![]() ![]() ![]() When Simon was brought in at the end of 2017, his son and studio co-founder, Emanuel Simonian, says, “The skylights were so damaged that they presented a health hazard (pieces were at risk of falling down) … and the original illustrations on some were completely gone.” Simon spent about seven months removing “a century of grime and filth” from what was salvageable and re-creating the rest from scratch while maintaining the original design’s integrity. Local fine artist Simon Simonian of Progressive Art Stained Glass Studio, who has an architectural and construction background, is the reason we are able to still enjoy the skylights today. The subdued, earthy palette of the skylights’ intricate carpet designs glow especially radiantly when the chandeliers are dimmed. ![]() Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks to discuss the formation and eventual launch of their United Artists studio. Circa 1919, Charlie Chaplin dined here with friends D.W. An American president and Hollywood and English royalty alike have spent time below them. First named the Franco-Italian Dining Salon, it is now a sought-after downtown event venue thanks to the timeless beauty of its four rectangular Tiffany stained-glass skylights, especially the larger center ones, with twin designs of stretched tapestries that float in a sky of blue glass. O’Neill (daughter of playwright Eugene O’Neill) was clearly the love of the actor’s life, and, at least as evidenced by intimate home movie footage, they enjoyed a fairly idyllic existence on their 35-acre Swiss estate.The nearly 200-foot-long Palm Court on the ground floor of the 1906 Beaux-Arts Alexandria Hotel designed by John Parkinson was part of an adjacent 1911 multistory addition and originally served as a dining area. They include actress Geraldine Chaplin, heard here in audio interview bits along with several of her siblings. More attention is given in the doc’s last section to Chaplin’s fourth and final marriage to Oona O’Neill (his penchant for much - much - younger women continued here: She was 18, he was 54 when they wed), with whom he had eight children. and he relocated to Switzerland where he would live out his years.Ĭhaplin’s later films, the Tramp-free “Monsieur Verdoux” and “Limelight,” are briefly mentioned but his last two, “A King in New York” and the starry “A Countess from Hong Kong,” go undiscussed. Ultimately, the FBI investigation led to Chaplin’s forced departure from the U.S. Edgar Hoover and gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. He became persona non grata after a string of romantic and marital scandals an ugly paternity suit accusations of Communist leanings and an unholy, dirt-digging alliance between J. Chaplin’s perfectionist ways, his avoidance of sound in films until his 1940 Hitler satire, “The Great Dictator” (it’s showily noted that he and Der Führer were born four days apart), and his provocative, eventually problematic tilt into political issues are also absorbingly covered.Ĭhaplin’s notorious downward spiral rounds out the film’s timeline recap on a more somber note. His story continues: In 1919, he co-founded United Artists, for which he made a string of hits (“The Gold Rush,” “City Lights” and “Modern Times” all get their closeups). How he cobbled together his beloved character’s iconic costume is handily explained. He would soon gain unmatched fame for starring in (plus directing, writing, producing and more) a slew of comedy shorts and later, his first full-length feature ( “The Kid”), honing and sustaining his alter ego, the Tramp, in the process. It first outlines Chaplin’s impoverished youth in East London, teenage forays onto the comedy stage and 1910 move to America at age 21. The film touches upon and often burrows into many of the performer’s highlights - and lowlights. Still, the movie attempts to provide its share of illuminating clues and theories about “the real” Chaplin as it combines an engaging bonanza of familiar and rarer film clips and other archival material with previously unheard audio and deft dramatic reenactments to form a cradle-to-grave account of the legend’s long and winding life. ![]()
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