S8 Ep818: Exile to Switzerland and the Loss of Autonomy In 1952, while sailing to Europe, Chaplin learned his U.S. re-entry permit had been revoked by Attorney General James McGranery on moral and political grounds. This forced Chaplin into a permanent exile in Swi
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
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Summary
In 1952, while sailing to Europe, Chaplin learned his U.S. re-entry permit had been revoked by Attorney General James McGranery on moral and political grounds. This forced Chaplin into a permanent exile in Switzerland, where his wife Oona had to return to America alone to salvage their financial assets and close their studio. While the move provided a restful environment to raise his eight children, it cost Chaplin the absolute creative autonomy he had enjoyed at his private Hollywood studio. He found himself struggling with foreign unions and rising production costs, leading to a creative decline in his final two films. Guest: Scott Eyman. (7/8)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBSI on the world. I'm John Batchel. I'm with Scott Eamman. The book is Charlie Chaplin versus America. |
| 0:06.8 | When art, sex, and politics collide. I recommend the book. I picked it up. I didn't know anything. |
| 0:12.7 | Now I don't know anything. Plus, I know what Scott has guided me to learn more about, which is early Hollywood. |
| 0:20.3 | When men and women invented an art form that |
| 0:23.3 | dominates the solar system and will forever, the idea of telling a magical story on a stage |
| 0:29.5 | that moves. We're going now to a success of limelight and Charlie Chaplin's decision with his |
| 0:36.6 | growing family and his devoted wife, Una, |
| 0:41.9 | they're going to travel to London and Europe in order to enjoy the opening of limelight in London |
| 0:49.7 | and then tour some with his young family, including Geraldine Chaplin, |
| 0:55.2 | who will become a movie star on her own once in the future. |
| 0:59.5 | We're looking at, though, days when you needed a visa to come back to the country after leaving it. |
| 1:08.1 | And in order to get that, you had to apply for the Immigration and Naturalization |
| 1:12.9 | Service, the INS. It's important now to establish that this wouldn't have been the first occasion |
| 1:18.5 | that Charlie rushed up against the INS. Remember, the FBI's been tracking him since 22 with nothing. |
| 1:26.1 | Hedahopper and Ed Sullivan, whom I will never celebrate again, have been hectoring him |
| 1:32.2 | for decades, for unknown reasons of their own, perhaps their own personalities, but for no |
| 1:39.1 | evidence whatsoever that Charlie Chaplin did anything wrong. |
| 1:42.6 | However, at one point, I believe it's April of 48. |
| 1:46.6 | A man named Boyd at the INS interviews Charlie Chaplin, and the INS is now part of the decision-making. |
| 1:53.9 | The idea is, if Charlie Chaplin leaves, we won't let him come back. |
| 1:58.3 | Whose idea was it, Scott? Who came up with this genius smear? |
| 2:02.9 | It appears to have been James McGrinerie. |
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