Having given the biographical background, I would like to put forth my opinions on why Chaplin is such an inspiration to all the present generation of directors.

First of all, Chaplin was a perfectionist. It is evident from the fact that he reshot one scene in City Lights involving a blind girl, the tramp and a rich gentleman over 300 times to ensure that silence in his movies was never a handicap but an advantage. He would tax his actors till he got what he wanted. He would even fire them on unsatisfactory performance.

Chaplin was a thorough optimist. Having come from a poor background optimism was the key attribute that made Chaplin survive the fickle life of Hollywood where you are only as good as your last movie. His dialogues such as “You will never see the rainbows if you look down” (From the song ‘Smile’ in “The Circus” (1928)) and “Life is a magnificent thing, even to a Jellyfish” (From “Limelight” (1952)) reflect this fact.

Charlie was a true artist in the sense that he would make whatever changes to a scene to get the best end result. He would improvise on a script and would check if that was good enough. If not, he would continue improvising with the same vigour. Even on his deathbed when the reverend said ”May God have mercy on your soul”, Chaplin resorted to comedy, replying ”Why not, After all it belongs to Him”

Even though he remained a comedian in his professional life, he was a very strict father. He would never be complacent on the freedom of his children. He never wanted them to be the kids of a famous father. He would take them to slums and show tem how the real world is.

Most importantly, he was the one who resurrected slapstick humour, which was thought to be primitive. In my opinion, Slapstick is the most fundamental of all comedies that any audience can associate to. The audience inherently likes physical movements and dark humour. Charlie Chaplin shows that slapstick is limitless and eternal even in Hollywood that thrives on sarcasm and raunchy humour for quick money.

Charles Chaplin was one person that made the world laugh, cry, resent, pity and most importantly THINK. Only such a ‘perfect maverick’ can redeem Hollywood and many other industries from their present state of decay. Without a shadow of a doubt, he is the greatest showman of the 20th century and will be the greatest for generations to come.