“Woman of the Sea”: The Mysterious Lost Film of Charlie Chaplin
Discover the mystery of Woman of the Sea, Charlie Chaplin’s lost film directed by Josef von Sternberg and never released to the public.
Extreme perfectionism led Chaplin to discard “A Woman of the Sea”: the film that would be his last collaboration with Edna Purviance and a partnership with fellow director Josef Von Sternberg. Chaplin was not happy with the result and ordered all the originals to be burned, making this another of the lost silent films .
See also: 10 Lost Silent Films
Edna Purviance was hired by Chaplin in 1915 to be his partner in the short films produced by Essanay. She was not a professional actress. The director preferred actresses who had no experience and who he could mold according to what he required on screen. The result was quite promising and in addition to being on-screen friends, they also started dating.
Over time, Edna began to dream of dramatic films and in 1923, the actress made her last film alongside the English star, The Pilgrim (1923). Chaplin thus said goodbye to his leading actress who had been his screen partner for 8 years. Among the highlights are her participation in The Immigrant and The Kid .
But he did not want to let her go without a dignified farewell and, uniting his dreams with hers, he produced A Woman of Paris, a drama in which his leading actress showed her talents in the only fully dramatic film made by the filmmaker. In order for Edna to shine, he preferred to stay behind the screen, giving way to the woman who had been so important to him.
However, contrary to everyone involved, A Woman of Paris was not a success, receiving critical support only decades after its release. According to David Robinson in “Chaplin: A Definitive Biography”, the filmmaker’s name was the main reason for the film’s failure, as incredible as it may seem. The public did not seem interested in watching a Chaplin film without Chaplin. The film has great passages and is one of those forgotten treasures of cinema.
In 1926, while he was busy filming The Circus, the director handed over the direction of “A Woman of the Sea” to one of the directors he most admired, Josef von Sternberg. He was certain that the film would be a great vehicle for the actress who was 31 at the time. By Hollywood standards, already a middle-aged woman. Chaplin was not very happy about delegating such an important task. It was characteristic of him to participate in all the processes of making films, from production to completion.
Seeing the copy of the film made by Josef von Sternberg was a disappointment. After spending a lot of money, he decided to throw it all away, fearing another failure. In June 1933, the English director ordered that all copies of the film be burned. Later, rumors arose that a copy had been lost, but nothing was confirmed. Following the recommendations of her husband, Oona O’Neil, she threw the final nail in the coffin, burning the last records of the film in 1991.
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