Situated on the capacious estate of Manoir de Ban, Switzerland, Chaplin’s World is all set to showcase the life and works of the cherished English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer, Charlie Chaplin, who rose to popularity in the silent era.
Contemplated as one of the most iconic figures in the history of the film industry, Chaplin’s career spans 75 years. In order to memorialize the former silent film icon, an interactive museum exhibiting his works opens on the Ban estate in Switzerland on Sunday, April 17, just one day after what would have been Chaplin’s 127th birthday, according to reports on DailyMail.
Chaplin Museum Development initiated Chaplin’s World way back in 2000. 15 years in the planning, the museum finally opens to the public April 17, 2016.
The museum is located at the heart of the Manoir de Ban, just 16 miles from the city of Lausanne, where Chaplin lived with his family during the last 25 years of his life, until his death at the age of 88. According to the Chaplin’s World director-general, the museum is unparalleled and first to honour the legend. Also, the fact that it’s placed where Chaplin resided for years, makes it one of a kind in the world, PhillyVoice reported.
Chaplin’s vast career comprised of adulation as well as controversy. The popular comic actor moved to Switzerland after he was prohibited from the United States in the 1950s on the basis of doubts that he had communist sympathies about Soviet infiltration.
A detached building that showcases large mockups of a Hollywood studio that encompasses Chaplin’s on-screen work has been constructed nearby.
According to its official site, Chaplin’s World brings the star’s intimate life to the public allowing visitors to see his trademark bowler hat and cane, along with a replica studio that showcases black-and-white photographs from his vast career. Visitors can also get a glimpse of the bedroom where he passed away in 1977.
The Swiss-Canadian director of Chaplin’s World, Jean-Pierre Pigeon, noted that managers have put a number of figures of Chaplin and his friends including Winston Churchill and Albert Einstein on display on the green 14-hectare grounds that encompasses Lake Geneva.
Pigeon further noted that Chaplin was not just unwinding here, he was also working. According to Pigeon, the popular comic star “was able to live a normal life here.” Apparently, Chaplin was able to strike a perfect balance between life and work here in Switzerland, Pigeon added.
The iconic actor’s childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship. Though he found huge success in his career in the United States, Chaplin only found real happiness in Switzerland.
According to reports on CBS8, a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday saw almost two dozen of Chaplin’s children and grandchildren. Saturday, April 16 also marked Chaplin’s birthday. Further enhanced by a close-at-hand chocolate factory as well as a medieval castle, organizers are expecting over 300,000 visits per year, Pigeon added.
When asked what Chaplin would have thought about Chaplin’s World, Pigeon replied with a chuckle that he’d probably react with ‘Oooh!'” Pigeon also noted that Chaplin was scared of being forgotten and added that “this is a good way to broaden his notoriety.”
