Lentorama 2022: It Happened on Easter

Day 11: Charlie Chaplin returns to the US

Charlie Chaplin was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood in the first half of the 20th century, successfully transitioning from silent era pictures like The Gold Rush to talkies like Modern Times and The Great Dictator.  He was also one of the founders of United Artists, a film studio run by filmmakers rather than businessmen. 

For all of his professional success, his personal life was more tumultuous. He had a fondness for younger women, and all of his four marriages were to women in their teens or early 20s. In between marriages three and four (to the then 18 year old Oona O'Neill), he was successfully sued for paternity by Joan Barry, even though bloodwork suggested he was not the father of her child. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover would use the Barry case to charge Chaplin with violating the Mann Act, which prohibited taking women across state lines for sexual purposes. He was acquitted, but the case damaged his reputation.

As did his increasingly public support for leftist causes. While he always denied being a communist, the rumors about his political leanings grew during the 1940s, culminating in a subpoena to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (he did not testify). All of this came to a head in 1952, when Chaplin left the US to go to London for a film premiere, and his permit to return to the US was revoked. Rather than submit to an interview to regain the permit, Chaplin decided to stay in Europe, which he did for 20 years.

He made his return to the US in 1972, to attend the Academy Awards, where he was being given an Lifetime Achievement award. He first flew from the UK to Bermuda, and on Easter Sunday, April 2, he flew to JFK airport in New York. He spent four days in the city, and was honored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and then flew to LA for the Oscars, where received his award from Jack Lemmon after a 12 minute standing ovation.