Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

A King in New York (1957)

Director: Charles Chaplin

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The Old Man's penultimate movie is very odd indeed - set in America but made in England with a cast of old lags like George Woodbridge (which never helps any film) and filled with Chaplin's loathing for the country which turned against him in the late '40s, forcing him into exile. The film reverses the real-life situation: Chaplin plays the deposed king of Estrovia who flees to the States, where he is tormented by McCarthyish investigations and more innocuous '50s phenomena (rock'n'roll, widescreen movies, TV advertising). In Limelight, Chaplin's acute egocentricity paid dividends, but here he seems unable to use his personal feelings for comedy: the bulk of the gags are incredibly crude. One watches the proceedings with constant interest and constant embarrassment.

Author: GB 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.