he decided to produce a play that offered his own interpretation of race relations. He said: "My object is to teach the North, the young North, what it has never known-the awful suffering of the white man during the dreadful Reconstruction period. I believe that Almighty God anointed the white men of the South by their suffering during that time . . . to demonstrate to the world that the white man must and shall be supreme."

After the release of the film in 1915, the NAACP and other groups protested the film. The NAACP published a pamphlet titled 'Fighting a Vicious Film: Protest Against The Birth of a Nation'. W. E. B. Du Bois published scathing reviews in 'The Crisis', which helped spur a debate among the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures to whether the film should be shown in New York. In the years after Griffith released 'The Birth of a Nation' there were massive race riots throughout the country, peaking in 1919.

'The Birth of a Nation' went on to become one of the most admired and profitable films produced by Hollywood during its silent phase. Many Film scholars agree that it is the most important and a key film in American movie history. It contains many new cinematic innovations and refinements, technical effects and artistic advancements with a formative influence on future films.

Virginia Bradford (1900-1992) She enjoyed a brief Hollywood career in the mid 1920's. She played mostly supporting roles.


Norma Talmadge (1893-1957) She was one of the greatest stars of the silent era and a major box office draw. She was also involved in film productions with the Norma Talmadge Film Corporation. Her voice did not lend well to talking pictures and after a couple of disappointing films retired.


Pola Negri (1894-1987) She was a polish actress who made films portraying herself as a Vamp. Her career began in German films, but in the early 1920's moved to Hollywood. With the introduction of talking pictures her Vamp style fell out of vogue and Her accented voice did not appeal to the film goers of the time.


Theda Bara (1885-1955) She was another who portrayed the Vamp in her pictures. She was one of the most famous movie stars, ranking behind only Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford in popularity. After her marriage to film director Charles Brabin, her career slowed until she finally retired in 1926.


Louise Brooks (1906-1985) She appeared towards the end of the Silent era playing the lead female roles in a number of light comedies and flapper films. In the late 1920's she left Hollywood for Germany making films that were classified as "very adult" and considered shocking. When she returned to Hollywood she was effectively blacklisted.


Colleen Moore (1900-1988) She was one of the most fashionable of the Hollywood stars. Moore playing a vivacious flapper caused a sensation making her one of the most talked about actresses of her day. Her roles were mostly light comedy. Her roles in talking pictures were in films that weren't very successful and retired in 1934. She perhaps now is more known for a Doll House she worked on from 1928 until her death, presently at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago or her book on the stock market published in 1969.