If you are not doing research on Chaplin and are looking for an entertaining but obscure film, avoid the King of New York. Simply put this film is a mess. The story makes little sense, the pace just stumbles along and even 50 years on, the humor shows signs of age. Chaplin's problems with the US authorities clouded his artistic judgment and although his frustrations are understandable, his creativity suffered and this is very evident on the screen.
Although Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight will never be considered classics, they worked despite their flaws. A King In New York simply stumbles along to a very unsatisfying end. And while the comments from Jim Jarmusch on the DVD feature are accurate Chaplin had a wonderful way of satirizing America's rampant consumer culture Jarmusch is simply being generous to Chaplin by saying that this film is well executed. One can almost sense Chaplin's sense of dislocation of having to work in London after 4 decades in the States and owning his own film studio.
This film is required viewing for those studying the entire life and works of Chaplin, but as entertainment (always Chaplin's aim) it falls flat on it's face. It's doubly tragic that this artist, who contributed so much to America and the world should have been hounded out of the country with such vehemence. Equally astounding is how the American public accepted this treatment of a cultural icon with such equanimity. There's small comfort in the fact that the later works of other masters of film from the first half of the twentieth century (i.e. Preston Sturges, Erich Von Stroheim & Orson Welles ) were equally pallid and uninspiring. This film was intended as a comedy, but it simply leaves you feeling very sad.
Although Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight will never be considered classics, they worked despite their flaws. A King In New York simply stumbles along to a very unsatisfying end. And while the comments from Jim Jarmusch on the DVD feature are accurate Chaplin had a wonderful way of satirizing America's rampant consumer culture Jarmusch is simply being generous to Chaplin by saying that this film is well executed. One can almost sense Chaplin's sense of dislocation of having to work in London after 4 decades in the States and owning his own film studio.
This film is required viewing for those studying the entire life and works of Chaplin, but as entertainment (always Chaplin's aim) it falls flat on it's face. It's doubly tragic that this artist, who contributed so much to America and the world should have been hounded out of the country with such vehemence. Equally astounding is how the American public accepted this treatment of a cultural icon with such equanimity. There's small comfort in the fact that the later works of other masters of film from the first half of the twentieth century (i.e. Preston Sturges, Erich Von Stroheim & Orson Welles ) were equally pallid and uninspiring. This film was intended as a comedy, but it simply leaves you feeling very sad.