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Composer Carl Davis is to tell the story of Charlie Chaplin’s early life in an event on the site of the Victorian workhouse where the star once lived.
Davis, 77, will present an illustrated lecture using clips from a series of short films which Chaplin wrote, directed and starred in for the Mutual Film Corporation in 1916.
For the films, the actor, from Lambeth, drew on his experiences of a destitute childhood, the lure of the halls and theatres where he began his career, and his move to America.
Davis has written scores specially for the series, which will be the basis for the evening at the Cinema Museum in Kennington — formerly the workhouse where Chaplin’s family sometimes sought refuge.
The American-born composer, who came to the UK in 1960 and has written music for hits including the BBC’s 1995 Pride And Prejudice, said when he discovered the museum’s origins he thought it was an obvious site for such an event.
“It gave [Chaplin] an education in survival that lived on in the character of the tramp ... which became a universally loved figure,” he said.
Tickets for An Evening with Carl Davis on December 7 are available from WeGotTickets or the museum.
