Near the end of Modern Times (1936), Chaplin (‘The Little Tramp’) goes onstage in a cabaret to sing Titine but suddenly loses the detachable cuffs he was wearing which his friend (Paulette Goddard) had written the song lyrics on. Not knowing them off by heart, he panics and looks around while the orchestra play the introduction ad libitum; when from the wings, Paulette Goddard mouths that classic line, “Sing! Never mind the words”. Then comes the epic moment when the Little Tramp starts singing complete gibberish on stage. This one scene epitomises in itself just how important pure music was to Charlie Chaplin. In fact, until Monsieur Verdoux in 1947 he believed words were unnecessary, whether they were written dialogue on screen or lyrics within a song. The Chaplinesque style put the focus on melodic and orchestral music instead, either as a lyrical commentary of a picture or synchronized with a choreographed comedy.
Born in London in 1889 to parents who were both music hall entertainers, Charlie Chaplin was introduced to the world of entertainment at a very young age. At the age of 18 he joined Fred Karno’s comedy company and it was on tour with them that he became not only a keen pantomime performer, but also a musical performer. “On this tour I carried my violin and my cello”, he said, looking back. He went on, “Since the age of sixteen I had practised from four to six hours a day in my bedroom. [...] I had great ambitions to be a concert artist, or, failing that, to use it in a vaudeville act”. The strong attachment that Chaplin had with the violin is perhaps most evident in one of his last feature films, Limelight (1952), in which he is joined by none other than Buster Keaton on the piano and does a comedy act with the instrument whilst playing the role of an old, once-famous performer.
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