If you’ve ever visited the British Film Institute’s Chaplin site, you know the work of Bryony Dixon. I met Bryony for the first time at the Charlie Chaplin Conference in London in 2005, where she was one of the organizers. Given the overwhelming nature of that whole event, of course, a person has to be immediately awed at what Bryony and her colleagues were able to do and are able to do. That was a great event and I’m still in touch with most, if not all, of the contacts I made there and have gained much from all of them. Thank you, Bryony! Perhaps the best venue for getting to know Bryony, though, is not at something as lofty as the Charlie Chaplin conference, but at dinner. But isn’t this always the case? I find her to be an authentic, no-nonsense sort of person, which I appreciate very much. So, if you ever get to meet up with her—at one or more film festivals in Europe—Nottingham, Bologna, Pordenone, etc., introduce yourself and consider yourself lucky. I know I do!
Bryony Dixon has worked
at the BFI National Archive for 15 years
and has developed a particular interest
in early film. She has written on British
silent comedy, the relationship of early
film and the music hall and programmes
archival material of all kinds for the
BFI's own cinemas as well as internationally.
She founded and co-programmes the British
Silent Film Festival with Laraine Porter
of the Nottingham Broadway Cinema. This
festival, now in its 11th year has transformed
the way we think about British film
history. In the last few years she ran
the BFI’s Chaplin project, organised
the first international conference on
Chaplin and designed the BFI’s dedicated
Chaplin microsite (chaplin.bfi.org.uk). She is now a curator
with a special responsibility for the
BFI’s collection of silent film.
What is the Charlie Chaplin
Research Foundation and who can utilize
it?
The original idea of the Foundation was
to promote interest in and study of Chaplin
in the country of his birth. Lord Attenborough
in particular was keen that the Chaplin
story could be used to inspire young people
particularly in deprived areas around
where Chaplin was born and brought up
- which of course happens to be where
the BFI Southbank is located. At one time
there was to be a physical presence at
the newly developed Southbank site but
although the space for educational functions,
development of a Mediatheque and other
innovations does cater more to the local
community, the Chaplin project itself
became more focused on maximising access
to the collections, setting up the conference
to assess the interest in the academic
community and restoring the films. Of
course we also have our consultant David
Robinson on board and the project with
some firm foundations can grow from here.
Can you talk a bit about creating the BFI's Chaplin website? How did you decide what you would like to put on it, for instance? What will you add to it in the future, if anything?
When I was thinking about designing
the Chaplin website - I thought about
what would be the most useful contribution
that the BFI could make to the study
of Chaplin. Essentially we deal in collections
and knowledge, so it seemed logical
that supplying access to as many original
materials as possible was a good place
to start. So much has been written on
Chaplin--some good, some bad--that to
add to this huge volume of opinion seemed
unlikely to make the kind of difference
I was looking for. So I decided to play
to our strengths and digitise as many
of our materials as I could for people
to see and make up their own minds about
Chaplin. I was also aware of other people's
sites and wanted ours to be complementary
- particularly to the official archives.
I also gave the BFI site a British slant
and so commissioned some pieces on Chaplin's
relationship to Britain specifically.
I scanned reviews and promotional material
for Chaplin films in the British press
which would have been very tedious to
access previously, and I tried to make
connections with Chaplin's British stage
background. One of my favourite parts
of the site is the section on the restoration
of the Keystone films - this really
explains in detail the complexity and
work involved in bringing these films
back from obscurity. I think people
are really interested in these processes. There is a great little
film showing the technicians at work
making difficult decisions about which
materials to use in the restoration
as well an interview with film historian
Glenn Mitchell explaining why the Chaplin
Keystones are so important and why the
restoration project has transformed
his opinion of the films. We will continue
to update the site about the restoration
project as the work is done and hopefully
long term we will be able to stream
the films themselves on the site.
What restoration work is currently going on with Charlie's films, if any? Can you talk a bit about this process?
It may seem slightly odd that the BFI
should be a major player in the Chaplin
Keystone restoration project. There
are two reasons for this - one is that
the BFI happens to have a very large
collection of original nitrate Keystone
material, which we have been allowed
to keep, unlike archives in some other
countries, which have been obliged to
dispose of their nitrate for safety
reasons. The other reason is that the
BFI National Archive has a preservation
laboratory and expert staff that can
take on a project like this. We have
particular expertise at handling early
material.
There are 4 more Keystone titles to restore after which we will be preparing a DVD release in partnership with Bologna and Lobster films. The last few titles (Recreation, Those Love Pangs, His Favorite Pastime and Cruel, Cruel Love) are going to be difficult, as no good source material exists - so if any of your readers have full frame 35mm Keystone prints under their beds, now is the time to bring them out in triumph!
The Charlie Chaplin Conference (2005) was a big success and an event long overdue. Is the BFI planning any future Chaplin events and, if so, can you tell us about them?
Yes, in August/September 2008 the BFI will be mounting a complete season of Chaplin's early films at the BFI Southbank focusing on the period between him leaving Britain and the time he returned as 'the most famous man in the world' for his first return visit in 1921.
We will also be engaging with other academic Chaplin projects and helping to encourage research projects.
Legend has it that an important part of the BFI's Chaplin collection was found in a dust bin (trash can for us Americans)? Can you give us the story?
Hmmm, this sounds like one of those urban myths - it's always more exciting if rare and precious archive materials are found in a trash can or are about to end up in flames on the Guy Fawkes Night bonfire. It belongs with all that imagery which dogs the archivist - cans covered in dust, cobweb strewn vaults, unearthing treasures, discovering 'gems' - it's all nonsense - our vaults are clinically clean, most archives look like science labs, all gleaming metal and bright lights - boring alas, but true.
I have it from Kate Guyonvarch
that an important part of the
Chaplin archive, the Keystone
films scene photo book, was
possibly compiled in the 1930s
by a Mr. Waley of the BFI. If
this is true, it seems very
forward-thinking of Mr. Waley-in
terms of film history in general
and the importance of Charlie's
work in particular. Can you
talk more about this?
Yes, the scrapbooks are fabulous
- they are very useful for our film restorers - it makes sense
of the continuity and helps
us with details such as stills
of the final image of Kid
Auto Races (an emblematic
shot, or close up, of Charlie)
and lots of information on alternative
titles which helps us track
down material.
The scrapbooks were allegedly compiled in 1937 by H D Waley who was indeed a key employee of the BFI in the early days - here is what Christophe Dupin, the BFI's historian was able to tell me:
"HD (aka Hubert) Waley was born in 1892. He was appointed on a permanent basis on 1/4/1936, though he had been the BFI's unofficial technical adviser since the setting-up of the BFI in 1935. Later known as the BFI's 'Technical Director' in 1936, he was officially responsible "for all technical enquiries and information and is also in charge of the Institute's theatre". He was responsible for "advising the Institute on all matters relative to the technical side of cinematography, and answering enquiries on that subject and for similar duties in relation to the vaults of the National Film Library. However his role was not just technical. He was technical editor of Sight and Sound (Autumn 1935) the BFI's magazine. And co-wrote The Cinema Today (1939). He was made redundant in 1951/52, following budget cuts. Part of his job was then taken over by Karel Reisz."
And finally, in your opinion, why do you think Charlie Chaplin's reception in the UK is so poor right now? Why are the British seemingly no longer that interested in either him or his film work?
Again it's a kind of urban myth - if I
had a pound for every time I've heard
that 'Chaplin isn't as funny as Keaton'
I'd be rich by now. I don't know where
this came from originally, but everybody
copies each other and people who have
never seen more than a clip or maybe one
film of Chaplin's or Keaton's repeat this
phrase as if it were some universal truth.
Now it has become almost a self-fulfilling
prophecy. However, there is good news
- if you look at everything going on,
the picture looks somewhat rosier - you
will find that the Chaplin DVD's which
we publish are amongst our best sellers,
we have the Chaplin retrospective planned
for next year, a festival was held this
year at the prestigious Conway Hall (Rollie
Totheroh's son and grandson came all the
way to the UK for it), we have just published
two books on Chaplin and we have a dedicated
website (David Lean and Peter Greenaway
are the only other filmmakers afforded
such a privilege). So things are looking
up!