Was Edna Purviance robbed of stardom

[stuart.uk]

I think CharlieChaplin fan will know this better than me, but as far as i believe A Woman Of Paris was at the time of release in 1923 a box office failure and as a result Edna never apart from alledged cameos never worked again. Though i do wonder about the later film that was never made A Woman Of The Sea and why the negative was destroyed.

i don't think even the director Charlie Chaplin lived to see AWOP go on to be regarded a cult classic some 50-yrs after it was made. for him it wasn't so bad, he had all those other great films he made to look back on. however, for Edna it seems tragic that she died in the late 50s believing, other than her comedies with Charlie, she never made it in dramatic roles and that some 30-yrs after her death suddenly the film is hailed as a masterpiece.

as to the negative of A Woman Of The Sea that's anyones guess. i read that Edna suffered from a lack of confidence, but an expert on her told me that wasn't the case. i even wondered if it was because for some strange reason Chaplin didn't direct the film, prefering to give it to Joseph Von Sternberg, who gained the reputation of being a difficult man to work for in his prime years in the 1930s

I personally believe however, Edna was all ready a great actress in the Chaplin movies. she was brilliant in The Kid and had her moments in the likes of The Imigrant and Easy Street

[charliechaplinfan]

I'm not an expert on Charlie's personal life but I do know that he and Edna were 'going together' to use the quaint term. In his autobiography he attests to her being clingy with him and them two timing him with Thomas Meighan, she couldn't make her mind up. The fact she was dallying with another man turned him off and that was the end of the personal relationship. It is just Charlie's word and I've not read the tale from Edna's point of view.

In the early comedies the Essanay and the Mutuals Charlie and Edna have terrific chemistry together. There is often cheeky looks at the camera, takes that look like they might have been outtakes and it was pretty obvious what was going on when the cameras stopped rolling. Charlie never portrayed this part of his character in his feature films even when partnered by his wife.

In the First National films Edna is beginning to be part of a team that included Sydney Chaplin and other established Chaplin players. In some films like The Idle Class and A Dog's Life she is featured prominently but in others like Pay Day she has a very minor role.

Chaplin does say in his autobiography and I believe this seeing the later films that Edna had started looking matronly.

I think Chaplin harboured an ambition to be a director of dramas and to make a film around Edna suited his purpose. He did not want to appear himself as he did not want to detract from the storyline and direction. I think he did want to launch her as a star in her own right and wished her to be successful. I really like A Woman Of Paris but it's not Edna that makes it great for me, it's Chaplin's touches as a director. He launched Aldolphe Menjou's career in the process. Unfortunately it was the public who didn't accept her as a leading lady.

Again in his autobiography he says it was her decision to go off on her own. He offered her her full salary should she want to return and from the man who is always talked about for being stingy, he paid that salary until the day she died. I think she is in Limelight as an extra.

Personally I think Edna helped shape the Tramp away from the bottom kicking, sometimes nasty character and rounded off the edges. I think there must have been tremendous rapport between them because for whatever reason the romance failed and Chaplin married Mildred Harris. He kept her with him for years afterwards as leading lady. I think he did as much for her as he could. When The Woman and The Sea was being made he had a myriad of personal problems and at some point in this time period suffered a nervous breakdown. I don't think he ever slighted her, and she never (as far as I am aware) sold her story.

[Classic Redhead]

I love Edna it's a shame a bunch of her films have been lost! Here are some gorgeous pics of her...

They're all clickable thumbnails

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I found this gorgeous colorized pic of edna and charlie!

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More Edna and Charlie

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