Chaplin to show in Cannes

Newly-unearthed colour footage of Charlie Chaplin has been screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

The previously unseen film features out-takes and home movies, and includes colour footage shot backstage on his 1940 movie The Great Dictator.

The colour material will be released next spring on DVD, along with 18 of Chaplin's films, including The Kid and Gold Rush.

Chaplin's daughter Geraldine, 57, saw the film for the first time in Cannes yesterday. She told the BBC her family had fought over how to preserve her father's films.

"I am one of eight children and we were fighting between ourselves - it was a disaster," she said. "Then we were given the chance to bring them out on DVD - and we all agreed.

"He was always worried he wouldn't be remembered."

The DVDs of Chaplin's films, plus documentaries and the unseen gems, will be distributed by Warner Home Video and MK2.

Warners president Warren Lieberfarb said Chaplin had "more understanding of cinema comedy than anyone else."

He added: "We want to help enhance the cinema literacy of a generation."