General

Is someone using a cell phone in a 1928 Charlie Chaplin film?

Belfast filmmaker’s theory on film is going viral

Filmmaker George Clarke of Belfast has identified a mysterious woman who appears to be talking into a cell phone in the 1928 film, The Circus. In the film, the woman walks into frame in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, holding a black object to her face and talking into it. Clarke has taken an extreme interpretation of the brief and slightly blurry appearance, explaining in a YouTube clip that he believes the woman is a time traveler, and probably not human. After a painstaking frame-by-frame analysis of the black and white clip, and consulting with some 100 people about his theory, Clarke says he has concluded that the woman is from another era. An alternate theory suggests the device is a hearing aid. But, Clarke then wonders: “why is she talking into it?”

Toronto Star

Clarke’s theory on YouTube

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