Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided

Author:    Scott Eyman
Genre:     Biography/Entertainers

Hardcover; Digital Book (Audiobook Available)
ISBN #:`9781982176358
Simon & Schuster
432 Pages
$29.99; $14.99 ($49.99) Amazon
October 31, 2023

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The remarkable, must-read story of Charlie Chaplin's years of exile from the United States during the postwar Red Scare, and how it ruined his film career, from bestselling biographer Scott Eyman.

Bestselling Hollywood biographer and film historian Scott Eyman tells the story of Charlie Chaplin's fall from grace.  In the aftermath of World War Two, Chaplin was criticized for being politically liberal and international in outlook.  He had never become a US citizen, something that would be held against him as xenophobia set in when the postwar Red Scare took hold.

Politics aside, Chaplin had another problem: his sexual interest in young women.  He had been married three times and had had numerous affairs.  In the 1940s, he was the subject of a paternity suit, which he lost, despite blood tests that proved he was not the father.  His sexuality became a convenient way for those who opposed his politics to condemn him.  Refused permission to return to the US from a trip abroad, he settled in Switzerland, and made his last two films in London.

In Charlie Chaplin vs. America, bestselling author Scott Eyman explores the life and times of the movie genius who brought us such masterpieces as City Lights and Modern Times.  This is a perceptive, insightful portrait of Chaplin and of an America consumed by political turmoil.

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I will tell you first that I am consumed by anything Hollywood in the Golden Age.  I don't watch today's films, and probably never will.  The true actors - Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, etc. and, of course, Chaplin -- have all left us; but their legacies are left behind, in hundreds, if not thousands, of films from the silent era to the 1960's (or such).

I have seen all of these films and own most of them; I am not shy about purchasing a classic film or making a new discovery; this is part of the charm of them.  I can travel back in time whenever I want.  Luckily, or perhaps a fortunate accident, Turner Classic Movies has recently shown two of Chaplin's classics: The Great Dictator and City Lights.  Another channel, FMC, has also runs several of his silents, so I was able to watch the films (again) while reading this book.  Lengthy, but definitely worth the read.

While I have read about Chaplin's troubles, never before have they been laid out in such a way as to make one not only admire him, but feel sorrow for him as well, because of the way our beloved (at least to me) United States treated him -- all because he was not a US citizen, and therefore, he must be a Communist (he was not).  It was sad to read, because by all accounts, even though he was stingy in monetary matters (due to his upbringing), he was extremely generous to friends and coworkers.  

Charlie Chaplin was an enigma unto himself.  Born into poverty, he and his older brother Sydney developed a lifelong bond with each other, and while Syd had done fairly well, Charlie, due to the fact of his visions regarding film, had done much better.  But it didn't come without a price:  His first three marriages failed, and his work was all-consuming.  He would do a hundred takes if it meant a better film.

What others may or may not know is that it was Chaplin, director D.W, Griffith, actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. who created Universal Studios.  They developed and made their own films and those of others, becoming extremely wealthy in the process.  This, of course, afforded Charlie the means to make those films he wished; and what films they were.  While some may not be interested in silent films, none can dispute his "Little Tramp" was brilliant.  It was this introduction into his early films that made me watch the others.

Charlie was married unhappily three times, and it was not until he met the 17-year-old Oona O'Neill (daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill) that he finally found love.  He married her when she turned eighteen, and the marriage lasted until his death.  But even then he found problems as there were those in Hollywood and even Washington, D.C. who found him 'unacceptable' when it came to his private life.  I will not go into the story of Joan Berry here, but you can read the entire tale in the book.  I will say, however, that while Charlie may have had strong sexual proclivities, he never once took a minor where they shouldn't be.. He was not a predator.  In all, he adored Oona and could not have survived without her.

Charlie was given a bum rap. if you will, by this country, all because they were unhappy with the fact that he wouldn't become a citizen (he considered himself a 'citizen of the world'), and didn't have the same sensibilities of others during the Red Scare -- which I will say, ruined the careers of many actors and others).  When he retired to Switzerland, he was happy with his life, but longed to make more films, and did succeed in making two more, although they were not well-received by the critics nor the public.  However, Charlie's brilliance could not stay buried forever, and years later he was received with open arms on all fronts.

Whatever you think about the puckish Mr. Chaplin, love or hate him, this biography will open your eyes to the type of person he was.  It is not fawning over him, but tells the true tale of Charlie's life from birth to death, and everything that occurred in between, giving us a definitive tale of both the man and the genius.  It has given me a renewed admiration.  Highly recommended.

I thank Simon & Schuster for the advance copy of this book.  However, it did not influence this review in any way.



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