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Feltham
once said, "Laughter should dimple the cheek, not furrow
the brow." Charlie Chaplin was a man who definitely
dimpled millions of cheeks in the early 1900's. He had a
huge impact on the lives of Americans during the world wars
and the hard times of the Depression and he made people
laugh for the first time in a long time and changed the
way they looked at the world despite his own troubles. And
even though his films were in black and white, he put a
lot of color into everyone's life.
Charlie
Chaplin was born on April 15, 1889, in London, England to
Charles Chaplin, Sr., and Hannah Hill(Lynn, Kenneth, pg.376).
He was taught to sing before he could talk and danced just
as soon as he could walk(Untermeyer, Louis, pg.669). At
a very young age Chaplin was told that he would be the most
famous person in the world. From then on it was a personal
goal for little Charlie. And he would do anything to reach
his goal. When Charlie was five years old he sang for his
mother on stage after she became ill and taken hoarse(Pringle,
Glen). Everyone in the audience loved him and hurled their
money onto the stage. When Chaplin was eight, he appeared
in a clog dancing act called "Eight Lancashire Lads"(A.Kn,
pg.94) Once again he was loved by the audience and he was
excited with the attention he received. Charlie's half-brother
, Sidney, acted as his agent and when Charlie was ten years
old, Sidney got Chaplin an engagement at the London Hippodrome.
Within a few years Charlie was one of the most popular child
actors in England (Untermeyer, Louis, pg. 670).
Charlie
was twelve when his father died on May 9th, 1901. He died
in St. Thomas Hospital in London of alcoholism. He was thirty-seven
(Robinson, David, pg. 648). After the death of her husband,
Charlie's mother, became a chronically psychotic woman who
was in and out of mental institutions(Weissman, Stephen,
pg. 6). Charlie and Sidney, were placed in a charity home
after their mother's mental health plummeted.
Chaplin
attended 2 years of school at Hern Boy's College. This was
the only formal education that he ever recieved. Charlie
was at school when his mother suffered a mental breakdown
and was taken away to an institution. Completely alone,
Charlie lived on the streets.
When
she was well enough, his mother took the children back and
supported them by sewing(Untermeyer, Louis, pg.670). Between
his twelfth and his fourteenth birthdays, Charlie's places
of employment included a barbershop ( where he absorbed
the techniques that the Jewish barber would display in "The
Great Dictator"); a stationery store, a doctor's office,
a glass factory, Chandler's shop, and a printing plant (Lynn,
Kenneth S., pg.65).
From
1903 to 1906, Charlie performed in "Sherlock Holmes"
as the paperboy, Billy(Pringle, Glen). After his time with
"Sherlock Holmes", Charlie joined "The Casey
Circus" in 1906 as a mime. He remained there for a
year(Pringle, Glen). As a gawky adolescent whose voice was
changing, Charlie found that he could not remain a child
actor in the legimate theater and was forced back into Vaudeville
where he discovered the gift for comic pantomime. After
remaining in Vaudeville for a few years, Charlie, not quite
twenty, came to the United States as a top comedian( Untermeyer,
Louis, pg.670). There he started his career as the most
famous person that ever lived.
In
1907, Chaplin joined the Karno Pantomime Troupe. He made
his first tour of the United States and Canada in 1910 with
the Karno Troupe. He stayed with the Karno Troupe until
1913. In May of 1913, Charlie signed a contract with Adam
Kessel, who had an interest in the Keystone Film Company,
for $125 per week. On December 29, 1913, Chaplin signed
with Keystone Films for $150 a week. In January of 1914,
Chaplin made his first feature film, "Making A Living".
Charlie remained with Keystone Films all through 1914 until
November when he signed a contract with Essanay Films for
$1,250 a week to make 14 films during the year of 1915 (Pringle,
Glen). In the spring of 1915, Chaplin made his first appearance
as the "tramp" character in "The Tramp".
The film was a bittersweet comedy with a signature ending
in which - plucky and resilient after losing in love - this
homeless comic hero waddles down life's highway, desolate
and utterly alone ( Weissman, Stephen). His character, the
Tramp, was a short, twitchy man with a black mustache, baggy
suit and a waddling penguinlike walk(Corn, Kahana, pg13).
A biographist, Theodore Huff, believed Chaplin's costume
for the Tramp character personified shabby gentility- the
fallen aristocrat at grips with poverty. He said the cane
was a symbol of attempted dignity. And he thought his mustache
was a sign of vanity (Untermeyer, Louis, pg.671). Within
two years of his first appearance in motion pictures, in
1914, he had become one of the best known personalities
in the nation (A.Kn., pg. 93).
On
the 27th of February, 1916, Chaplin signed with Mutual Films
for $10,000 a week plus a $150,000 signing bonus(Pringle,
Glen). He remained with for a little over a year, until
June 17, 1917, when he signed with First National Exhibitor's
Circuit for $1,075,000 a year( Pringle, Glen). He was still
a bachelor - handsome, rich, and famous - when he became
infatuated with a sixteen- year-old movie ingenue, Mildred
Harris. On October 23rd, 1918, they were suddenly married
(Untermeyer, Louis pg.672). By the early 1920's his box
office appeal was so great that no studio could afford his
talents, and he appeared only in films produced by himself.
Chaplin, together with two other of the foremost stars of
the day, Mary Pickford , Douglas Fairbanks (who was Chaplin's
best friend) and the director D.W. Griffith formed United
Artists, so that each could produce and distribute his own
films independently (A.Kn, pg.94). He demanded unquestioning
obedience from his associates; years of instant deference
to his point of view had persuaded him that it was the only
one that mattered.
Chaplin's
most famous films that brought him the most admiration,
and controversy were: "The Kid"(1920), "The
Gold Rush"(1925), "City Lights"(1931), "Modern
Times"(1936), "The Great Dictator"(1940),
"Monsieur Verdoux"(1947), and "Limelight"(1952)
(1998 World Book, pg.377). After these films Chaplin filled
the sky as the most famous person in the world. Until he
was nearly thirty Chaplin's life had been quiet, scandal-free
and without any serious involvement.
Then,
"Talkies" started coming out. These are movies
with sound. "Talkies are spoiling the oldest art in
the world- the art of pantomime. They are ruining the great
beauty of silence. They are defeating the meaning of the
screen." Charlie Chaplin said when the talking movies
came out.
Forty
years after he came to America , Chaplin was accused of
being a communist. He had no answer to prove the accusations
wrong except that it was his constitutional right, and with
Senator McCarthy on the loose that wasn't enough. Charlie
had come to America, that forty years ago, to breathe free
air. Now he was leaving for the same reason (James, Clive,
pg 137). After finding out that Chaplin was "sympathetic
with the Leftist beliefs", the FBI went to work to
find out what was going on. The extensive files on Chaplin
maintained by the FBI over a period of more than fifty years.
They total more than nineteen hundred pages. Not only was
he accused of being a communist, he was also accused of
being Jewish, as well, because his half-brother, Sidney,
was three-fourths Jewish. Chaplin's reputation was not good
with the FBI. Charlie's investigation began on August 15,
1922, when an agent called A.A. Hopkins passed on the information
to the FBI that Charlie had given a reception for a prominent
labor leader, William Z. Foster, who was visiting Los Angeles
(Robinson, David, pg. 751). He was also frequently the guest
of the millionaire D.C. James at his cliffside mansion in
Carmel. It was there that he came to delight with his host's
son, Dan, a would be writer and a communist whom he later
would employ as an assistant director on "The Great
Dictator". After being questioned about being a communist,
Chaplin answered, "I do not want to create any revolution,
all I want to do is create a few more films. I might amuse
people. I hope so." (Robinson, David, pg.752)
The
FBI interviewed scores of witnesses, and the secret evidence
they collected fills more than four hundred pages. On January
15th, 1927, Chaplin suffered a serious nervous breakdown.
Three days after that, the broken comedian learned from
a story in the New York Times that the U.S. Government was
about to lien on his assets. In 1933 the impromptu performances
stopped. Instead, Chaplin's dark moods became more obvious,
and his anger flashes more constant. A fear of failure was
plaguing him. The secret to Chaplin's fortitude in weathering
the storms of the late 1940's was the unqualified success
and happiness of his marriage to Oona.
In
1947, after the film, "Monsieur Verdoux", he returned
to California on April 30th, but for the next six weeks
he stayed away from the studio. He was lonely, dispirited,
and give to expressing dissatisfaction with his achievements.
One
of the FBI's most helpful informants was the beautiful,
young actress, Hedda Hopper (Robinson, David, pg.752). The
FBI seemed to have bugged telephones and hotel rooms with
devices they called "Microphone Technicals." They
put stops on border posts to prevent Chaplin's leaving the
country if he had been so inclined. Finally in November
of 1948, Chaplin was put on the Security Index. He was accused
of all those things and no one had proof or any evidence
whatsoever. The files were disappointing; on the 29th of
December, there came the admission: " It has been determined
that there are no witnesses available who could offer testimony
that Chaplin has been a member of the communist party in
the past, is now a member, or has contributed funds to the
communist party." (Robinson, David, pg. 754) Finally,
the FBI admitted that they had no evidence to support the
beliefs that Chaplin was a communist. On the 25th of August,
1952, Mr. Noto of the Immigration and Naturalization service
telephoned the FBI to say that was intending to sail for
England in September. Attorney General McGranery, on September
9th, met with J. Edgar Hoover and, nervous and paranoid,
told him that he was considering taking steps to prevent
the re-entry into this country of Chaplin. Later that day,
McGranery announced that Chaplin's re-entry permit would
not be honored. On the 16th of September, Hoover told the
Los Angeles office that Chaplin had been reissued a re-entry
permit, and that they should advise head office on any information.
At the bottom of the note it read- "INS has advised
that even though he was given a re-entry permit, this permit
gives no guarantee he will be aloud to return to the United
States." The FBI files show, however, that the Immigration
and Naturalization service remained nervous about their
permission. Chaplin, instead of coming back, turned in his
re-entry permit and chose to make his home in Europe ( Robinson,
David, pg.755).
Charlie
made his way back to Europe, where he made his home in Switzerland.
He said he was happiest there, far away from the fame and
misfortune, and with his wife, Oona, and children. And after
three disastrous marriages, a succession of love affairs
and the FBI's accusations that weren't true, Chaplin felt
happy for the first time in a long time.
In
1957, he produced, in London, "The King in New York",
a comedy laden with sermons against the House Committee
on un-American activities, inane TV commercials, and other
aspects of American life. This film brought back fresh accusations
of pro-communism, which Chaplin specifically denied (A.Kn,
pg.94).
In
1972, Chaplin was honored at the Academy Awards as a wonderful
comedian, actor and loving person. It was his first time
back to America since the Red Scare accusations about him,
and once again the huge crowd of people and fellow actors,
producers and directors loved him, and he felt the love
that he had always had of laughter and attention.
In
1977, on the 25th of December (Christmas Day), Chaplin passed
away of natural causes in his home in Corsier-Sur-Vevey,
Switzerland. He was eighty-eight years old (McIntyre, Diane,
para.1). He was married to Oona Chaplin at the time, who
was his wife for thirty six years.
Even
among false accusations and the troubled loves and marriages
he went through, Charlie Chaplin, had an impact on everyone's
life in the early 1900's. He made more people laugh than
any other man who ever lived and changed the way people
looked at the world. His films were for the underdog, and
with great pity and understanding, his films were about
him. -- Aaron Hale
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