Overview

The most distinguished actor among Charlie Chaplin's children, Geraldine Chaplin has created a striking performative presence across international cinema. In shifting cinematic contexts and through collaborations with major film directors, she playfully evokes the memory of her iconic father, while establishing her own distinctive screen art. Geraldine Chaplin: The Gift of Film Performance is a long-overdue appreciation of Chaplin's remarkable screen achievements, and includes close readings of her performances in films such as Doctor Zhivago, Peppermint Frappe, Cria cuervos, Nashville, Welcome to L.A., Remember My Name, Noroit, Chaplin, Talk to Her, and more.

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9781474427975

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Reviews

Dr. Steven Rybin has taken on a difficult task: a bio-study of the progeny of one of Hollywood's most important actors, Charlie Chaplin. Geraldine Chaplin has had a productive and successful career on her own, but Rybin has somehow viewed that career through the lens of her father's--in a respectful and useful way. In addition, the prose itself is a pleasure to read. As a Chaplin (Charlie) scholar myself, I can highly recommend Rybin's book.--Lisa Stein Haven, author of Syd Chaplin: A Biography and Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp in America, 1947-1977 I have never read a better analysis of a major actor's career than Steven Rybin's Geraldine Chaplin: The Gift of Film Performance. His account of Chaplin's remarkably diverse body of work is filled with surprises, making the story of her collaborations with David Lean, Carlos Saura, Robert Altman, Alan Rudolph and numerous other directors not only illuminating, but gripping. Especially rewarding are the parallels he establishes not only with her father's career but with Charlie Chaplin's major performances.--George Toles, University of Manitoba Steven Rybin has done us all a service by bringing Geraldine Chaplin's career and art so thoughtfully into view. Through a series of revelatory close readings, he traces her globe-spanning, seven-decade career, which encompassed turns in British, Spanish, French, Italian, Hollywood, and avant-garde cinemas and included career-defining roles in Doctor Zhivago and Nashville. Throughout, Rybin recognizes Chaplin as an avatar of film history: her earliest screen appearance came as a child extra in her father's Limelight; one of her latest saw her playing her own grandmother in Richard Attenborough's Chaplin. Framing Chaplin's career through its distinct echoes with that of her legendary father, Rybin enables us to see how Geraldine Chaplin both embraced and transcended that legacy to become a preeminent screen artist in her own right.--Donna Kornhaber, University of Texas at Austin

Author Information

Steven Rybin, Associate Professor of Film Studies, Minnesota State University, Mankato.

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