The Tramp and the Cameraman: Chaplin, Keaton, and U.S. Modernity

Many US filmmakers of the silent era are celebrated to this day, but no two as consistently, as enthusiastically, or as universally as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Both finding their way into cinema after successful careers as knockabout vaudville comedians, these actor-directors staged ingenious routines for the camera that would be almost immediately recognized as uniquely modern works of art. In this class, we'll look at some of their essential films and ask what makes them key pieces of modern culture. This will provide us an opportunity to contemplate the origins of slapstick comedy, the value of silent film and pantomime and its place in U.S. film history, the relation between popular culture and modernism/modernity, and the continuing influence of Chaplin's and Keaton's bodies of work.