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Smile: The Story of Charlie Chaplin

5 stars 

Comic Genius is a much overused term at this time of year, but Marcel Cole’s hour-long homage to the king of silent movie slapstick and beyond warrants such an accolade on several levels. 

Opening with a note perfect condensed re-enactment of Chaplin’s 1925 masterpiece, The Gold Rush, Australian clown Cole enlists several audience members as his cast to chart Chaplin’s rise from poverty stricken childhood to the vaudeville stage and global stardom in Hollywood.

Cole plays on his in-the-moment interactions with a masterly sense of comic control with a Sunday morning crowd who clearly knew their Chaplin backwards. Drawing from the maestro’s epic 1964 autobiography, Cole goes beyond nostalgia to take in Chaplin’s reluctant move into the talkies and his anti fascist stance in The Great Dictator. His exile to Switzerland after being dragged through the House UnAmerican Activities Committee looks very much like a forerunner of today’s cancel culture.  

While the original is well shared, hearing Cole recite the climactic speech from The Great Dictator is a chilling moment in a magnificent masterpiece of serious fun. . 

Pleasance Courtyard until 25 Aug, 11.10am. 


The List, August 2025

Ends 

 

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