MONSIEUR VERDOUX is Charlie Chaplin’s rarely seen, controversial pitch black comedy from 1947, starring himself as a modern-day Bluebeard. The exclusive Los Angeles engagement is at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre, December 12 – 18, 2008.
With Chaplin ‘s new incarnation of serial killer Henri Verdoux, he abandoned his beloved Tramp, which had delighted audiences around the world for almost 25 years, and replaced him with a character of questionable morality – a change that both bewildered and enraged audiences and critics of the time. Gone suddenly were the Tramp’s canal boat shoes, shabby genteel attire, black curly hair, the oft-tipped derby, the twirling cane, the mustache square, the melancholy, shy-around-women vagabond, suddenly replaced by a fastidious, elegantly attired, seeming commercial traveler who’s obviously a devil with the ladies; but who, in fact, supports a family by marrying multiple women and then dispatching them for their money.
Based on an idea suggested to Chaplin by Orson Welles (whose name appears on the credits after a threatened lawsuit), himself inspired by the real-life serial killer Landru, Chaplin’s “Comedy of Murders” — its original title — ranges in mood from suspense film to knock-down, drag-out farce, especially with outrageously crude nouveau riche lottery winner and impossible-to-whack Martha Raye, in a scene-stealing performance as “the most vulgar woman ever created, chattering away with her mouth full of croissant and laughing not like one drain but ten” (Geoff Brown) — a takeoff on An American Tragedy’s drowning turns into a Chaplinian dunking.
Film’s Official Website: http://www.thefilmdesk.com/Export7.htm
Plays December 12 – 18, 2008 at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre (11272 Santa Monica Boulevard) in Los Angeles
Tickets are $10.50 for general admission and $7:50 for seniors and children
Full Showtimes: Fri-Sun at 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 9:55; Mon-Thu at 4:00, 7:00, 9:55
Advance ticket purchase at: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/tickets and at theatre box office.
We hope to see you there!
