A King in New York (1957)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (written by)

Release Date:

12 September 1957 (UK)

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 | Television | New York City | Revolution | King

Awards:

1 nomination

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	...	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
Charles Chaplin		(written by)

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

Original Music by
Charles Chaplin

Cinematography by
Georges Périnal		(director of photography) (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)
David Tringham	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

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	....	music 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

• Attica Film Company (presents)

Distributors

• Archway Film Distributors Ltd. (1957) (UK) (theatrical)
• Cinédis (1957) (France) (theatrical)
• Classic Entertainment (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (presents) (as Classic Entertainment, Inc.)
• Key Video (1989) (USA) (VHS) (For CBS/Fox Video)
• MK2 Diffusion (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2001) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Attica Film Company
• Image Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Soul media (2011) (Denmark) (all media)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Deanfield of London  furs (as Dearfield London - Paris)
• Shepperton Studios  produced at

Also Known As:

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:

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

Filming Locations:

Leicester Square, Soho, London, England, UK

Company:

Attica Film Company

Trivia:

Filmed at Shepperton Studios.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The TV station repeatedly shown in the movie has the call letters "KPXA." However, being in New York the call letters should begin with a "W" as stations east of the Mississippi River begin the letter "W" and not "K".

Quotes:

Lawyer:Your Majesty, first and foremost, you must stand on your rights and demand immunity on the ground of your Royal Prerogative.
King Shahdov:Immunity from what?
Lawyer:That I don't know, but I intend to find out. But if they put the 64 dollars question to you, as if you are, or ever have been a communist, then again you must stand on your Royal Prerogative.
King Shahdov:But that question is absurd.
Lawyer:There are many things absurd these days...

Movie Connections:

Featured in Charlie Chaplin: The Forgotten Years (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Sadness Goes On

it's a bit more biting in its view of people (specifically Americans and capitalism), but it's still very funny

Charlie Chaplin's A King in New York is a fine film to see when it's a laid-back afternoon and it comes on TV, as it's a bit of a surprise to come upon. It's a later Chaplin film, where he's no longer the iconic Tramp, yet in a way the logic of one of those films in terms of the society at large is still being toyed with. This time, instead of being on poverty row with holes in his shoes and a sweet and enduring love for a street girl, he plays a king whose country has gone to war and without many prospects financially comes to America to do commercials for products that he would surely rather not be pushing on the public. As life does imitate art (as far as the stereotype goes it does have a ring of constant truth), Chaplin at the time was an exile, kicked out of America for being a supposed communist, and with his non-prolific career going a little bit on the slide, he made the film as a quasi-light attack on American consumerism, of the vanity and stupidity that can come out of prosperity.

But at the same time, there is still the sensibility that Chaplin loves life and individuals, if not certain groups. This can be seen in the child character- one of Chaplin's own sons- who through his very intelligent but arrogant manner is one of the nicer and funniest characters in the film. While a lot of the humor, sometimes rather dry, is in seeing Chaplin's King and his assistant/butler talk of money problems and in the observations of the 'other', the best scenes come in showing what levels King Shadhov has to sink to in trying to pay his expensive hotel bills and stay afloat in a strange land. My favorite scenes where Shadhov's botched plastic surgery debacle, where it's funnier seeing the King trying not to laugh at a slapstick spectacle than the actual spectacle itself, and the scenes of the King trying to shill the items, often to the dissatisfied directors (I'm reminded of Lost in Translation, and in fact Chaplin's scenes are probably more successful than Coppola's).

Although the film is preachy at times- it's best when Chaplin goes for the more succinct jabs as opposed to the grandstanding, ironic since it worked perfectly at the end of the Great Dictator- the overall high-spirited and serenely theatrical direction makes this a worthwhile effort. Far from being the controversial film it got a reputation as following a non-release in the 50s in the US, it's only a cunning satire, with moments light and foreboding, and it deserves to be seen just as much as Chaplin's classics (if only by his fans, who might be apprehensive at the filmmaker making too many 'statements').