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| Police Gazette, 1921 |
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Charley's Catch
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Autographed photo of Chaplin with composer Arnold Schoenberg, c.1935
Photo by Max Munn Autrey.
Click here to read David Raksin's description of the meeting between Chaplin and Schoenberg which was evidently a bit awkward.
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Random Excerpt
"Charlie Takes The Air: The Screen Comedian Describes His First Experiences"
By Elsie Codd
Photos and text from Picture Show, March 27th, 1920:
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By Elsie Codd
Photos and text from Picture Show, March 27th, 1920:
One of the most delightful things about Charlie Chaplin is his quality of unexpectedness. You never know beforehand what he's going to say or do next. Sometime ago, for instance, he made his first trip in an aeroplane. Now, on such occasions it is generally considered the correct thing amongst celebrities of the Chaplin order to comment in glowing terms upon "the wonderful sense of freedom,"" the thrill of high adventure," and kindred sensations.
When asked how he had enjoyed himself, Chaplin promptly answered, "Not at all." Moreover, he candidly admitted that he was terrified out of his wits, and only stuck to his resolution to see the job through because he has always been interested in trying a fresh experience.
"I remember the thing that worried me most," he said, when describing the affair, "was all the padding in those clothes they helped me into. I didn't mind so much the idea of being killed outright, as falling to earth with the usual dull, sickening thud, and surviving the experience. You see, I harboured the suspicion back of my mind that the garments which made me feel like a human pincushion were ingeniously designed for this very purpose." Then the cheerful nonchalance of my pilot got on my nerves. It was just as though he know he'd got me in his power, and intended to make me realise that he was going to do jolly well what he pleased with me."
"'Like to loop the loop, Charlie?' he'd ask carelessly, just by the way, you know. And because I felt he knew I was scared stiff, I gave him a sickly smile, murmured a feeble 'Ye-es,' set my teeth, and--thought of those padded clothes. But when, contrary to all my expectations, we landed safely, I mentally registered the vow 'Never again!'"
But Charlie, being an unexpected sort of person, has changed his mind. The accompanying "snaps" show him starting for San Diego for another trip, and, judging by the dazzling display of Chaplin dentistry, he wasn't worrying much about those padded clothes.
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Chaplin & Will Hays at a Hollywood gathering, 1932
Hays was president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America & namesake of the Hays censorship code. When he arrived in Hollywood in March 1922, the streets were decorated with "bunting and flags and big signs reading 'Welcome, Will Hays!'" 1 Chaplin was the only big-time producer not to attend his reception.
According to his FBI file, in August 1922, Chaplin hosted a party at his studio for future Communist Party chairman, William Z. Foster, which was attended by many "Parlor Bolsheviki" and "radicals," including William DeMille and Chaplin's friend, Rob Wagner. According to the report:
Chaplin stated to Foster that neither himself nor any of the stars associated with him have any use for Will Hays. 'We are against any kind of censorship, and particularly against Presbyterian censorship,' he said laughingly, and showed his guests a pennant with the words "Welcome, Will Hays," which he had fastened over the door of the men's toilet in his studio.2This report was forwarded to Hays who responded by saying that he found Chaplin to be "a little odd in his mental processes, to say the least, in the direction which you mention. I did not know he had gone as far, however, as the report indicates."3
In 1928, Hays was Chaplin's guest, along with Ambassador Alexander Moore, at the premiere of The Circus (see the video here). I've always thought this was a little strange given Chaplin's opinion of Hays but perhaps this appearance together was nothing more than a pretense. Although Hays evidently attended a dinner at Chaplin's home before the premiere and a party afterwards at the Montmartre.4
1The Memoirs Of Will H. Hays, Doubleday, 1955
2Chaplin's FBI File, part 7, page 4
3Chaplin's FBI File, part 7, page 9
4Boston Globe, Feb. 1, 1928
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Editing A King In New York, Paris, 1956
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Charlie's mother, Hannah Chaplin
"Showing some pictures one day to a friend, Chaplin came to one, a woman's portrait, at which he gazed for a time with loving, tender eyes. 'My mother!' he then said simply. 'To her I owe everything and all that I am today.'" (Elsie Codd, "The Real Charlie Chaplin," Picture Show, May 1919)
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Charlie kisses Oona in the hospital after the birth of Eugene, 1953
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With John Freuler, President of the Mutual Film Corporation, 1917
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Chicago, 1921
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Going for a swim, French Riviera, 1956
From "Charlie On Holiday,"Picture Post, September 1956
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Chaplin and fellow Fred Karno troupe member, Billie Reeves, c.1918
Reeves was the brother of Alfred Reeves, Chaplin's studio manager. He also originated the role of the drunken swell in Karno's Mumming Birds sketch--a role that was later played by Sydney Chaplin and then Charlie, who made a name for himself with it in the American version of the sketch, A Night In An English Music Hall.
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World Tour Revisited: Charlie arrives at his final destination: Japan, May 14th, 1932
Japan, the adopted land of Lafcadio Hearn, had always stirred my imagination--the land of cherry blossoms, the chrysanthemum, and its people in silk kimonos, living among porcelains and lacquer furnishings. (Chaplin, ACSTW aka "A Comedian Sees The World")
A crowd of 20,000 greeted Charlie and Syd on the dock at Kobe. Charlie had not seen a crowd of this magnitude since he traveled through Europe the previous year.
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| L-R: Kono, CC, actress Shizue Natsukawa, and Sydney, Kobe, May 14, 1932 |
The city of Kobe was our landing place. When we arrived there thousands were waiting on the docks to greet us. Airplanes were flying, dropping pamphlets of welcome. (ACSTW)Before the Terukuni Maru docked, about 200 reporters and photographers went aboard to interview Chaplin who graciously complied. He was asked to comment on the recent Lindbergh baby tragedy but said it was too terrible to talk of.* One thing he told them was that he still cherished his old pair of floppy shoes. "They are like old friends," he said.
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| Kobe, May 14, 1932 |
Among the welcoming committee at Kobe was Japanese actress Shizue Natsukawa. Chaplin was also reunited with his his secretary, Toraichi Kono, who had left the Chaplin party in Singapore in March and traveled on to Japan to arrange for Charlie's visit while the brothers toured Ceylon, Java, and Bali.
From the harbor, Charlie and Syd motored through Kobe, ate at a local restaurant, then boarded a train for Tokyo.
While in Japan, the government graciously made me their guest while traveling by rail. On our way to Tokyo at every stop we were greeting by cheering crowds. Geisha girls were lined up and I was presented with gifts of all kinds. The Japanese are generous and hospitable.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, the throngs were so dense that four hundred policemen were helpless in keeping them from raiding the railroad depot. We eventually got on our way to the hotel....After the usual preliminaries with the press, I went straight to bed, exhausted but happy. (ACSTW)
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| The Chaplins, Shizue Natsukawa & Kono at a restaurant in Kobe. One of the highlights of Charlie's visit was witnessing a Japanese tea ceremony, which revealed to him "the character and soul of the nation...Each movement is studied to create tranquility. Not a sound is made during the preparation. Not a gesture is unnecessary. You watch in silence the beautiful preparation. In the sanctity of peace you refresh your troubled mind in liquid jade." |
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| Charlie with the mayor of Tokyo, May 14, 1932 |
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| At Tokyo's Hotel Imperial, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. |
But this would not be the only bad luck to plague Chaplin during his visit to Japan.
Coming up tomorrow: "The May 15th Incident"
Where was Charlie 12 months before?
Basking in the sun at Juan-les-Pins.
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* The 20-month old infant, the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, had been kidnapped in March 1932, his remains were discovered on May 12th.
Sources:
Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World, Part 5," Woman's Home Companion, Jan. 1934
New York Times, May 15, 1932
Robinson, The Private Life of Charlie Chaplin, Liberty, 1933
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World Tour Revisited: The Prime Minister of Japan is assassinated while Chaplin attends a sumo match with his son, May 15th, 1932
The morning after their arrival in Tokyo, Syd excitedly came into Charlie's room and told him that his "bags had been searched and all of his papers disturbed." Charlie accused him of being overly suspicious but there had been other strange occurrences as well, namely the behavior of Charlie's secretary Toraichi Kono. During their drive to the hotel the evening before, their car stopped in front of the Emperor's Palace. Kono looked around nervously and then asked Charlie to get out and bow. "Is this customary?" Charlie asked. "Yes," Kono replied. "You don't have to bow, just step out of the car." Charlie did what he asked but thought the request was strange since there was no one around and if it were customary the public would have known and a crowd would have been there, if only a small one.1
After the incident with Sydney's luggage, a government agent was assigned to look after them. Sydney insisted that they were being watched and felt that Kono was hiding something. Charlie had to admit that his secretary was looking "more worried and harassed every hour."2
Meanwhile, Charlie's plans for his first day in Tokyo were to attend a sumo match with Ken Inukai, the son of the Prime Minister, Tsuyoshi Inukai. The following day, Chaplin was to meet and have dinner with the Prime Minister.
As they entered the stadium, Charlie was greeted with a tremendous ovation. Sumo wrestling "is amusing to watch," wrote Charlie, "and if you don't understand the technique, the whole procedure looks comic. Nevertheless the effect is hypnotic and thrilling."3
Unbeknownst to the crowd, as well as Chaplin and his entourage, something terrible had happened earlier that day:
Chaplin describes the murder in "A Comedian Sees The World":
The killers were members of a paramilitary, right-wing society called the "Black Dragon" and it was they, Chaplin believed, who had insisted that he bow to the emperor's palace. It was discovered later that Chaplin was also part of their original assassination plot.
At the assassins' 1933 trial, Lieutenant Seishi Koga, the leader, testified that there were plans to bomb the Prime Minister's residence during a reception for Chaplin, the reception was cancelled however. The assassins hoped that the death of Chaplin would throw Japan and the U.S. into war "which was needed to rehabilitate the Japanese spirit."6
Thirty years later in his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: “I can imagine the assassins having carried out their plan, then discovering that I was not an American but an Englishman—'Oh, so sorry!'”
Coming up in the next installment of WTR: Chaplin attends a kabuki performance.
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1Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964
2ibid
3Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World, Part V," 1934
4ibid
5Chaplin, My Autobiography
6Washington Post, July 26, 1933
Additional sources:
Gerith Von Ulm, Charlie Chaplin: King Of Tragedy, 1940
After the incident with Sydney's luggage, a government agent was assigned to look after them. Sydney insisted that they were being watched and felt that Kono was hiding something. Charlie had to admit that his secretary was looking "more worried and harassed every hour."2
Meanwhile, Charlie's plans for his first day in Tokyo were to attend a sumo match with Ken Inukai, the son of the Prime Minister, Tsuyoshi Inukai. The following day, Chaplin was to meet and have dinner with the Prime Minister.
As they entered the stadium, Charlie was greeted with a tremendous ovation. Sumo wrestling "is amusing to watch," wrote Charlie, "and if you don't understand the technique, the whole procedure looks comic. Nevertheless the effect is hypnotic and thrilling."3
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| Syd, Charlie, and Kono pose with sumo wrestlers. |
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| Charlie and Syd intently watch the wrestling matches. |
Unbeknownst to the crowd, as well as Chaplin and his entourage, something terrible had happened earlier that day:
As we were leaving a courier rushed into our box and told us the awful news--that the prime minister, Mr. Tsuyoshi Inukai had been assassinated in his home. This was a dreadful shock to everyone and put a damper on the whole nation.Inukai, one of Japan's foremost liberals, had only been in office since December 1931.
The Prime Minister's son told us later that were were responsible for saving his life because the tragedy occurred while he was at the wrestling arena making arrangements for our tickets. Had he been home, the assassins would have murdered him with his father. 4
Chaplin describes the murder in "A Comedian Sees The World":
The tragedy is well-known--how the murderers, dressed as soldiers, shot and killed several guards, then broke into the prime minister's sitting room and with the points of their guns confronted the old gentleman and his family; how he led them to another room, remarking that if they intended to kill him to spare his wife and children the scene of such violence. The heroic courage of the Prime Minister was worthy of his exalted position. Not one word passed the assassins' lips as they were led by the august gentlemen down a long corridor into the little room where he calmly told them to state their grievances. Without a word, however, these murderers cruelly poured fire into their defenseless victim and left.Chaplin accompanied Ken Inukai back to his home and saw the room in which a couple of hours before his father had been murdered. "The stain of a large pool of blood was still wet on the matting. A battery of cameramen and reporters were there, but they had the decency not to take photographs. They nevertheless prevailed upon me to make a statement. I could only say that it was a shocking tragedy for the family and for the country." 5
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| The prime minister , second from left, and his family, January 1932. Ken Inukai is standing, his wife is to his right, their children are seated with the premier and his wife, far left. |
The killers were members of a paramilitary, right-wing society called the "Black Dragon" and it was they, Chaplin believed, who had insisted that he bow to the emperor's palace. It was discovered later that Chaplin was also part of their original assassination plot.
At the assassins' 1933 trial, Lieutenant Seishi Koga, the leader, testified that there were plans to bomb the Prime Minister's residence during a reception for Chaplin, the reception was cancelled however. The assassins hoped that the death of Chaplin would throw Japan and the U.S. into war "which was needed to rehabilitate the Japanese spirit."6
Thirty years later in his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: “I can imagine the assassins having carried out their plan, then discovering that I was not an American but an Englishman—'Oh, so sorry!'”
Coming up in the next installment of WTR: Chaplin attends a kabuki performance.
_________________________________________________________________________________
1Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964
2ibid
3Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World, Part V," 1934
4ibid
5Chaplin, My Autobiography
6Washington Post, July 26, 1933
Additional sources:
Gerith Von Ulm, Charlie Chaplin: King Of Tragedy, 1940
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THE FLOORWALKER, released May 15th, 1916
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Charlie, his second wife, Lita, and British novelist Elinor Glyn, October 1925
Both Charlie and Lita describe a story in their memoirs about a roadtrip to Mexico they took with William Randolph Hearst around late 1925 when Lita was pregnant with their second son, Sydney. About twenty people went along for the ride including Elinor Glyn. It was an unpleasant experience because the roads were unpaved and they had to spend the night in a dilapidated Mexican farmhouse.
In My Autobiography, Charlie remembered taking the trip "when my second wife was pregnant. A parade of ten cars followed Hearst and Marion [Davies] over bumpy roads and I was cursing the whole outfit because of it." In Wife Of The Life Of The Party, Lita wrote that Charlie was concerned that the bumpy roads would affect her pregnancy. "A couple of times the terrain was so bumpy Charlie held me in the air so I would not feel the jolting. He was afraid I might miscarry." Both recall how there were not enough beds but that Lita was given one because of her condition (Charlie claims he slept on a couch, but according to Lita, he slept in the bed with her.) Glyn slept on a broken-down couch. Lita remembered that everyone tried to find humor in the situation but Elinor. "She saw nothing funny about anything that removed her from her elegant surroundings." Charlie wrote that Elinor was "dressed as though she were going to the Ritz," wearing a hat, veil, and gloves. "She lay with her hands folded across her chest like a supine figure in a tomb, and slept undisturbed in that one position. I knew for I did not sleep a wink all night. In the morning, from the corner of my eye, I watched her get up as she had lain down, with everything intact, not one hair out of place, her skin white and enameled, as ebullient and spry as if she were walking through the tea room of the Plaza Hotel." Lita recalled that Elinor "had always worn a stiff corset, and it was comical to see her stretched out on the couch with her arms folded over her chest, her white makeup still on, and wearing her hat. 'I won't even take my hat off in this dreadful place,' she said. Charlie and I laughed so hard and so long at Miss Glyn's remark it seemed like it took us forever to fall asleep."
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Charlie poses with a group of little people on the set of SHOULDER ARMS, 1918
Edna Purviance is next to Charlie in the top photo.
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Cover of Illustrated magazine, May 17, 1947
Photo by Karl Gullers.
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En route to Hawaii, 1917
Accompanying Charlie on the voyage was his friend, Rob Wagner (far left in top photo, 2nd from left in bottom photo) & Edna Purviance, who is not pictured. The man wearing the bowtie is Goldwyn executive, Harold Bolster.
Photos from Picture Play, 1917
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WORK (1915)
I spent the day removing wallpaper. I had much better luck than Charlie and his pals (who were putting it up).
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Random Snippet
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| The Evening News (Harrisburg, PA), June 9, 1923 |
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