Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and Hitchcock return to the spotlight at TRIS’ extraordinary Hollywood exhibition

There are exhibitions you visit, and then there are exhibitions you wander through as though stepping into another century. The latest offering by the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) firmly belongs to the latter category. With The Greatest Show on Earth: The Golden Age of Hollywood 1914–1964, cinema’s most glamorous, experimental and transformative era has arrived in India — not on a screen, but in living, breathing archival form.

For anyone who has ever marvelled at black-and-white classics, fallen for old-world movie stars, or wondered how Hollywood became Hollywood, this exhibition feels less like a history lesson and more like time travel.

A Century Ago, Cinema Was Still Inventing Itself

Curated by noted archivist and cultural historian Neville Tuli, the exhibition is part of the ongoing India Studies Festival organised by T.R.I.S. But rather than presenting cinema as nostalgia, the showcase explores how early filmmaking reshaped storytelling itself — influencing cultures far beyond America, including India’s own cinematic imagination.

The journey begins in the early 20th century, when Hollywood was still finding its footing. Visitors are taken back to a moment when the dismantling of Thomas Edison’s patent dominance allowed independent studios to flourish, giving rise to industry pioneers such as Vitagraph, Fox Film Corporation, Paramount Pictures, Famous Players-Lasky, First National and Universal.

It was chaos, creativity and commerce colliding — and modern cinema was born.

From Silent Spectacles to Cinematic Revolutions

One of the exhibition’s greatest pleasures lies in how it connects global cinematic movements rather than isolating Hollywood as a standalone phenomenon.

Italian historical epics such as Cabiria (1914) sit alongside the haunting visual worlds of German Expressionism, represented by films like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919) and The Last Laugh (1924). Together, they reveal how filmmakers across continents were experimenting with light, shadow and emotion long before digital effects existed.

Walking through these sections feels like witnessing cinema learning to dream — frame by frame.

Comedy That Taught the World How to Laugh

No Golden Age retrospective would be complete without comedy, and here the exhibition truly shines. The anarchic brilliance of Mack Sennett’s productions meets the timeless genius of Charlie Chaplin, whose expressive storytelling transcended language barriers decades before global streaming platforms attempted the same feat.

Buster Keaton’s deadpan daring and the chaotic wit of the Marx Brothers remind visitors that humour was cinema’s first universal language — proof that laughter travelled faster than subtitles ever could.

Directors Who Changed How Stories Were Told

The exhibition pays affectionate tribute to visionary filmmakers who transformed cinema into an art form. Names like Maurice Tourneur, Tod Browning, F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, Josef von Sternberg, Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock appear not merely as directors, but as architects of visual storytelling.

Their innovations — unconventional camera angles, psychological narratives and atmospheric tension — continue to shape filmmaking today, whether audiences realise it or not.

Standing before these archival materials, one begins to see modern cinema less as invention and more as inheritance.

When Movie Stars Became Modern Mythology

If directors built Hollywood, stars turned it into legend. The exhibition captures the birth of celebrity culture through icons who defined glamour itself — Douglas Fairbanks’ athletic charm, Mary Pickford’s sweetness, Rudolph Valentino’s magnetic allure and Greta Garbo’s mystique.

Later came the effortless sophistication of Cary Grant, the charisma of Clark Gable, the luminous presence of Marilyn Monroe and the raw intensity of Marlon Brando — figures who blurred the line between performer and myth.

Long before social media followers, these stars commanded global devotion through sheer screen presence.

Magic, Mystery and the Power of Imagination

Beyond fame and filmmaking, the exhibition explores cinema’s enduring fascination with the unknown. Visitors encounter the worlds of illusionist Houdini, literary dreamers like H.G. Wells, and enduring fictional figures such as Dracula and Sherlock Holmes — characters who helped shape popular imagination across generations.

The showcase also acknowledges cultural pioneers like Walt Disney, whose storytelling expanded cinema into fantasy, and archetypal heroes such as James Bond, symbols of evolving cinematic identity.

Together, they illustrate how cinema has always thrived on mystery, wonder and possibility.

Building One of the World’s Great Cinema Archives

What makes the exhibition particularly remarkable is its depth. Drawing from more than three decades of research and collection-building, Neville Tuli describes the project as part of a long-term vision to create one of the world’s most comprehensive archives dedicated to Hollywood and global cinema history.

In doing so, the initiative quietly positions India as an emerging hub for serious film scholarship — a place where cinema is studied not merely as entertainment, but as cultural history.

Designed for Curious Minds — Not Just Film Buffs

Although cinephiles will undoubtedly feel at home, the exhibition has been thoughtfully designed for students, researchers and casual visitors alike. Rare publicity material, historical artefacts and archival visuals create an immersive environment that rewards curiosity rather than expertise.

You don’t need to know film theory to enjoy it — only a willingness to slow down and look closely.

A Limited-Time Journey Into Cinema’s Past

Open to the public for a limited period, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Golden Age of Hollywood 1914–1964 offers something increasingly rare in the age of instant streaming: the chance to physically encounter cinema history.

It reminds visitors that before algorithms recommended films, before box-office analytics and franchise universes, there were artists experimenting with light, movement and emotion — inventing a language that the entire world would eventually speak.

And for a brief moment, that extraordinary story is unfolding right here in India.