Visionary Picks Drawn from the Same DNA as Chase Me Charlie: Cult Guide

Dir: Charles Chaplin

After a difficult day at work, a bricklayer tries to enjoy his pay day without his wife knowing.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Sunnyside perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Charlie works on a farm from 4am to late at night. He gets his food on the run (milking a cow into his coffee, holding an chicken over the frying pan to get fried eggs). He loves the neighbor's daughter Edna but is disliked by her father. He rides a cow into a stream and is kicked off. Unconscious, he dreams of a nymph dance. Back in reality a city slicker is hurt in a car crash and is being cared for by Edna. When Charlie is rejected after attempting to imitate the slicker, the result is ambiguous--either tragic or a happy ending. Critics have long argued as to whether the final scene is real or a dream.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

A prospector goes to the Klondike during the 1890s gold rush in hopes of making his fortune, and is smitten with a girl he sees in a dance hall.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Gold Rush perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A kept woman runs into her former fiancé and finds herself torn between love and comfort.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

Professor Bosco, a poor flea trainer, rents a bed in a flophouse. Before going to bed, he rallies his troops and once he has made sure his beloved fleas are settled for the night, the professor prepares to sleep the sleep of the just man. Unfortunately he accidentally knocks the box off his bed and the fleas have the time of their lives pestering Bosco's neighbors. To get the escapees back in their box again, the trainer resorts to... his whip! All is back to normal one more time. But not for long, as a stray dog enters the flophouse and very unwisely opens the box, thus creating new havoc.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Woman of Paris: A Drama of Fate perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

A father takes his family for an outing, which turns out to be a ridiculous trial.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

The Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of The Professor perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Disguised as a priest, an escaped convict makes his way to Texas. He ends up in a small rural town where the townsfolk mistake him for their new church minister.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

A tramp sneaks into a upper class golf resort. The tramp meets a rich woman who is having an argument with her drunken husband. Complications arise when she mistakes the tramp for her husband.

Dir: Charles Chaplin

The Tramp finds work and the girl of his dreams at a circus.