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Times and economics had changed by the
time City Lights was to premiere in January
of 1931. First of all, no one wanted to
distribute Charlie’s largely silent picture
and so he was forced to go to great lengths
in both Los Angeles and New York City
to secure a venue for his film. In LA,
he seized upon the financial ineptitude
of H. L. Gumbiner, owner of the Los Angeles
Theatre located downtown on Broadway.
With Charlie’s backing, the elaborately
decorated theatre went up in five months.
It was "anointed by a large sunburst over
the lobby doorway to symbolize Louis XIV,
the Sun King. Close by, angels guard each
corner of the coffered ceiling, a nod
to the theatre’s location in the City
of Angels. A grand central staircase [led]
to a crystal fountain, and beyond that,
heaven itself . . . Anthony B. Heinsbergen’s
trompe l’oeil murals climax[ed] the auditorium
ceiling" (The Last Remaining Seats p. 43).
On the day of the premiere, January
30th, police were required to control
the crowds in the area of the theatre
from the earliest daylight hours. Traffic
came to a halt and nearby department
store windows were broken simply by
the massive size and enthusiasm of the
crowds. Celebrated guests were many,
but Charlie’s own personal guests—Mr.
And Mrs. Einstein—were perhaps the most
enigmatic and interesting. Charlie’s
own reminiscences from My Autobiography
paint the scene:
"The proprietor had built a beautiful
theatre but, like many exhibitors in
those days, he knew little about the presentation
of films. The picture started. It
showed the credit titles, to the usual
first-night applause. Then at last the
first
scene opened. My heart pounded. It was
a comedy scene of the unveiling of a
statue. They began to laugh! The laughter
increased into roars. I had got them!
. . . Then a most incredible thing happened.
Suddenly in the middle of the
laughter the picture was turned off!
The house lights went up and a voice
over
a loudspeaker announced: 'Before continuing
further with this wonderful
comedy, we would like to take five minutes
of your time and point out to you
the merits of this beautiful new theatre.'
I could not believe my ears. I went
mad. I leaped from my seat and raced
up the aisle..."(330).
 City Lights was unique for many reasons, but
a lesser-known one is that it was the
film Charlie traveled around with during
1931 and 1932. He probably attended far
more "premieres" of this film than any
other. He traveled to New York City and
attended the premiere there on February
6th at the George M. Cohan Theatre, the
only venue he could acquire for the event.
Then he chased it overseas, attending
the first of many foreign premiere nights
there in London at the Dominion Theatre
on Tottenham Court Road on February 27th.
The New York Times reported that
"Certainly Londoners left no doubt in
Chaplin’s mind that he is their hero.
It might have been Armistice Night outside
the Dominion Theatre, where the film was
having the first European showing. Thousands
stood in the drenching rain
waiting for a glimpse of him and the police
and ticket holders were helpless in
the crush until he had made his appearance.
Inside the theatre hundreds crowded
in front of the stage until they spied
him shaking hands with Shaw and waving
at the crowd."
While Charlie missed premiere nights
in both Paris and Berlin, much to the
consternation of his fans in those cities,
he was to attend premieres of the film
in other smaller venues, such as Nice
and Biarritz. The program for the premiere
run of the film in Paris at the Theatre
Marigny is worth mentioning, however,
because it offers the first visual link
between The Little Tramp and Mickey
Mouse, for the Shell Oil Company’s advertisement
illustrator incorporates the two in
a several-page-long illustration that
runs throughout the booklet.
Later
premiere nights also had their noteworthy
moments. The premiere of The Great Dictator
in New York City on October 15, 1940 was attended by Charlie and Paulette Goddard
(having arrived separately from each other)
and his remarks following the film included
his only reference to Paulette as his
"wife." It was also the only premiere
that required engaging two side-by-side
theatres because of viewer demand (the
Capitol and Astor Theatres). The premiere
of Monsieur Verdoux in 1947 was a completely
different experience, however, and noteworthy
because of it. Followed the next day by
his butchering at the hands of the New
York press, the film’s premiere on April
11th was supposedly peppered with hostile
audience reaction. Even the presence of
Oona and Charlie’s on-again off-again
friend and business partner Mary Pickford
failed to save the evening. The premiere
of Limelight, of course, was marked by
the re-entry permit debacle, and so proved
to move the location of premiere nights
to Europe — permanently. Charlie was supported
at the London premiere of Limelight by
his young family, his older son Sydney,
Claire Bloom and Princess Margaret. This
premiere started a trend for the remaining
premieres of Charlie’s career in that
the occasion was a charity event — this
time for The Royal London Society for
Teaching and Training the Blind.
Would Charlie have considered the obligatory
premiere night a benefit or a drawback
to his career? It’s clear from newspaper
research that simply attending one’s
own premiere was not enough; a star
of any status had to be seen at other
such events as well. It seems that Charlie’s
appearance at others' premieres was
often taken as a sign of approval and
his attendance was often recorded through
photos or newsreels that were accompanied
by his personal reaction to the film.
In the hoopla surrounding Scorcese’s
The Aviator, for instance, Turner Classic
Movies showed Howard Hughes' Hell’s
Angels on several occasions—always advertising
it a week beforehand with a newsreel
from its premiere night in 1930. And
there he is, of course, accompanied
by Georgia Hale and happily providing
his approbation for the film, for all
the world’s a stage, my friends, and
Charlie an unparalleled master of the
game.
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