Charlie Chaplins Own Story

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Charlie Chaplins Own Story Page 9

by Charlie Chaplin


  very cozily, and I told her I should soon be

  a great London actor, which she firmly be-

  lieved, only saying I was too modest and made

  a mistake in going on tour when I should have

  at least a good part in a West End theater.

  ...

  By closest economy I managed to send her

  a pound every week during that season with

  'Jim, the Romance of a Cockney', though some-

  times going without supper to buy the en-

  velope and stamp; and because it is not pov-

  erty, but economy, which teaches the value of

  a penny, I learned it so thoroughly that year

  that I have never forgotten it. The only part

  of the tour which I enjoyed was the time I

  spent on the stage, when I forgot my constant

  thought of money and lived the romantic joys

  and griefs of Jim. I played the part so well,

  perhaps for this reason, that I was becoming

  known as one of the most promising boy actors

  in England, and I used to clip every mention

  of my acting which I could find and send it

  to my mother in the Saturday letter.

  119

  When I came back to London at the close of

  the season I expected nothing less than a

  rush of the managers to engage me. I walked

  into Frank Stern's office very chesty and im-

  portant with not even a glance for the office

  boy or the crowd of actors patiently waiting

  and knocked on his door with my cane. Then

  I pushed it open and went in.

  Frank Stern was sitting with his feet on his

  desk, smoking and reading Floats in great con-

  tentment. He leaped to his feet when he heard

  me walk in, but when he saw who it was he

  welcomed me boisterously.

  120

  "Glad to see you back, glad to see you!" he

  said jovially. "Sit down."

  "No, thanks. I just dropped in to see what

  you had to offer for next season," I said care-

  lessly. "It must be something good this time,

  you know."

  His cordiality dropped like a mask; he

  looked at me very sternly.

  "There's a part in 'His Mother Left Him

  to Starve' he said. "We could use you in

  that."

  "How much salary?" I asked.

  "Two pounds," he answered sharply.

  "No, thanks," I said airily. "Though I

  won't say I mightn't consider it for four."

  ...

  "Then I'm afraid I haven't anything," he said,

  and turned back to his desk as though he were

  very busy. I went out whistling, so sure of

  my value that I was careless of offending

  him. And indeed when, ten days later, I was

  offered the part of Billy, the page, in

  Sherlock Holmes, at a salary of thirty shil-

  lings, I was sure that I had acted astutely,

  and gave myself credit for good business sense

  as well as great talent. I even had some

  thoughts of holding out for a part in the Lon-

  don company, and if I had had a few shillings

  more, or any money to pay for my mother's

  lodgings, I might have been foolish enough

  to do it.

  As it was, I walked into the rooms where the

  company was rehearsing with a feeling that

  it was a condescension on my part to go on

  tour again, and marching briskly up to the

  prompter's table, laid my cane upon it — a

  breach of theatrical etiquette at which the

  company stood aghast. I never did it again,

  for that day's work with a real stage manager

  gave me my first idea of good acting, and I

  left late that night with my vanity smarting

  painfully.

  " 'Act natural!'" I said to myself, bitterly

  mocking the stage manager. " 'Talk like a

  human being!' My eye, what do they think

  the people want? I act like an actor, I talk

  like an actor, and if they don't like it they

  can jolly well take their old show! I can get

  better!"

  Nevertheless, I went back next day and

  worked furiously under the scathing sarcasm

  and angry oaths of the manager until I had

  learned the part passably well and forgotten

  most of the stage tricks I had found so

  effective in From Bags to Riches. The night

  before we went on tour I had dinner with my

  mother, who was still in the care of Mrs. Hobbs,

  so thin and nervous that it worried me to see

  her, and she was fluttering with excitement and

  overjoyed at my being a great actor, but for

  the first time I doubted it. 122

  However, the press notices speedily brought

  back my self-confidence. In almost every town

  they praised my work so highly that the actor

  who played Holmes gave me cold glances when-

  ever he saw me and even cut bits of my part.

  Then, though complaining bitterly, I knew I

  had really "arrived," and I openly grinned

  at him before the company, and demanded a

  better dressing-room.

  Just before the close of the tour I was stand-

  ing in the wings one evening confiding to one

  of the actresses my intention of placing a bent

  pin in Holmes' chair on the stage next evening,

  where I calculated it would have great effect,

  owing to his drawing his dressing gown tight

  around him with a dignified air just before-

  sitting down, when a boy came up and gave me

  a telegram. I tore it open, fearing bad news

  from my; mother, and read it. It said:

  123

  "William Gillette opens in Sherlock Holmes

  here next week. Wants you for Billy. Charles

  Frohman."

  William Gillette! Charles Frohman!

  CHAPTER XVI

  In which I journey to London ; meet and

  speak with a wax-works figure ; and make

  my first appearance in a great theater.

  ...

  I do not know how I got through my act that

  night. I was in such a flurry of excitement

  and so jubilant over the great news that I

  missed my cues and played with only half my

  wits on my work, careless how Holmes frowned

  at me. Every one in the company had heard

  of my telegram from Frohman before the end

  of the second act, and I knew they were watch-

  ing me enviously from the wings. I rushed

  past them, in wild haste to get to the

  dressing-room and take off my make-up as soon

  as my last scene was finished, and I was half

  dressed while they were taking the curtain

  call.

  I met Holmes and the manager just outside

  the dressing-room and resigned my place in

  their company with great haughtiness.

  ...

  "Of course — er — you understand that I — ;

  er — can not do justice to my art as long as

  I am supported by merely provincial actors,"

  I said, looking at Holmes as majestically as

  I might from a height two feet less than his.

  Then I drew the manager aside and said kindly,

  "Of course, old man, I appreciate all you've

  done, and
all that — any time I can do any-

  thing for you with Frohman, you understand,

  you've only to say the word."

  125

  The entire company, excepting only Holmes,

  was at the station to see me off next morning,

  and since in the meantime my first vainglory

  had diminished and I felt more my usual self,

  there was a jolly half-hour before the train

  left. Every one wished me luck and promised

  to come to see me act in London, while I

  assured them I would not forget old friends,

  and the manager clapped me heartily on the

  back and said he'd always known I would do

  great things. They gave a great cheer when

  the train started and I waved at them from

  the back platform. Then I was off, to London

  and fame.

  Early the next afternoon, dressed in a new suit

  with new shirt and tie to match, I arrived at

  the Duke of York's Theater in the West End and

  inquired for the stage manager. I had to wait

  for him a minute on the dim stage and I stood

  looking out over the rows of empty seats in

  the big dark house, thrilling to think that

  before long they would be filled with scores

  of persons watching me act. Then Mr. Postham

  came hurrying up, a very busy man with a

  quick nervous voice. I told him who I was,

  and he gave me the manuscript of my part in

  a hurried manner.

  126

  "That's all. Rehearsal here, nine to-morrow,"

  he said. Then, as I was turning away, he added,

  "Like to see Mr. Gillette?"

  "I would, yes," I answered eagerly, and tried

  to clutch at my self-possession, which I had

  never lacked before, while the boy led me

  til rough the dim passages to Mr. Gillette's

  dressing-room. The boy knocked at the door of

  it, said loudly, "Mr. Chaplin to see Mr. Gil-

  lette," and left me standing there, breathing

  hard.

  An instant later the door opened and a little

  Japanese, perfectly dressed in the clothes

  of an English man-servant, popped into the

  aperture. I had never seen a Japanese servant

  before, and his appearance so confounded me

  that I could only look at him and repeal what

  the boy had said, while I fumbled in my pocket

  for a card and wondered if it would be proper

  to give it to him if I should find one. It ap-

  peared that it was not necessary for he opened

  the door wider. I stepped in.

  127

  William Gillette was sitting before his dress-

  ing-table, busy with make-up. He rose to meet

  me — a very tall stately man, his face entirely

  covered with dead white paint. The whole place

  was white — the walls, the dressing-table, even

  the floor, as I remember it — and the whiteness

  was intensified by a glare of strong white light.

  In that bright glare, and under the mask of

  white paint, Mr. Gillette did not seem like a

  real man. He seemed like some fantastic curio

  in a glass case.

  "You're to play Billy, I understand," he said,

  looking keenly at me through narrow, almost

  almond, eyes. "How old are you?"

  "Fourteen, sir," I answered as if hypnotized,

  for I was now telling every one that I was six-

  teen.

  "I hear you're a very promising young actor,"

  he said. "I hope you'll make a good

  Billy — what did you want to see me about?"

  "I just wanted to see you," I replied.

  "Well, I'm very glad we've met," he said,

  looking amused, I thought. "If I can be any

  help to you, come again, won't you?"

  128

  I think I replied suitably as I backed out.

  I reached the street before I quite recovered

  from the effect of his strange appearance in

  that white room. I had met one of the great-

  est actors on the English stage, and I felt as

  though I had seen a figure in a wax-works and

  it had spoken to me.

  Then, when I stood on the curb in all the

  noise of the London traffic, I realized that

  the events of that momentous day were all real.

  I was engaged to play with William Gillette

  in the finest of West End theaters; I held the

  manuscript of my part in my hand. Excited

  and jubilant, I rushed off to tell my mother

  the great news, and then to engage lodgings

  of my own, where I spent all that evening

  walking up and down, rehearsing the part of

  Billy, only pausing now and then, with a

  whoop, to do a few dance steps or stand on my

  head.

  The next morning I was one of the first to

  reach the theater for rehearsal. I had risen

  early to take a few turns up and down the

  Strand, hoping to meet some one I knew to

  whom I could mention casually that I was with

  Frohman now, but every one I passed was a

  stranger and I had to content myself with

  looking haughtily at them and saying to my-

  self: "'You wouldn't half like to he on your

  way to rehearsal with William Gillette, would

  you now? What, ho!"

  129

  Mr. Postham proved to be different from the

  stage managers I had known before. He was

  nervous and excitable, but no matter how badly

  an actor read his lines, Mr. Postham never

  swore at him.

  "No," he said quietly. "This way, 'I'll do

  it, sir.' No, not 'I'll do it, sir,' but 'I'll

  do it, sir.' Try it again. No, that's a little

  too emphatic. Listen, 'I'll do it, sir.' Not

  quite so self-confident. Again, 'I'll do it,

  sir.' Once more, please." He never seemed to

  grow tired. He kept us at it for hours, watching

  every detail, every inflection or shade of tone,

  and his patience was endless. It was new work

  to me, but I liked it; and after rehearsal I

  would practise for hours in my rooms, liking

  the sound of my voice in the different tones.

  ...

  William Gillette had come to London with

  a play called 'Clarice', which had not gone

  well.

  130

  He was putting on Sherlock Holmes to save

  the season and rushing rehearsals in order

  to have the new play ready in the shortest

  possible time. We worked all day, and twice

  were called for midnight rehearsals, after

  'Clarice' was off the boards. Two weeks

  after I reached London we were called at

  seven in the morning for dress rehearsal.

  Sherlock Holmes was to be put on that night.

  Everything went wrong at the dress rehearsal.

  We were overworked and nervous; we missed our

  cues; some of the properties were lost ;

  Mr. Postham was intensely quiet. I was very

  well pleased by it all, for every East End

  actor knows that a bad dress rehearsal means

  a good first performance, but the manager and

  Mr. Gillette did not seem to share my opinion,

  and the company scattered gloomily enough when
/>   at last they let us go, with admonitions to be

  early at the theater that night.

  I was made up and dressed for the first scene

  early, and hurried out to the peep-hole in

  the curtain, hoping to catch a glimpse of

  my mother in the audience. I had got tickets

  for her and Mrs. Hobbs and ordered a carriage

  for them, as my mother was not strong and

  could not come in a tram. The house was fill-

  ing fast. Behind the scenes there was tense

  breathless excitement; scene shifters and stage

  carpenters were hurrying back and forth ; there

  was a furious scene over something mislaid.

  Every one's nerves were strained to the break-

  ing point.

  The curtain went up. From the wings, where

  I stood waiting for my cue and saying my

  lines over and over to myself with a tight

  feeling in my throat, I saw Mr. Gillette open-

  ing the scene. I listened carefully to every

  word he spoke, knowing that every one brought

  my entrance nearer. Suddenly Mr. Postham

  touched my shoulder.

  "Royalty's in front," he said. "Whatever

  you do, don't look at the royal box."

  Then, on the stage, Mr. Gillette spoke my

  cue. I put back my shoulders, cleared my

  throat, and stepped out on the stage, my brain

  repeating, "Don't look at the royal box."

  CHAPTER XVII

  In which I play with a celebrated actor; dare

  to look at the royal box ; pay a penalty for

  my awful crime; gain favor with the public;

  and receive a summons from another famous star.

  ...

  MY nerves were stretched tight, like badly;

  tuned violin strings, and I seemed to feel them

  vibrate when I stepped on the stage and spoke

  my opening line, with Gillette's eyes upon me

  and the packed house listening. My brain was

  keyed to a high pitch, working smoothly, but

  it did not seem in any way attached to my body,

  and I heard the words as though some one else

  had spoken them. They were clear, firm, the

  accent perfect. I felt myself stepping three

  steps forward, one to the right, and turning

  to Mr. Gillette; heard my second line spoken,

  with the emphasis placed properly on the third

  word.

  "Don't look at the royal box," I said to my-

  self.

  Then I was in the swing of the scene. Mr.

  Gillette spoke; I answered him; the situation

  came clearly into my mind. I realized that

  I was playing opposite William Gillette, that

  the eyes of London were on me, and royalty

  itself listening. I threw myself into the work,

 

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