Arka Evren

FILM · 1992 · UK

Chaplin

69 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026

49 Interesting Facts About Chaplin

  1. #001

    The original cut of Chaplin ran nearly four hours. More than two hundred hours of footage were shot.

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  2. #002

    To prepare for the role, Robert Downey Jr. learned to play the violin and to play tennis left-handed. He also hired a coach to help him imitate Charles Chaplin's posture and mannerisms.

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  3. #003

    Geraldine Chaplin played Hannah Chaplin, her real-life grandmother.

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  4. #004

    Geraldine Chaplin recalled that when she first saw Robert Downey Jr. in full costume, she was astonished at how much he resembled her late father, and that she even needed a moment to collect her thoughts before she could speak.

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  5. #005

    Sir Richard Attenborough's director's cut ran two hours and thirty-seven minutes, twelve minutes longer than the version shown in cinemas. Attenborough said the cuts harmed the film.

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  6. #006

    Because Charles Chaplin was known among friends, family and fans as "Charlie," the film's original title was "Charlie." The producers of Charly (1968) complained that the title would cause confusion with their film, so this film's title had to be changed to "Chaplin."

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  7. #011

    George Hayden (Anthony Hopkins) is the only fictional main character in the film.

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  8. #013

    Apart from Geraldine Chaplin, who appeared in two of her father's films, only one other member of the cast had appeared in a film with the real Sir Charles Chaplin. Phil Brown, who played a mechanic (and is best known as Uncle Owen Lars in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)), appeared alongside Chaplin in A King in New York (1957).

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  9. #015

    The film opened in limited release in the United States on 25 December 1992, the fifteenth anniversary of Charles Chaplin's death.

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  10. #016

    While preparing for the role, Robert Downey Jr. trained with vaudeville expert Johnny Hutch. Downey turned down many other projects during the extensive pre-production period in order to focus on perfecting his character in this film.

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  11. #017

    Producer and director Richard Attenborough later stated that Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925) was his favorite film.

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  12. #018

    Co-producer Diana Hawkins was the one who suggested to Sir Richard Attenborough, knowing he was a Chaplin fan, the idea of making a Charles Chaplin biographical film.

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  13. #019

    Robert Downey Jr. recorded the song "Smile," which can be heard in the film's music. However, it was not used in the film.

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  14. #021

    The film spans from January 1894 to 10 April 1972.

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  15. #022

    Bryan Forbes's discarded screenplay had a different opening and focused on some of the darker elements of Charlie Chaplin's life and personality. Although his screenplay was not used, the WGA ruled that Forbes received a writing credit because much of the film's framework was derived from his script.

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  16. #023

    Nick Nolte was considered to play Charles Chaplin in his later years.

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  17. #024

    In this film, Roland Totheroh is working with Charles Chaplin at Keystone in 1914. Their working relationship actually began a year later. It lasted from 1915 until Chaplin's exile from the United States in 1952. Roland Totheroh's son and grandson, Jack Totheroh and David Totheroh, appear as cameramen in this film.

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  18. #025

    Although some characters in the film suggest that Charles Chaplin was Jewish, he in fact was not.

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  19. #027

    This film was one of many collaborations between Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Richard Attenborough, including Young Winston (1972), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Magic (1978) and Shadowlands (1993).

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  20. #028

    Sir Charles Chaplin's eyes were often described by those who knew him as strikingly blue. Robert Downey Jr.'s are hazel. They appear dark brown, but in several scenes of Restoration (1995), brighter lighting on his face revealed his eyes to be hazel with green highlights.

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  21. #029

    Peter Sellers had tried to make a film about Charles Chaplin several decades earlier.

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  22. #030

    Like many composers, John Barry, who scored this film, developed a recognizable style. Part of a recognizable style lies in instrumental choices, melodic cues and the emphasis of particular notes or chords. In the music Barry prepared especially for this film, many similarities with the score for Out of Africa (1985) can be heard.

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  23. #032

    The music playing on Charles Chaplin's recording device comes from Elgar's "Enigma Variations," from the Finale.

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  24. #034

    This was John Thaw's last film before his death on 21 February 2002 at the age of 60.

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  25. #035

    John Goodman and Winona Ryder were at one time attached to this film. They were considered for the roles of Mack Sennett and Mildred Harris.

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  26. #036

    James Woods shot his role (Joseph Scott) in a single day.

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  27. #038

    J. Edgar Hoover (Kevin Dunn) argues with Charles Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr.); among the guests at the table are Marion Davies (Heather McNair) and William Randolph Hearst (Jack Ritschel), both of whom played significant roles in Chaplin's life.

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  28. #041

    Pierce Brosnan was considered to play Douglas Fairbanks. Sir Richard Attenborough cast Brosnan in the title role of Grey Owl (1999).

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  29. #043

    In this film Kevin Kline plays the actor Douglas Fairbanks. In The Last of Robin Hood (2013), Kline plays Errol Flynn. Flynn was widely regarded as Douglas Fairbanks's natural successor. Both actors often appeared in swashbucklers; in particular, both played Robin Hood.

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  30. #045

    Gerald Sim (the Doctor) was the brother-in-law of director Richard Attenborough.

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  31. #046

    Richard Attenborough acquired the rights to Charles Chaplin's autobiography in 1988 and at one point considered adapting it into a television miniseries.

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  32. #047

    Robert Downey Jr. and Marisa Tomei appeared together in Only You (1994), Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).

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  33. #048

    Graham Sinclair (the Master of Ceremonies) was the son-in-law of director Richard Attenborough.

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  34. #051

    Richard Attenborough had previously directed Kevin Kline in Cry Freedom (1987).

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  35. #054

    Robert Downey Jr. played both Sir Charles Chaplin and Sherlock Holmes (the latter in two films). The real Chaplin played the butler Billy in William Gillette's stage play Sherlock Holmes at the age of 14.

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  36. #055

    There is a three-way Canadian connection to Mack Sennett, who discovered Charles Chaplin's talent in Hollywood. Sennett was Canadian-born (in Quebec) and is played by the Canadian-born Dan Aykroyd. In the French-dubbed version, Aykroyd is voiced by the Canadian-born actor Richard Darbois, whose father, Olivier Guimond Jr., drew part of his comedic skill from Charlie Chaplin.

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  37. #056

    The film emphasizes that Charlie embellished his autobiography, claiming it would make a better story than the truth. But instead of the magical approach he proposes for discovering the elements of the Tramp costume, the film simply depicts him picking up various items in a costume shop to create the famous Little Tramp, ignoring the fact that his entire outfit was assembled from clothes borrowed from famous actors of the day, such as Fatty Arbuckle's enormous trousers.

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  38. #057

    Producer and director Sir Richard Attenborough's surname is mispronounced in the trailer as "Richard Attenburrow's Chaplin."

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  39. #058

    Robert Downey Jr. and Nancy Travis had previously appeared together in Air America (1990).

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  40. #059

    Kevin Dunn and Anthony Hopkins reunited in Nixon (1995), which also featured the character J. Edgar Hoover, though this time he was not played by Dunn.

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  41. #060

    Less than a year later, Kevin Kline and Kevin Dunn worked together again on Dave (1993), which also starred Ben Kingsley from Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982).

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  42. #061

    Laurel Whitsett's debut.

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  43. #062

    Kevin Dunn and Maria Pitillo also appeared in Godzilla (1998).

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  44. #063

    Kevin Kline and Robert Downey Jr. also appeared together in Soapdish (1991).

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  45. #064

    Marisa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Hopkins have all appeared in films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Downey Jr. and Tomei notably appeared together in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).

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  46. #065

    Charlie defends his art form against J. Edgar Hoover, claiming that his character attacks the rich, the famous and the entitled. In fact, in his early comedies his character attacks everyone, high and low, without provocation. By modern standards this would be considered pure psychopathic behavior and could not be defended in any way.

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  47. #067

    Moira Kelly's first nudity in her career. She was 24 years old.

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  48. #068

    One of two films in which Richard Attenborough worked over consecutive years with a composer named John. Here (as producer and director) with John Barry, and on Jurassic Park (1993) (as an actor) with John Williams.

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  49. #069

    Chaplin first moves to Montana, where he receives a job offer. In Jurassic Park (1993), Richard Attenborough's first scene takes place in Montana, where he offers the main characters a job.

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