Charlie Chaplin’s long-lost final film The Freak to be released for 1st time

ISTANBUL

Nearly five decades after Charlie Chaplin’s death, the script for his never-completed final film will be published this weekend, offering a rare look at what might have been the legendary filmmaker’s most ambitious project, The Guardian reported Saturday.

Titled The Freak, the story follows Sarapha, a mysterious winged woman — “a bird with a human body,” as Chaplin described her — who can heal and bring peace to a troubled world.

Though unfinished, the script and accompanying materials bear the hallmarks of Chaplin’s genius, blending fantasy, satire, and humanist themes. Chaplin, who died in 1977 at age 88, developed The Freak during his final years and even planned a cameo appearance as a drunken passerby spotting Sarapha flying above London’s Houses of Parliament.

The publication, titled The Freak: The Story of an Unfinished Film, will be released by Sticking Place Books and marks the first time the script appears in English in its original form. A previous version was published only in Italian in 2020 by the Cineteca di Bologna, which preserves the extensive Chaplin Archive.

Arnold Lozano, manager of the Chaplin estate, described the new edition as “the first comprehensive presentation of Chaplin’s last, unfinished film project.”

Drawn from nearly 3,000 pages of drafts, storyboards, production notes, and even Chaplin’s own musical sketches and recordings, the release reveals how close The Freak came to completion.

“The Freak is unique within his body of work yet still touched by unmistakable Chaplinesque elements,” Lozano said. “This publication offers a rare glimpse into one of the most remarkable projects of his 63-year creative life in cinema.”

Archival materials include scene breakdowns, special effects plans for Sarapha’s wings, financial projections, technical meeting notes, and production schedules — all underscoring Chaplin’s dedication to the project even in his final years.

With its publication, The Freak promises to captivate cinephiles, scholars, and admirers of Chaplin alike, serving as a poignant farewell from one of cinema’s most enduring figures.