Released - April, 1942 

Directed By - Sam Wood

Starring – Ann Sheridan (Randy Monaghan), Robert Cummings (Parris Mitchell), Ronald Reagan (Drake McHugh), Betty Field (Cassandra Tower), Charles Coburn (Dr. Henry Gordon), Claude Rains (Dr. Alexander Tower), Judith Anderson (Mrs. Harriet Gordon).

Description – A powerful drama set in a midwestern town just before World War I that tells the intertwined story of  its citizens. The story concerns itself particularly with two young men Parris Mitchell, and Drake McHugh.

Revealed through the growing years of these two men will be the corruption and moral decay that lurks behind the peaceful facade of this serene community. There are many difficult facts that must be dealt with including challanges, tragedies, social pressures, and dark secrets.

It’s all there; just under the surface of small town America.

NOTABLE: This motion picture received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Sam Wood), and Best Cinematography, Black and White.

This film was Ronald Reagan’s most notable role and was the inspiration for the title of his 1965 autobiography ‘Where’s the Rest of Me?’

There were problems with the Hays Code regarding this film, as they strongly objected to any reference to incest, homosexuality, nymphomania, and euthenasia.

The town depicted is based on Fulton, Missouri; the actual home of the novel’s author Henry Bellamann.

Kings Row

Ronald Reagan – The Signature Collection (Knute Rockne All American / Kings Row / The Hasty Heart / Storm Warning / The Winning Team)

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January, 1921 – Charlie Chaplin's first feature film has proven to be an instant success opening in New York to the delight of both fans and reviewers. Jackie Coogan, described by Chaplin as "the most amazing person I ever met in my life," is the perfect compliment to Chaplin's character The Tramp. 

The rapport between Chaplin and his diminutive co-star is nothing less than exceptional. So much in tune are the two that it almost seems that young Coogan's character is actually as a child.

Also seen in the film is Jackie Coogan Sr. in several small roles including the Devil. Chaplin has stated that he and young Jackie will never work together again and that he would, in no way, stand in the way of the worldwide stardom that awaits the young actor.

Released – January, 1921 

Directed By -  Charles Chaplin

Starring – Charlie Chaplin (The Tramp), Jackie Coogan (The Kid (“John”), Edna Purviance (Mother).

Description – Finding an abandoned baby in an alley, The Tramp cares for it. As the baby grows into a child, the pair become an effective team of scammers in order to survive.

Events that are tied to the baby’s original abandonment by his now successful mother, an opera singer, soon catch up with the pair and the authorities are poised to take the child to an orphanage.

With his heart breaking, The Tramp makes a desperate attempt to regain the child. Having done so, the two go into hiding. However, this story is far from being over.

NOTABLE: This is the first feature length comedy film to successfully combine comedy and human drams.

Though Chaplin’s character of The Tramp was already familiar to movie audiences, this was the first time they saw him with emotional depth. They loved it!

This film made actor Jackie Coogan, who previously had been working in vaudeville, the first major child movie star.

Buy Here The Kid (Enhanced) 1921

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Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator is known for its strong political overtones, a mix of comedy with tragedy and as Chaplin’s first ‘talkie,’ and most commercially successful film. The movie is a searing spoof of German dictator Adolph Hitler, and the Third Reich. The film openly condemns Hitler, fascism and the Nazis all in one breath. Chaplin’s final speech in the movie sums up his feeling toward Nazism as he references them as “machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts”.

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