Misogyny, misanthropy or masterpiece? Chaplin’s curdled 1947 widow-killer drama, based on an idea by the somewhat jaded Orson Welles, still sears through the years. Some writers have read “Monsieur Verdoux” as a consummate critique of capitalism; others simply bow toward this amazing masterpiece as an avatar of black comedy. Anything that looks this subversive in the twenty-first century must have been a raw spit-in-the-face to some members of the first audiences for Chaplin’s “Comedy of Murders.” With Martha Raye, giddily embodying one of the most vulgar portraits of woman ever unleashed. Its cold genius is unquestionable. In a sense, Chaplin’s post-war perspicacity matches Renoir’s pre-war long view of “Rules of the Game”: a topical view of the past that reflects its moment but becomes more chilling with each passing year and with each layer of the unfolding narratives of Enron, Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater. 123m. A fresh 35mm print will be shown. (Ray Pride)
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