Hundreds of Charlie Chaplin lookalikes gather in Switzerland / Photo: © AFP
Hundreds of Charlie Chaplin lookalikes gather in Switzerland
More than 400 people donning black bowler hats, toothbrush moustaches and canes gathered in Switzerland Sunday seeking to break the record for the biggest ever assembly of Charlie Chaplin lookalikes.
The unusual rally, drawing Chaplin fans of all ages, took place at a museum dedicated to the legendary filmmaker at his former home in Corsier-sur-Vevey in western Switzerland.
Timed to mark the 10th anniversary of the museum's opening, the gathering in the end drew 429 Chaplin lookalikes, falling short of the world record set there in 2017, when 662 people took part.
But that did not dampen the mood.
Under a blazing sun, the Chaplins crowded together to form a giant number 10 on the lawn stretching before the large manor where the English movie icon spent the last 25 years of his life.
"I am sincerely the happiest man alive," said Anthony Champeil, a dapper 36-year-old Frenchman who looked the spitting image of Chaplin, explaining that he was an actor who often played the film legend on stage.
"We are at Chaplin's place with people who are passionate about Chaplin," he told AFP.
Suggesting that Chaplin had wanted to encourage people to maintain a childlike capacity for wonder and play for as long as possible, he mused that the actor would have enjoyed having hundreds "of big kids gathered here today".
"I find it marvellous."
The museum is set on the vast estate of Manoir de Ban, about 26 kilometres (16 miles) from Lausanne, where Chaplin lived with his wife Oona and their eight children until his death in 1977, at age 88.
He had moved to Switzerland after being barred from the United States in the 1950s over suspicions that he had communist sympathies, at the height of Cold War paranoia about Soviet infiltration.
Alice Kauffmann, who had brought her young children to participate as miniature Chaplins, said Sunday's gathering was "moving" to behold.
She and other participants said the event brought to mind the humanistic ideas Chaplin promoted with iconic films such as "The Great Dictator", "The Kid" and "Modern Times".
"He defended love, respect and beautiful values," she said.
Sophie Teteule, 52, agreed.
"I love Charlie Chaplin, and I love this place," she told AFP.
"I think it is magnificent that we can gather today, so long after he left us. It is a marvellous moment in his honour."
Organisers of Sunday's event also did not seem too bothered that it had failed to break the world record, which the museum already holds.
"Nothing is lost," spokeswoman Olivia Baliguet told AFP.
"Who knows, we may try again next year, or for the 20th anniversary."
N.Johns--TNT
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