Original subtitles

i went through a hell of a lot

um

so

my own beloved i've waited your pardon

whom did you wish to see madame grenade

this way please

this way oh

i am madame lasalle marie will be down

in a moment

ah of course

so

the first time i met charlie chaplin was

in 1962 i'd been doing a picture in

greece and we came to switzerland

afterwards

you were here except you weren't alive

i was alive i just wasn't out you

weren't out

well anyway we came up here because

mommy and oona are all

friends they used to walk to school

together every day in new york

and whenever mommy's in europe she

always comes to visit una

when we were here in 1962 charlie

charlie was born in london in 1889

his childhood was like something in a

dickens novel

his father was a music hall singer who

died of drink at the age of 37.

his parents had separated when he was a

baby and charlie lived mostly with his

mother hannah

she had been a music hall performance

too but she suffered from chronic

laryngitis

and when charlie was six they had to

enter a workhouse

charlie went to a few schools but he

barely learned to read

when he was 12 charlie came home one

afternoon to discover that his mother

had finally succumbed to the strain of

poverty and malnutrition

a doctor was summoned and she was

committed to an insane asylum

she was 34. charlie's older brother

sydney had gone to sea

and for a while charlie lived completely

alone virtually on the streets

taking whatever odd jobs he could find

stealing food

and waiting for sydney to come home

so

so

do

uh

so

charlie first came to america in 1910 as

a comedian

in an english vaudeville company he was

21

had been acting on the stage off and on

for nine years

as usual i lived alone but it had its

advantages because it gave me an

opportunity to improve my mind

a resolution i'd held for many months

but never fulfilled

in philadelphia i discovered emerson

to believe your own thought to believe

that what is true for you

in your private heart is true for all

men

that is genius who so would be a man

must be a non-conformist

in 1913 charlie got an offer from max

senate to come to hollywood

i was not terribly enthusiastic about

the keystone type of comedy

but i realized their publicity value

a year at that racket and i could return

to vaudeville an international star

after a few weeks at keystone charlie

got in trouble because he refused to do

as he was told

he insisted that any three dollar a day

extra could be bounced around and fall

off streetcars

he had something else to offer he held

out at the risk of being

fired and eventually senate agreed to

let him direct his own films

in less than two years charlie was one

of the biggest stars in hollywood

each year he signed a new contract

giving him 10 times as much money as the

previous one

and the whole world was swept up in the

chaplain craze

other actors tried to imitate charlie

but he was too unique

the more successful he became the more

his talent developed

and the public soon realized that

charlie was more than a clown

he was an artist

so

do

in 1917 when the first national company

offered charlie over a million dollars

to make eight short films

charlie figured he had finally made it

he bought a brand new seven-passenger

locomobile

and hired a chauffeur he also built his

own studio

and began by making a dog's life

his brother sydney who is now his

business manager

played the role of a cook at a food

stand

do

so

you

so

at his studio charlie had his own group

of actors and technicians

most of whom had been with him since he

left keystone

the leading lady in his company was a

girl he discovered from lovelock nevada

edna paviance edna and charlie were good

friends

she acted in 35 movies with him and was

his constant companion during his early

years in hollywood

some people got upset because charlie

did not enlist during world war one

but the government knew his films were

great for morale

in 1918 charlie volunteered his services

to the liberty loan campaign

he toured the country along with douglas

fairbanks and mary pickford

and sold millions of dollars worth of

liberty bonds

after the war charlie got together with

mary pickford douglas fairbanks and d.w

griffith to form the united artists

corporation

charlie had heard that all the major

film producers in the united states were

planning a 40 million dollar merger

which would give them complete control

over the motion picture industry

had this happened charlie and the other

artists would have been deprived of

their creative freedom

but with the four biggest names in

hollywood arrayed against them

the producers could never sew up their

deal

in october 1918 charlie married a 16

year old actress named mildred harris

she was a beautiful girl but she was no

match for charlie

and he soon began to fear that the

marriage might hamper his work

a baby was born the following summer but

there were complications and it died

after three days

charlie and mildred were never the same

afterwards

while charlie was making the kid mildred

sued for divorce

everything he had was tied up in the

film and he was already in trouble with

his backers

because he was making a feature rather

than another short subject

the kid was a new kind of picture

altogether

a unique combination of comedy and drama

and charlie was afraid that mildred and

the first national company

would try to possess the film in a panic

one night he loaded the film into his

car

and drove to salt lake city where it

would be safe

he finished editing the kid in a hotel

room there

while at the same time fighting with the

first national company

and mildred's lawyers

the kid was a fantastic success

charlie dropped everything and announced

that he was going to england

mr chaplin why are you going to europe

do you have your cane and shoes with you

uh mr chaplin would you like to play

hamlet mr chaplin are you a bolshevik

goodbye take care and for god's sake

don't let him get married

have you heard of these experiments in

which sound recordings

have been synchronized with motion

pictures

i find this very exciting when you think

about the possibilities of combining the

theater and the cinema

into a new hybrid art form

good god man you don't tell the prince

of wales to call back later

wake him up

see this is the old chaplain studios

this is the original gate

still here there's the projection room

that's still there

straight ahead you see that little house

charlie chaplin had a pool there

swimming pool

and he's got his feet his footprints and

concrete i'll show that to you over

there

not only did he own his own studio but

he was also his own distributor his own

producer

composer director writer and star

he had complete freedom in his work and

in the movie business

that's rare he's here

when dad is working all outside

interests family included are ruthlessly

sacrificed

to that inexorable rush of creativity

which rises to a wild crescendo before

crashing over in a turbulent finale

leaving him drained he himself has said

that he usually has to go to bed for at

least a day or two to restore his nerves

after finishing a picture

my father was not the only one to be

drained at such times

everyone associated with him during

these periods either at the studio or at

home was drained too

drained limped more than ready to call

it quits

chaplin makes the actors rehearse their

parts one by one

having previously tried the business

himself without exaggeration

i think i can say that he has played

every character in every one of his

comedies

the chatterbox of a woman prattling

without pity or reserve

the policeman directing traffic the

ruffian whom one is always waiting to

see come out of the shadow of a door

for all the roles he first gives the

actor his hits

lightly sketched but certain in its

details then the actor of the part plays

it himself

while charlie accompanies him miming

with a continuous commentary of

encouragement or criticism or

kindly suggestions

when he wasn't working on a picture

charlie often entertained guests at his

studio

he is shy sensitive and inarticulate

he hates crowds he spends hours and

sometimes days in self-communion

to his chosen friends he talks freely

but there are depths that lie

unrevealed thoughts and feelings that

are hidden

in the innermost chamber of his soul

thomas burke describes him as the

loneliest

saddest man he ever knew

during this time charlie was involved

with several different ladies

not the least of these being pola negri

but when charlie was getting ready to

make his next picture he fell in love

again

the little girl who had played an angel

in the kid showed up at the studio when

he was looking for a new leading lady

she was now 16 and her name was lolita

mcmurray

charlie signed her up for the lead in

the gold rush

under the name of lita gray and eight

months later they were quietly married

in mexico

from the beginning it was a tempestuous

marriage

charlie's dreams had backfired on him

again

georgia hale replaced leda in the gold

rush

and charlie threw himself into his work

leader gray chaplain's 42 page divorce

complaint was published in full today by

the new york american

she is suing for custody of their two

sons and for division of community

property

valued at 10 million dollars among the

assets listed is the circus

chaplain's current production chaplain

thinks he can starve his child

wife into submission he is reckoning

without the women of hollywood

30 women representing 20 clubs met

thursday night last

and we have already begun to raise the

money to pay mrs chaplin's rent

and to properly feed and care for her

little boy

charles chaplin issued a rare public

statement today refuting charges that he

is letting his children go hungry

the comedian whose current production

was brought to a halt when mrs chaplin's

lawyers took possession of his studios

said he has given the lawyers checks but

they will not cash them because they

want bigger chairs revenue service

brought suit today against charlie

chaplin for

one million thirty seven thousand seven

hundred and twenty one dollars and forty

seven cents in back taxes

meanwhile nathan barkan denied reports

the chaplain is being guarded against

suicide attempts

the actor is confined to bed at perkins

home with what dr gustav trike describes

as a novice breakdown

lita's lawyer said today they would

drill open the safe at the studio if

they had to

it seems alf reeves the only man who

knows the magic numbers of the

combination

is sick and a group of french artists

and intellectuals have issued a

statement protesting the boycott of

charlie chaplin's pictures

mr mrs charles chaplin were granted a

divorce today in an interlocutory decree

after both their original complaints had

been withdrawn

a mrs chaplin will receive a six hundred

thousand dollar settlement custody of

the children

and a two hundred thousand dollar trust

fund for them it is also rumored mrs

chaplin's attorneys are receiving two

hundred thousand dollars

a special first award for writing

directing

acting and producing the circus goes to

charles chaplin i think he is the only

one to whom the academy has

or ever will give a first award to one

man

for writing directing acting and

producing a picture it takes us back to

the old days

mr chaplin is not here due to cold feet

but he has wired his

high appreciation of the honor

soon after charlie started to work on

his next picture two things happened

his mother died and a revolution swept

hollywood

charlie had brought his mother to

america after the first world war

and bought her a house on the beach in

santa monica

she never really comprehended how

successful her son had become

the whole town's talking and one of the

things they're talking about

is whether charlie chaplin is going to

be left behind

his production of city lights has come

to a halt again while charlie decides

whether to make it a talkie

charlie says his art is pandemic and to

add sound to it is like painting

marble statues but the movie going

public of course

sees things differently this may be the

end of the line for charlie

city lights is the story of the tramp's

love affair with a blind flower girl

in the end she has been cured but she

has never seen

charlie

hmm

hey

in 1931 charlie took another trip abroad

the world was in the grip of the

depression and charlie spent most of the

time

talking to people about politics and

economics

charlie chaplin shared the rostrum with

roy george yesterday at a dinner party

given by lady astor

and attended by representatives of each

political party

in a discussion of the current world

situation chaplain spoke

advocating a shorter working week price

controls and the abolition of the gold

standard

as a solution to the ills besetting the

world economy

lloyd george charlie's ideas about the

conditions of modern life

even worked their way into his next

picture modern times

so

when charlie released modern times the

rest of hollywood had been making

talkies for eight years no one else

would have dared to release a silent

picture

but charlie knew what he was doing the

pressure was terrific though

and in one scene the tramp had a voice

are they or are they not everybody still

wants to know and neither paulette nor

charlie will say

were they married one weekend on

charlie's yacht the panacea

some people say that captain dave

anderson performed the ceremony

and then removed the entry from his log

or maybe they were married recently in

singapore during their trip

one thing's for sure a lot of women in

this country don't like the way paulette

and charlie flaunt their

immorality and it may not be long before

they have to pay for it

charlie and paulette goddard were

eventually married

but they saw no reason to tell the

public paulette wanted to succeed on her

own rather than as mrs chaplin

and charlie was not interested in

pandering to gossip mongers and

self-styled moralists

whether they were actually married was

of no consequence

what did matter was that the 10 years he

spent with paulette

was some of the happiest he had known

all right

all right well charlie say something

let's hope the best man wins

i don't know i can play this game much

better without the other three can you

oh yeah sure how are you without a

racket

oh marvelous all i need is a shovel and

i can go follow the horses

in all the reams of copy that have been

issued about my father's alleged

hedonistic activities and iconoclastic

nature

i don't think one of his accusers has

brought out his extreme

almost caricatured bent towards

domesticity

his love of a well-ordered home and a

life in which surprise or chance as such

peaked rather than pleased him he was

happiest

most comfortable when things were the

same when you rose in the morning with

the certainty of what you were going to

do at four in the afternoon

after modern times charlie had

difficulty writing another film for

paulette

how could i throw myself into feminine

whimsy or think of romance

or the problems of love when madness was

being stirred up by a hideous grotesque

adolf hitler

charlie decided to strike out at hitler

with his own weapon

against the advice of his distributors

and even in spite of threats on his life

he made a satire on nazi germany

out caesar out

emperor of the world

so

charles chaplin sent a telegram to the

new york film critics declining to

accept their award as best screen actor

for 1940 for his performance in the

great dictator the first actor ever to

decline such an award chaplain said

in justice to myself and my fellow

actors i cannot accept your award for in

doing so i feel i would be acknowledging

the fact that actors are competing with

each other

saying that he aimed only to please the

public chaplain also made reference to

electioneering

involved in the giving of the award in

1942

charlie spoke out at several rallies

calling for the opening of a second

front against germany

at the time the nazis were concentrating

their entire force

on the soviet union many people later

accused charlie of communist sympathies

because of these speeches

but he was never a communist he was a

humanitarian

and an idealist in a way that few of us

have the strength or courage to be in

the 17th chapter of saint luke it is

written the kingdom of god is within man

not one man nor a group of men but in

all men in you

you the people have the power the power

to create machines

the power to create happiness you the

people have the power to make this life

free and beautiful

to make this life a wonderful adventure

then in the name of democracy

let us use that power let us all unite

let us fight for a new world a decent

world

that will give men a chance to work that

will give you the future

and old age of security by the promise

of these things

brutes have risen to power but they lie

they do not fulfill that promise

they never will dictators free

themselves

but they enslave the people now let us

fight

to fulfill that promise let us fight to

free the world

to do away with national barriers to do

away with greed with hate and

intolerance

let us fight for a world of reason a

world where science and progress

will lead to all men's happiness

soldiers

in the name of democracy let us all

unite

hannah can you hear me

wherever you are look up hannah

the clouds are lifting the sun is

breaking through

we are coming out of the darkness into

the light

we are coming into a new world a kindly

a world

where men will rise above their hate

their greed

and brutality look up hannah

the soul of man has been given wings and

at last he is beginning to fly

he is flying into the rainbow into the

light of hope

into the future the glorious future

that belongs to you to me

and to all of us look up hannah

look up

after charlie and paulette drifted apart

his next discovery was a young girl from

brooklyn named joan barry

charlie soon began to lose interest in

her though and she started making

trouble

there was a series of nightmarish

incidents and then one night she broke

into charlie's house with a pistol and

threatened to shoot him

charlie got her to calm down but the

next week when she came back to the

house

he called the police and bought her a

train ticket back to new york

joan barry charlie chaplin's latest

protege has filed a paternity suit

against the actor demanding twenty five

hundred dollars a month support for the

unborn infant

as well as ten thousand dollars for

medical expenses and five thousand

dollars

for legal expenses well joan barry has

agreed to submit to a blood test after

her child is born

but charlie is having to pay dearly for

every drop

she's getting twenty five thousand

dollars for letting the doctors have a

look

and it may not prove a thing we shall

see

what we shall see in the midst of all

this trouble charlie finally met the

girl he had been searching for

all his life she was una o'neil

the 17 year old daughter of eugene

o'neill

whom an agent introduced to him as a

possibility for the lead in his next

film they were married in june

charlie chaplin is married for the

fourth time this time it is lovely oona

o'neil 18 year old daughter of

playwright eugene o'neill

the couple slipped away to carpenteria

where they were married by a justice of

the peace early this morning

meanwhile back in los angeles joan barry

became hysterical on hearing the news

and her attorney has placed her under

guard to prevent a suicide attempt

the bride's father was unavailable for

comment but the opa

wants to know where chaplin got the gas

to drive up to santa barbara

charlie chaplin 54 year old white-haired

comedian

was indicted by the federal grand jury

yesterday on mad

act white slavery charges involving joan

barry 23

and on charges of depriving her of her

civil rights as an american citizen

chaplain a citizen of england who never

became naturalized and is subject to us

immigration laws as an alien was

indicted with six

others

when the federal government prosecuted

charlie for violation of the man

act and for depriving joan barry of her

civil rights

charlie won the case however when the

paternity suit came to court

and blood tests irrefutably showed that

charlie couldn't possibly be the father

of the baby

the jury decided against him anyway

it was that kind of time in america the

great

genius of stage and scream

it makes me mad the way this fellow cry

is to put it over on us simpletons

this profligate he doesn't lie like a

gentleman

he lies like a cheap cockney cat

this master mechanic in the art of

seduction she's under no more of a

handicap than chaplin

they're both equally guilty only chaplin

is old enough to be her father

prowling around with girls that age

what good has his money done chaplin

wasting his substance and debauching

girls

what good's it down the country that's

the kind of stuff that makes for

communism

there has been no one to stop chaplin in

his letters conduct all these years

except you wives and mothers all over

the country are watching you

to see you stop him dead in his tracks

never never in the history of

jurisprudence have such terrifying deeds

being brought to light

gentlemen of the jury you have before

you a cruel and cynical monster

look at him

observe him gentlemen this man who has

brains if he had decent instincts could

have made an honest living

and yet he preferred to rob and murder

unsuspecting women

in fact he made a business of it i do

not ask for vengeance but for the

protection of society

for this mass killer i demand the

extreme penalty

that he be put to death on the

guillotine the state rests its case

receive at you you have been found

guilty have you anything to say before

sentences passed upon you

however remiss the prosecutor has been

in complimenting me

he at least admits that i have brains

thank you monsieur i have and for 35

years i used them honestly

after that nobody wanted them

so i was forced to go into business for

myself as for being a mass killer

does not the world encourage it is it

not building weapons of destruction

for the sole purpose of mass killing has

it not blown

unsuspecting women and little children

to pieces and done it very

scientifically

as a mass killer i'm an amateur by

comparison

all right valdeo the criminal court of

justice of the french republic

sentenced you to die by the guillotine

it is now the order of the court that

the sentence be carried out this day

yes cigarette

thank you

here what's that rum

no thank you just a moment

i've never tasted rum

me

in order mr president to give you a

picture of the types of organizations

with which

chaplain has been connected i should

like to list the names of a few of the

more

obvious communist fronts to which he has

given aid and comfort i

am today demanding that attorney general

tom clark chaplain institute proceedings

to deport charlie chaplin he has refused

to become an american citizen

his very life in hollywood is

detrimental to the moral

fabric of america in that way he can be

kept

off the american screen and his

loathsome

pictures can be kept from before the

eyes of the american youth

congressman richard m nixon of los

angeles hid out today at charles chaplin

when he learned the chaplain would

attend the world peace conference

in paris nixon commented that the

conference was communist supported and

added

it seems most unfortunate to me that it

is the nickels and dimes of the good

american moviegoers which pay for such

things as this trip to paris

uh she seems to be in trouble what time

is it and uh

all right old boy let's all go home

yeah you're right good night

i figure

lost it these shoes are too tight

good night

what are you doing up so late

i just couldn't sleep

then i saw the partition doors open so i

got up an hour ago

some hot soup no thanks

you look tired do i

they walked out on me

i haven't done this since i was a

beginner the cycle's complete

but you've changed your name they didn't

know you

no i wasn't funny trouble is i was sober

i should have been drunk before going on

i

still insist they didn't know you it's

just as well they didn't

naturally you can't expect too much the

first performance you haven't worked

in a long time but you'll see tonight

when you go back it'll be different

i'm not going back

why they've uh

terminated the contract

but they can't do that they can

they have but you're engaged for the

week you can insist

it's no use i'm finished

through

nonsense are you calvero going to allow

one performance to destroy you

of course not you're too great an artist

now is the time to show them what you're

made of now is the time to fight

remember what you told me standing there

by that window

remember what you said about the power

of the universe

moving the earth growing the trees and

that power being within you

well now's the time to use that power to

fight

look i'm walking i'm walking

i'm walking

i'm walking calvero

the government ordered an inquiry today

to decide whether charlie chaplin

now on his way to europe should be

barred from returning to the united

states

attorney general mcrannery announced the

action in the case of the english-born

four-time married comedian whose name

has been associated with leftist causes

and who was once investigated by the

house committee on un-american

activities

mcgranery said he has told the

immigration and naturalization service

to

keep chaplin out of the country if and

when he returns

until a hearing determines whether he is

admissible under u.s

law chaplain issued a statement from the

queen elizabeth saying simply that he

had applied for and received a re-entry

permit through proper channels

and he assumes that the united states

will recognize its validity

in an address at the university of

minnesota assistant secretary of state

howland h sergeant said today

that the pentagon regards charlie

chaplin as a security risk

and that it was the defense department

rather than the state department that

was barring his reentry

in washington however attorney general

mcgranery said the principal reason for

barring chaplains reentry

is on moral grounds referring to

chaplain as a menace to womanhood he

also cited his left-wing connections

and added the chaplain had been making

leering sneering statements about the

country

whose gracious hospitality has enriched

him

well it's nice to see you back here mr

chaplin thank you very much and it's

very nice to be here very exciting

oh this 20 20 odd years

yes as much as that yes quite as much as

that

give us some idea of your plans at all

yes sir we uh we're here for the opening

of uh

the benefit for the uh royal society for

teaching the blind

and then after that we we have an idea

of touring

beautiful england and going to all the

historical spots

naturally we'll go to stratfor naval and

elsewhere up to scotland and

edinburgh and all that my this is the

first time that

my wife has ever been abroad

and so naturally we're going to try and

cram in as much as we can

fran um one thing would you comment sir

on this proposed ban on your re-entry

and

understand uh we i i've already i can

only reiterate

what i said before i suppose i resume

and that that's already been published

thank you

very much thank you as the late

calvin coolidge said when he terminated

his

presidency he was embarking to go home

and we laid by one of the breasts who

said

mr president don't you say a few

farewell

words the american people he said yes

goodbye

all of europe turned out for charlie

with open arms

his pictures were being banned in the

united states but everywhere else

he and oona were received like royalty

i want to say a few words to the

american people just a moment who are

you

i'm miss manchester's ambassador your

majesty

glad to see you alive and well ha ha we

fool them

won't you say a few words the american

people i am deeply moved by your warm

friendship and hospitality

this big-hearted nation has already

demonstrated its noble generosity

to those who come to seek a refuge from

tyranny

thank you eager

shout out for vistrovia

here raise your right hand switch tell

the truth the whole truth for nothing

but the truth

hey what the it's a fire sell me alarm

quick

what is this nonsense i'm sorry i have

my finger stuck in the fire hose and i

have to bring it with me

a committee size this witness for

contempt of congress that's

very unsportsmanlike on your part

so

hmm

hmm

charlie and una have eight children and

have lived in switzerland since 1953.

in 1964 charlie published his

autobiography

and in 1966 he wrote directed and scored

accounters from hong kong which starred

sophia loren

and maul and brando he has continued

working to the present day

writing composing music and re-cutting

and scoring his silent pictures

for re-release

during his years in switzerland charlie

has been honored in virtually every

country in europe

he was awarded a doctorate by oxford in

1962

and shared the erasmus prize with ingmar

bergman in 1965.

in 1972 hollywood finally paid him

its highest tribute the board of

governors of the academy of motion

picture arts and sciences has hereby

voted a special honorary award to

charles

chaplin whose genius transformed an

industry into an art

however far beyond that magnificent

achievement his person

wit and insight into humanity created

through his films an unbreakable bond of

love among the peoples of the earth

no matter what creed color or degree of

sophistication

they have all shared with joy his

creative labor

it is given to few artists of this time

or of any other

to make such a contribution to universal

brotherhood

therefore the 3 700 fellow artists of

the academy

with pride and affection present this

tribute

to one of the immortals among men

hmm

and words seem so futile

so feeble i can only

say that thank you for the honor

of inviting me here and

all your wonderful sweet people

thank you

um

ladies and gentlemen join us please in a

song that mr chaplin wrote

in the sky

tomorrow

very beautiful

but i ain't i'm only

a little bit fat

it's a feeling

my mother used to sing this to me

charlie remember

as billy the boy master charles

chaplin is decidedly clever

modesty forbids

and here it says

said happiness is a negative state but i

disagree

for the last 30 years i've known what

happiness means

i have the good fortune to be married to

a wonderful wife

i wish i could write more about this but

it involves love

and perfect love is the most beautiful

of all frustrations because it is more

than one can express

as i live with una the depth and beauty

of her character

are a continual revelation to me

even as she walks ahead of me along the

narrow sidewalks of veve

with her simple dignity a neat little

figure

straight a dark hair smoothed back

showing a few silver threads

sudden wave of love and admiration

comes over me for all the cheers

and a lump comes into my throat

you