Watching TCM recently, I saw a clip of Gloria DeHaven reminiscing about visiting Charlie Chaplin at his home when she was quite young. At first, she couldn’t connect the handsome guy who answered the door with the Little Tramp. She concluded, “I guess I was in love with two different people.” Certainly, this recognition of the dichotomy between Chaplin and his most famous creation resonated with me. It was my key takeaway from a 2014 biography of Chaplin, and it is a recurring theme in Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided by Scott Eyman. This new volume published by Simon & Shuster and available on October 31, is the story of how right-wing elements of the U.S. government and mainstream media conspired to essentially deport Chaplin from the U.S. in 1952. That may sound far-fetched, but Eyman brings the receipts. All the information in the book is meticulously sourced from a wide range of letters, articles, and government files. While Chaplin’s bifurcated personality certainly played a role in his troubles, the larger issue was a bunch of people who thought anyone who disagreed with them should be punished by shunning or exile and did everything in their power to make it happen. The tale is both shocking and shockingly familiar. More after the jump
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