The Accusations That Sent Charlie Chaplin Into Exile

Fresh Air

NPR

Tv & Film, Arts, Society & Culture, Books

4.4 • 34.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 October 2023

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

Author Scott Eyman explains how silent film actor Charlie Chaplin was smeared in the press, scandalized for his affairs with young women, condemned for his alleged communist ties and banned from returning to the U.S. His book is Charlie Chaplin vs. America.

Also, Ken Tucker reviews The Rolling Stones' new album, Hackney Diamonds.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Want all of NPR without relying on your radio?
0:03.0	Visit NPR.org to be connected to your local station wherever you are
0:07.0	and wherever the news takes you.
0:09.0	Get your vital mix of rigorously reported, local national stories all live free and at your
0:15.7	fingertips at mpr. O-R-G. This is fresh air I'm Terry Gross. When art, sex, and politics collided, I was surprised to see that that was the subtitle of the new book Charlie Chaplin versus America about the movie star screenwriter and director.
0:35.7	I always thought that he was beloved.
0:38.1	He's famous for his silent films, including modern times which satirized how machines including assembly lines had become
0:44.9	dehumanizing forcing people to take their cues from machines.
0:49.7	One of a sound films, The Great Dictator, is famous for the way Chaplin satirized Hitler and the authoritarian
0:55.8	mindset. The Great Dictator got Chaplin into trouble. His affairs with young women,
1:01.4	a paternity suit in which he was wrongly accused,
1:04.0	getting smeared in gossip columns, and investigations into his alleged communist ties,
1:10.0	made things far worse.
1:12.0	The FBI compiled a 1900 page file on Chaplin. When he left America for a
1:17.9	trip to England in 1952 to promote his latest film Limelight, his reentry papers were revoked,
1:24.4	leading him to spend the rest of his life in exile.
1:27.2	My guest is the author of Charlie Chaplin versus America,
1:31.0	Scott Eamon.
1:32.0	It will be published next week.
1:34.2	He's also the author of many books
1:37.0	about other movie stars and directors,
1:40.4	including John Wayne, Carrie Grant, John Ford, and Cecil B. DeMille.
	...

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