Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin time traveller spotted in old film

Charlie Chaplin has always been viewed as a pioneer in the world of cinema but until now it's not been clear quite how ahead of their time his movies were.

Facial hair is usually associated with harmless eccentricity these days but during the 30s and 40s it was a moustache that embodied pure evil itself - specifically the toothbrush 'tache sported by Adolf Hitler. In this series, comedian Richard Herring sets out to rid a number of inanimate objects of their unfortunate associations, with his sights set this week on the Führer's face furniture, arguing that Charlie Chaplin popularised the toothbrush moustache long before Hitler first reached for his razor, and that the style needs reclaiming by today's funnymen. While quite amusing, the show's a bit hit-and-miss with Herring veering dangerously close to sermonising when the BNP comes up. But fans of the comic and his irreverent style will find much to enjoy.

Veteran comic & Albania's favourite Norman Wisdom dies

Charlie Chaplin called him his "favourite clown," and generations of British filmgoers would have wholeheartedly agreed.

Chaplin film to be shown for first time

A long lost film featuring an appearance by Charlie Chaplin will be shown for first time in almost a century at a film festival in the United States.

The movie, A Thief Catcher, is a 10-minute comedy made in 1914 and discovered last year at an antiques sale. Tom Donkin reports.

Please note, only a still shot from A Thief Catcher can be seen in this video. Other clips include: The Gold Rush, courtesy Warner Home Video and The Dictator, courtesy Warner Home Video.

It leaves me absolutely cold. Cleese and those other guys are completely up their own arses. It is humour made for dolts. I never made it through a complete episode of Flying Circus because it was so bad. I hate sacrilege too - so Life of Brian was an unfunny idea, too easy to sustain a whole film. It was the same with The Goons and Charlie Chaplin, who I could never stand - that kind of dopey, physically silly, male, oh-look-at-us humour. I prefer girls in backless dresses saying witty things in 1940s films, the kinds of movies that have a dry, crisp wit to them, and screwball comedies too. Python and its like rely on easy laughs - the parrot sketch is just ghastly - I prefer the kind of humour that creeps up on you, the kind that builds up so that, out of nowhere, you find yourself in hysterics. Humour should be subtle.