A King in New York (1957)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (writer)

Release Date:

21 December 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A recently-deposed European monarch seeks shelter in New York City, where he becomes an accidental television celebrity and is later wrongly accused of being a Communist.

Plot Keywords:

Communist | King | Television | Hot Tub | Airport

Cast

Charles Chaplin	...	King Shahdov
Maxine Audley	...	Queen Irene
Jerry Desmonde	...	Prime Minister Voudel
Oliver Johnston	...	Ambassador Jaume
Dawn Addams	...	Ann Kay - TV Specialist
Sid James	...	Johnson - TV Advertiser (as Sidney James)
Joan Ingram	...	Mona Cromwell - Hostess
Michael Chaplin	...	Rupert Macabee
John McLaren	...	Macabee Senior
Phil Brown	...	Headmaster
Harry Green	...	Lawyer
Robert Arden	...	Liftboy
Alan Gifford	...	School Superintendent
Robert Cawdron	...	Ulrich - U.S. Marshal
George Woodbridge	...	Member of Atomic Commission
Clifford Buckton	...	Member of Atomic Commission
Vincent Lawson	...	Member of Atomic Commission
Shani Wallis	...	Singer
Joy Nichols	...	Singer
Lauri Lupino Lane	...	Comedian
George Truzzi	...	Comedian
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Crombie	...	Nightclub drummer (uncredited)
Pat Gibson	...	(uncredited)
Wendy Graham	...	(uncredited)
Lilian Grassom	...	Cute Girl (uncredited)
Arthur Gross	...	Autograph hunter (uncredited)
Tubby Hayes	...	Nightclub saxophonist (uncredited)
Frazer Hines	...	(uncredited)
Roy Hines	...	(uncredited)
Penelope Horner	...	(uncredited)
Jemma Hyde	...	Cast member (uncredited)
Kevin Kelly	...	(uncredited)
Hugh McDermott	...	Bill Johnson (uncredited)
MacDonald Parke	...	(uncredited)
Jose Read	...	(uncredited)
Yvonne Romain	...	(uncredited)
Richard Shaw	...	Butler (uncredited)
Bernice Swanson	...	(uncredited)
Gareth Tandy	...	(uncredited)
Nicholas Tanner	...	Butler (uncredited)
David Tilley	...	(uncredited)
Howard Vaughn	...	(uncredited)
Gillian Watt	...	Teenager (uncredited)
Ross Yeo	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Chaplin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Charles Chaplin		writer

Produced by
Charles Chaplin	....	producer (uncredited)
Jerome Epstein	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Charles Chaplin

Cinematography by
Georges Périnal		(as Georges Perinal)

Film Editing by
John Seabourne Sr.		(as John Seabourne)

Art Direction by
Allan Harris

Makeup Department
Stuart Freeborn	....	makeup artist
Helen Penfold	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Eddie Pike	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
René Dupont	....	assistant director (as Rene Dupont)

Sound Department
John Cox	....	sound supervisor
Bob Jones	....	sound recordist
Spencer Reeve	....	sound editor
Bert Ross	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Wally Veevers	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Bob Cuff	....	matte painter (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jeff Seaholme	....	camera operator
Ron Drinkwater	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Wally Fairweather	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
John Wilson-Apperson	....	wardrobe supervisor (as J. Wilson-Apperson)

Editorial Department
Tony Bohy	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Leighton Lucas	....	conductor
Boris Sarbek	....	music arranger
Eric James	....	musical associate (uncredited)
Dave Shand	....	music associate (uncredited)

Other crew
Barbara Cole	....	continuity
Mickey Delamar	....	production controller

Production Companies

• Charles Chaplin Productions
• Attica Film Company

Distributors

• Archway Film Distributors Ltd. (1957) (UK) (theatrical)
• MK2 Diffusion (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
• Cinédis (1957) (France) (theatrical)
• Attica Film Company
• Classic Entertainment (1973) (USA)
• Image Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Deanfield of London  furs

Runtime:

110 min | Argentina:105 min | USA:105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Spain:T | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G (1972) | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Leicester Square, Soho, London, England, UK

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

Dawn Addams replaced Kay Kendall.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Chaplin's title character first meets the boy Rupert, the boy goes into an extended diatribe. Numerous times in the scene, the boy can be observed silently saying Chaplin's lines as well as his own, presumably as a way of remembering his cue.

Quotes:

[after being told that the political turmoil in America is just a "passing phase."]
King Shahdov: Quite so. In the meantime, I'll sit it out in Europe.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Chaplin Today: A King in New York (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Sadness Goes On

Delightful Surprise

When I was a child, Charlie Chaplin's name was anathema. Here was the

personification of the "Red Peril," made worse still by the fact that we

had loved and trusted him through a lifetime of film. When A KING IN NEW

YORK came out it couldn't even get a distributor in the U.S. so virulent

was the hatred for "turncoat" Charlie.

Now, forty seven years later, and thanks tp the amazing TCM, I have

finally seen A KING IN NEW YORK and though it is somewhat uneven and

episodic, I believe it to be one of the best of Chaplin's films.

A mixture of broad slapstick and wry and subtle satire, the film is

often hilarious while at the same time touching and thought provoking.

Satire has to be the hardest form of art to translate to the screen and

there are few films that even try to tackle it, (Frank Tashlin's

hilarious WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? one delightful example), so A

KING IN NEW YORK is welcome as an attempt to satirize a rather

unsettling time in US history.

There are many brilliant scenes in A KING IN NEW YORK; the ones in the

movie theater, at the "Montesori" type school and shooting the Scotch

commercial among the best. Above all, the warmth, humanity and total

befuddlement of the King, as performed by Chaplin, is the glue that

holds the enterprise together.

In every frame, Chaplin is mesmerizing and Dawn Addams, playing it way

over the top as the epitome of the "woman in the grey flannel suit"

(one, by the way,that is covered by a floor length mink!), is a constant

delight. Excellent too is Michael Chaplin, the director's son, as a

young genius who spouts the joys of Communism at the drop of a hat.

Joe McCarthy is gone (so far!), Chaplin is dead and we are left in yet

another unsure world. Comedy, as always, will help get us through. A

KING IN NEW YORK gives us that comedic respite, while proving, so many

years later, that governments are, after all, transitory things while

art last forever.

A comedic gem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!