I just finished watching City Lights. It is the first Chaplin film I've seen. I am still amazed at how moved I was by this film. Now that I've had a taste, I want more. I was hoping someone could make some good recommendations for where to go next. I've not seen any of Buster Keaton's work either, so I'd like to delve into his catalogue as well.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-a

For Chaplin I’d recommend Modern Times, The Kid, The Gold Rush, and The Great Dictator. These are all must sees, really some of the best stuff ever filmed. Eventually you should try and catch Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight (Chaplin and Keaton together), although these two talkies aren’t quite up there with the likes of City Lights.

As far as Keaton goes, the first film of his you should see is The General; it’s definitely his best work.

You may want to look into Harold Lloyd as well, I'm a big fan of his! "Safety Last" (1923) is my favorite of his.

Great advice. Despite how well known it is, the famous clock scene still pacts a punch.

I don’t regard Lloyd as being as great as Keaton or Chaplin, but he’s close, and well worth looking into.

Somewhat irrelevant, but nonetheless interesting: Charlie Chaplin entered a Chaplin look-alike contest and lost.

Really? I’ve heard and read that a few times, but I thought the story was apocryphal.

There are quite a few variations of the story around that aren't true, but it does seem like the fact that he entered and lost is true.

http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/chaplin2.asp

Legend has it that Chaplin himself once entered — and lost — one of these competitions. It is usually said the contest was held in Monte Carlo or Switzerland, and that he came in second or third. (Some versions claim that Chaplin's brother Syd was judged the winner.) Chaplin did indeed fare poorly in a Chaplin look-alike contest, but the competition took place in a San Francisco theater. His final standing is not recorded, although it was noted that he "failed even to make the finals." Chaplin told a reporter at this time that he was "tempted to give lessons in the Chaplin walk, out of pity as well as in the desire to see the thing done correctly."

They cite 2 sources: The 1915 Chicago Herald and the book Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin.

Well that’s interesting. I suppose that -- like so much else -- the story is demonstrative of how popular Chaplin was at the time.

The funny thing is that I own Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin, but I’ve never been able to finish it. Milton’s style is so poor and the book was so catty that I didn’t want to make the effort to assail the 500 plus pages. I have little doubt about the research, however.

TCM will be airing Keaton films Sundays in October.

Here is some of what will air this Sunday:

The General
Our Hospitality
The Navigator
Speak Easily(his early attempt at a 'talkie')

http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/4 ... tober.html

Interesting Harry Reasoner interview with Harold Lloyd from 1962. Complete with original commercials! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQmmds1Q ... re=related