The "shocking" (The Wall Street Journal), must-read story of Charlie Chaplin's years of exile from the United States during the postwar Red Scare, and how it ruined his film career, from bestselling biographer Scott Eyman.
Bestselling Hollywood biographer and film historian Scott Eyman tells the story of Charlie Chaplin's fall from grace. In the aftermath of World War II, Chaplin was criticized for being politically liberal and internationalist in outlook. He had never become a US citizen, something that would be held against him as xenophobia set in when the postwar Red Scare took hold.
Politics aside, Chaplin had another problem: his sexual interest in young women. He had been married three times and had had numerous affairs. In the 1940s, he was the subject of a paternity suit, which he lost, despite blood tests that proved he was not the father. His sexuality became a convenient way for those who opposed his politics to condemn him. Refused permission to return to the US after a trip abroad, he settled in Switzerland and made his last two films in London.
In Charlie Chaplin vs. America, Scott Eyman explores the life and times of the movie genius who brought us such masterpieces as City Lights and Modern Times. "One of the finest surveys of the man and the artist ever written" (Leonard Maltin) this book is "a sobering account of cancel culture in action." (The Economist). Scott Eyman is the author or coauthor of eighteen books, including the bestseller John Wayne and Pieces of My Heart and You Must Remember This with actor Robert Wagner. Eyman, formerly the literary critic at The Palm Beach Post, also writes book reviews for The Wall Street Journal, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. He and his wife, Lynn, live in West Palm Beach. "Scott Eyman, literary critic for the PALM BEACH POST, offers a biography of Hollywood icon Charlie Chaplin. The British actor bridged the transition from silent to talking films and started his own studio. Deep-voiced Phil Thron provides a workmanlike narration. While the audiobook is a biography overall, it focuses on the politics and personal circumstances that caused Chaplin's somewhat self-imposed exile from the U.S. Background information is shared about Chaplin's films CITY LIGHTS, MODERN TIMES, MONSIEUR VERDOUX, and, during his exile, the poorly received COUNTESS OF HONG KONG. While Tron's performance is unadorned, his anchorman style clearly recounts the turbulent times surrounding the genius that was Chaplin and his alter ego, The Little Tramp."
