1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:05,560 Speaker 1: Greetings, good people of Hollywood Land, and welcome once again 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,320 Speaker 1: to another dip indoor archive of stories at the intersection 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: of Hollywood and true crime. This week, we're bringing you 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: the story of Charlie Chaplin, one of the most brilliant 5 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: comedians and filmmakers of the Silent Era and beyond. Like 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: a lot of movie stars in the late nineteen twenties 7 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: and early nineteen thirties, Chaplin initially resisted making the jump 8 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: to films with sound, but he quickly realized that if 9 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: he didn't pivot and adapt to the times, he would 10 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: be left in the dust, which is an epiphany that 11 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 1: many other filmmakers and artists and creators have had in 12 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: the last one hundred years, even including our current moment 13 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: right now with Ai. And while Chaplin did survive creatively, 14 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: he almost fell victim to a mob of Japanese assassins 15 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: who had targeted. 16 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 2: Him for death. 17 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: You'll hear that crazy story, along with the shocking story 18 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: of a stolen corpse which was held for ransom in 19 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 1: this episode of Hollywood Land, all about Charlie Chaplin, and 20 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: I hope that you'll join me and Jake Brennan when 21 00:00:57,480 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: we discussed this episode coming up next in your feed 22 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: in the rap Party. 23 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 2: Hollywoodland is a production of Double Elvis. 24 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: I Won. 25 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 2: Man. The stories about Charlie Chaplin are insane. He had 26 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 2: an affair with the girlfriend is the most powerful man 27 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 2: in America, an affair that someone else may have caught 28 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 2: a bullet for. He made fun of the Nazis a 29 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 2: few years too early and found himself kicked out of 30 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 2: the United States. He was held at gunpoint by a 31 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 2: jealous lover, nearly murdered by a cabal of Japanese assassins, 32 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 2: and his corpse was stolen and held for ransom. And 33 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 2: Charlie Chaplin made great films, some of the most influential 34 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 2: films of the silent and eras. Unlike that clip I 35 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 2: played you at the top of the show. That wasn't 36 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 2: a clip from a great film. That was a fair 37 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 2: youth sample from the Library of Congress of the Peerless 38 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 2: Quartet performing Where the Red Red Roses Grow in nineteen fourteen. 39 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,239 Speaker 2: I played you that clip because I can't afford the 40 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:22,480 Speaker 2: rights to Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather. And why would 41 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 2: I play you that specific slice of Leave the gun 42 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 2: Take the Canoli Cheese? Could I afford it because that 43 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 2: was the number one movie in America on April tenth, 44 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy two, and that it was the day that 45 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 2: Charlie Chaplin was allowed legal re entry into the United 46 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 2: States after a twenty year ban, so that he could 47 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 2: receive an honorary Oscar. On this episode, nazis a capal 48 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 2: of Japanese assassins, a stolen corpse in Charlie Chaplin, I'm 49 00:02:53,880 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 2: Jake Brennan and this is Hollywood Land. George Orwell was 50 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 2: dying on a cold and rocky island in Scotland. Tuberculosis 51 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 2: ravaged his lungs. He woke up at night drenched in sweat, 52 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 2: his chest burned. He coughed until his throat ached. He 53 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 2: spat blood into handkerchiefs. He was forty seven. Orwell struggled 54 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 2: with illness his entire life, but now he wasn't just still. 55 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 2: He was lonely and depressed. Ever since his wife died, 56 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 2: he'd gotten in the habit of proposing to young women 57 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 2: in letters. One of those women was Celia Kerwin. Celia 58 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 2: turned him down. Most women did, but she was different 59 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 2: from the others. She worked for Britain's Information Research Department, 60 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,520 Speaker 2: a propaganda factory, right out of Orwell's own dystopian masterpiece 61 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty four, published just months earlier in June of 62 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 2: nineteen forty nine. Orwell was a political oddball, a socialist 63 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 2: who spoke out against Stalin's Soviet Union. Celia went to 64 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 2: visit Orwell at the sanitarium where he was dying. She 65 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 2: tried to recruit her to write propaganda for the government. 66 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,840 Speaker 2: Orwell was too weak to do it, but he gave 67 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,799 Speaker 2: Celia the names of people she could ask, and also 68 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 2: the names of people she shouldn't. There were people he 69 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 2: didn't trust to be on England's side. If she really 70 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 2: wanted to know more, he had his little notebook. What 71 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 2: George Orwell handed over became one of the best kept 72 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 2: secrets of the Cold War. It wouldn't be seen by 73 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 2: anyone outside of British intelligence for more than fifty years. 74 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 2: In two thousand and three, when Celia's daughter found a 75 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 2: copy in her deceased mother's papers. The notebook listed people 76 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 2: Orwell considered to be cryptocommunists and fellow travelers. He kept 77 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 2: it for years, adding footnotes, crossing out names names like 78 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 2: Katherine Hepburn, Alex Comfort, author of the Joy of Sex, 79 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 2: Cecil day Lewis, poet and father of Daniel day Lewis. 80 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 2: But the most famous name on Orwell's list was Charlie Chaplin. 81 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 2: Charlie Chaplin's politics are tough to nail down. He let 82 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 2: his films speak for themselves, but by the end of 83 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 2: the nineteen thirties, Chaplain would be forever linked in the 84 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,799 Speaker 2: public's mind with the most notorious man ever to step 85 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 2: on the world stage. Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler were 86 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:53,159 Speaker 2: born four days apart in eighteen eighty nine. The similarities 87 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 2: in their appearance was fodder for political cartoons since Hitler 88 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 2: first came to power. Some even suggested that Hitler cliff 89 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 2: it's his mustache to look more like Chaplain's beloved tramp character. 90 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 2: Whether you buy that or not, the Nazis were not 91 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 2: Chaplain fans. When Chaplin passed through Germany, Nazi newspapers scolded 92 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 2: crowds for getting excited over the man they called a 93 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 2: little Jewish acrobat. Chaplain wasn't Jewish, but he often got 94 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 2: asked if he was. He stopped publicly denying that he 95 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,280 Speaker 2: was Jewish because he thought the denials played into the 96 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 2: hands of the anti Semites. The world didn't yet know 97 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 2: the full extent of the horrors of Nazi Germany, but 98 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 2: the country's violent anti Semitism have been clear since nineteen 99 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 2: thirty eights Krystallknot or the Night of Broken Glass, violent 100 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 2: assaults against Jewish people swept across Germany. Chaplain thought the 101 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 2: best way to deal with Hitler was to satirize him, 102 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 2: so he wrote a film in which he played the protagonist, 103 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 2: a lovable Jewish barber, and also the antagonist, a frothing 104 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 2: spot on send up of Adolf Hitler. No one but 105 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,280 Speaker 2: Chaplain could have made The Great Dictator. In nineteth teen 106 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 2: thirty nine, America was still on good terms with Germany. 107 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 2: It wouldn't enter the war for another year. Most Hollywood 108 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:10,560 Speaker 2: studios did business there then, therefore wouldn't risk a boycott 109 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 2: by the German government. But Chaplin was producing his own 110 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 2: movies and distributing them through United Artists, the company he 111 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 2: co founded. He could make whatever movie he wanted. Germany 112 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 2: banned The Great Dictator. It wasn't shown there for almost 113 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 2: twenty years. Meanwhile, somewhere in Washington, d C. The United 114 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 2: States government started keeping a file on Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin 115 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 2: gave them plenty of material to fill it. In addition 116 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 2: to his personal scandals. More on those in a minute. 117 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 2: Chaplin gave speeches supporting a second front to help the Russians. 118 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 2: He spoke about the brave Soviet army fighting for the 119 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 2: cause of freedom. Their boys were dying just like ours. 120 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 2: He wasn't alone, but those who took a pro Russia 121 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 2: stance during the war became suspect as the alliance between 122 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 2: the US and Russia collapsed into a Cold War. Chaplain's 123 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 2: speeches in support of Russian tans troops made it to 124 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 2: the deaths of commie hunters like Jay Edgar Hoover and 125 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 2: Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy's House on American Activities Committee was especially 126 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 2: interested in Hollywood. They were convinced it was a wasp 127 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 2: nests of secret Communism. I mean, they had useful tools 128 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 2: for hunting reds in Tinseltown. The first was the Waldorf Statement, 129 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 2: a proclamation issued by the studio heads after a nineteen 130 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 2: forty seven meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. 131 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 2: It condemned communism, instituted loyalties for studio employees. It effectively 132 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 2: blacklisted anyone who ever associated with communists. Their second weapon 133 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 2: was the network of informers the Blacklist helped create. With 134 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 2: actor Ronald Reagan at the head of the screen actors guilled, 135 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 2: the Hollywood community turned on its own. You get dragged 136 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:48,120 Speaker 2: in front of HUAC and the next thing you know, 137 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 2: you're giving up a half dozen names. The next week, 138 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 2: those half dozen got their subpoena served. You might never 139 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 2: work again. Chaplin was subpoenaed in the fall of nineteen 140 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,840 Speaker 2: forty seven. The House Committee some questions, like why he 141 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 2: never applied for US citizenship after being in the country 142 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,720 Speaker 2: for thirty years. Chaplain's response in the press that he 143 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,079 Speaker 2: was a citizen of the world didn't make him look 144 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 2: any less like a fellow traveler. After three postponements, the 145 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,800 Speaker 2: committee informed Chaplain that his testimony was no longer needed. 146 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 2: Chaplain considered the matter settled, except it wasn't. Chaplain had 147 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 2: tickets to sail on the Queen Elizabeth back to England 148 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 2: with his new bride, his fourth and final wife, Una, 149 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 2: and there was just the little matter of his re 150 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 2: entry papers. They were delayed. Immigration called and asked Chaplain 151 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 2: to come to the Federal Building and answer some questions 152 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 2: better yet, they'd come to him. An FBI agent and 153 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,199 Speaker 2: a stenographer showed up at Chaplain's house, and the agent 154 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 2: began asking questions. Was Chaplain Jewish? What could he tell 155 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 2: them about his sex life? Chaplain wasn't sure why the 156 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 2: agent was asking, since he seemed to know plenty about 157 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 2: chaplain sex life in explicit detail. And how did Chaplain 158 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,040 Speaker 2: feel about Communists? Chaplain said communists had won the war, 159 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 2: They held off the Germans before America even got boots 160 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 2: on the ground, and the FBI agent suppressed a grin 161 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,359 Speaker 2: and the stenographer wrote the answer down. It was exactly 162 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 2: the kind of statement the House Committee needed to string 163 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 2: Chaplain up, and the FBI agent told Chaplain he could 164 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 2: expedite the paperwork if he would just sign the transcript 165 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 2: to the interview. Chaplain held the pen in his hand. 166 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 2: He stared at the papers. It was a trap. He 167 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 2: told the FBI agent he wouldn't need that paperwork. After all, 168 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:37,680 Speaker 2: the Chaplains weren't going anywhere. Chaplin got back to work 169 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 2: on his next movie, Limelight, and owed to the British stages, 170 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 2: where he got a start. The movie took four years 171 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 2: to complete. When it was done, Chaplain insisted the premiere 172 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 2: be held on home soil. And maybe he forgot about 173 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 2: the interview with the FBI agent. Maybe he thought the 174 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 2: temperatures had cooled. Either way, crowds cheered in New York Harbor. 175 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 2: As the Chaplains finally bordered the Elizabeth, bound for London. 176 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 2: Chaplain felt at ease for the first time in years. 177 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 2: He wasn't the subject of a federal witch hunt. He 178 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,599 Speaker 2: wasn't the most famous face in the world. He was 179 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 2: a man on vacation with his family, taking them to 180 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:16,600 Speaker 2: see the city where he was born. On their third 181 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,679 Speaker 2: day at sea, Chaplin walked by crew members huddled around 182 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 2: a radio. He heard his name buzzing through the static. 183 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 2: He stopped and listened, and the US Attorney General had 184 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:30,400 Speaker 2: revoked his re entry papers. Immigration and Naturalization Services were 185 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 2: under orders to hold him if he ever returned to 186 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 2: the US. Chaplin looked out at the ocean. It was 187 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,679 Speaker 2: September nineteen fifty two. He could see the vast, endless 188 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 2: blue stretch out to the horizon in every direction, but 189 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,560 Speaker 2: he couldn't see the country of his birth or the 190 00:11:47,640 --> 00:12:19,679 Speaker 2: adopted homeland to which he could never return. The most 191 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 2: famous man in the world was as far from home 192 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 2: as he could get. On May fourteenth, nineteen thirty two, 193 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:30,199 Speaker 2: Charlie Chaplin dined in Tokyo with his brother Sidney and 194 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 2: Torichi Kono, a longtime assistant who grew up in Japan 195 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 2: before moving to southern California. Kono was Chaplain's guide and translator. 196 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 2: Chaplain was a tourist. Everything he knew about Japan came 197 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 2: from books, mostly pictures and books, because Charlie Chaplin was 198 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 2: not much of a reader, but he could read body language. 199 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 2: The six Japanese men approaching their table right now, they 200 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 2: weren't looking for an autograph. They wanted something else, and 201 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,559 Speaker 2: by the looks they were giving, Chaplain going to do 202 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 2: what they had to do in order to get it. 203 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 2: Charlie Chaplin left the US to tour Europe after the 204 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 2: huge success of City Lights, his nineteen thirty one romantic comedy. 205 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,719 Speaker 2: He went to London, where he visited the poor neighborhoods 206 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 2: where he grew up, talked economics in colonialism with Gandhi 207 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:21,239 Speaker 2: and Hobnow with the upper crust. He watched with disappointment 208 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 2: as a conservative government sailed to an easy electoral victory 209 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 2: in France, police struggled to keep him safe from adoring fans. 210 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 2: In Germany, where he dined with Albert Einstein, the Nazi 211 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,199 Speaker 2: papers dismissed him for the first time as the little 212 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 2: Jewish acrobat. Companions and hangers on dropped off. But Chaplin 213 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 2: wasn't ready to return to his studio in the US 214 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 2: for the first time, and as long as he could remember, 215 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 2: he didn't have a new project to start. Movies were changing, 216 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 2: and the changes threatened to render Charlie Chaplin a relic. 217 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 2: I give the talkie six more months, he told anyone 218 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 2: who'd asked. He didn't sound confident. A silent error was 219 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,079 Speaker 2: over and its biggest star didn't know where he belonged 220 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 2: in the new world. Instead of going home, he headed 221 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 2: further east, ended up in Japan. After the reception at Port, 222 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 2: Chaplain's entourage were taken by police escort to the steps 223 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 2: of the Imperial Palace. On the way, a man approached 224 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 2: Chaplain and invited him to come see pornographic silk paintings 225 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 2: at the man's house. Strange, yeah, intriguing, absolutely, but something 226 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 2: about the man didn't seem right, so Chaplain politely refused. 227 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 2: At the Imperial Palace, Hirohito wasn't in, but Chaplain was 228 00:14:33,280 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 2: told it was customary for visitors to pay their respects 229 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 2: to the absent emperor. Chaplain bowed on the steps of 230 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,760 Speaker 2: the empty palace. He didn't know that this bow, this 231 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 2: one small act of deference, sent signals of approval to 232 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 2: the wrong people, people who wanted to kill Charlie Chaplin. 233 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 2: Japan's politics in the early thirties were a lot like 234 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 2: those that allowed the Nazis to rise to power in Germany. 235 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 2: Japan was struggling through the worldwide Depression, and like Germany, 236 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 2: the country's military power was restricted by international treaties signed 237 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 2: by the Prime Minister. In Germany, Hitler rode a wave 238 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 2: of nationalism into office. In Japan, members of the Navy 239 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,960 Speaker 2: officer Corps formed a secret far right cabal that called 240 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 2: itself the League of Blood. Their mission overthrow the civilian 241 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 2: government installed military rule with the emperor as its head. 242 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 2: The League of Blood had already assassinated a former finance minister, 243 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 2: and now they had their eyes on new targets. The 244 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 2: six Japanese men surrounded the restaurant table where Chaplain sat 245 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 2: with his brother Sidney and assistant Toriichi Kono. Chapelain knew 246 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 2: one of them looked familiar, but couldn't place the face. Wait, 247 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 2: it came to him, the guy who wanted to show 248 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 2: him the silk Porno prints earlier that day. Chaplain's stomach lurched. 249 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 2: This wasn't going to end well. That man sat down 250 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:01,640 Speaker 2: next to Kono. He berated in Japanese while five other 251 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 2: men loomed over Chaplain in the universal language of a shakedown. 252 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 2: Chaplain had nowhere to run. When the man was done shouting, 253 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 2: Kono stared down at his dinner, and then he looked 254 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 2: over at Chaplain. He says, you've insulted his ancestors by 255 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 2: refusing to see his pictures. Chaplin heard what Kono wasn't saying, 256 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 2: and he sprang into action. He shoved his hand into 257 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 2: his coat pocket like a stickup man, pretending he had 258 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 2: a gun. He shouted at the strange man in his 259 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 2: best American accent, thick and blocky like a tiny gangster, 260 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 2: and the men surrounding him were shocked and confused. They 261 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 2: looked at the bulge coming from Chaplain's coat pocket and 262 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 2: backed away slowly, and then they turned around and swiftly 263 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 2: walked away. Chaplin scrapped his plans for the rest of 264 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,720 Speaker 2: the night. He returned to the hotel only to find 265 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 2: their rooms and their luggage had been searched. The next day, 266 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 2: Chaplain was scheduled to have dinner with the Prime Minister. 267 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 2: If his world tour has taught him anything, it was 268 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 2: the risk of snubbing ahead of state. The year before, 269 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 2: he'd been invited to participate in the Royal Variety Performance, 270 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 2: an annual charity event. It's the event where in nineteen 271 00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 2: sixty three John Lennon licked his lips impitiously and told 272 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 2: the crowd, for our last number, I'd like to ask 273 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:16,399 Speaker 2: your help for the people in the cheaper seats. Clap 274 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 2: your hands and the rest of you if you just 275 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 2: rattle your jewelry. What the Royal Variety Performance isn't is 276 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 2: a Royal command performance, a tradition as old as Shakespeare. 277 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,640 Speaker 2: For a command performance, performers are requested or compelled by 278 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:33,719 Speaker 2: the Crown, not invited by an organizer. The British press 279 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,239 Speaker 2: didn't make that distinction. They accused Chaplain of thumbing his 280 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 2: nose at King George. Chaplin didn't do himself any favors. 281 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,280 Speaker 2: When he responded, they say, I have a duty to England. 282 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 2: I wonder just what that duty is. The scrap was 283 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 2: rumored to have cost him a knighthood, or at least 284 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:53,400 Speaker 2: delayed for forty years until Chaplain was eighty five. Knowing 285 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 2: the risks, Chaplin decided to ditch the dinner in Japan 286 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 2: and go watch sumo matches with the Prime Minister's son instead. 287 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 2: Chaplain loved boxing, and at the end of a day 288 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:06,240 Speaker 2: of shooting at a studio, Chaplain would regularly pack up 289 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 2: the cast and crew to go watch the fights. A 290 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,720 Speaker 2: night of sumo wrestling sounded preferable to a stuffy state 291 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,959 Speaker 2: reception anyway. Chaplain might even get a gag out of it. 292 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 2: While Chaplain and the Prime Minister's son were at the matches, 293 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 2: eleven members of the League of Blood broke into the 294 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 2: Prime Minister's residence. They weren't just looking for the Prime Minister. 295 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,400 Speaker 2: They wanted Charlie Chaplin, the head of Japan's civilian government, 296 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 2: was an obvious target. One of the group's main goals 297 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,199 Speaker 2: was a coup de'eta that removed all elected officials in 298 00:18:35,240 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 2: favor of a military HUNTA headed by Emperor hero Hito. 299 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,440 Speaker 2: Chaplin had simply fallen into their laps. The members of 300 00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:45,199 Speaker 2: the League of Blood believed that if they assassinated Chaplain 301 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 2: along with the Prime Minister, it would sparkle war with 302 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 2: the US that we unite Asian countries under the rule 303 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 2: of hero Hito. The plan failed to account for the 304 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 2: fact that Chaplain was British, But when they didn't find 305 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 2: Chaplain that the Prime Minister's residence, the League of Blood 306 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:02,680 Speaker 2: settled for the first target. Then they found him easily. 307 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 2: They drew pistols and held him point blank at the 308 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 2: Prime Minister's head. He begged the League of Blood assassins 309 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 2: not to kill him in front of his wife and daughter, 310 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,160 Speaker 2: and the assassins told the women to leave the room. 311 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 2: The door closed quietly behind them, and then the assassins 312 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:23,239 Speaker 2: opened fire. If I could speak, you would understand, the 313 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 2: Prime Minister said to his killers as he bled out 314 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:32,119 Speaker 2: on the floor. Dialogue is useless, the assassins replied. At 315 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 2: the sumo match, the Prime Minister's son was called away 316 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,440 Speaker 2: from his seat. He returned, sat down next to Chaplain 317 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 2: and put his face in his hands. When Chaplin understood 318 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,679 Speaker 2: what happened, he was shaken. He was supposed to be 319 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 2: at the Prime Minister's house when the assassins struck. Could 320 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:50,679 Speaker 2: he have been at target? Could it have been him 321 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 2: bleeding out on the floor. Nah, he was a comedian. 322 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 2: Comedians didn't get assassinated, right, And the assassination of the 323 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 2: Prime Minister wasn't the only incident of violence the League 324 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,880 Speaker 2: of Blood carried out that night. There were bombings, more killings. 325 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,120 Speaker 2: Chaplain and his entourage scurried back to their hotel until 326 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:11,119 Speaker 2: the police could get the League of Blood assassins in 327 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 2: their custody. Chaplain accompanied the Prime Minister's son to the 328 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:17,520 Speaker 2: scene of the crime. The blood was still drying on 329 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 2: the floor. At their court martial later in nineteen thirty two, 330 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 2: the League of Blood Assassins revealed that Charlie Chaplin had been, 331 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 2: in fact a target of the plot. Chaplain wouldn't learn 332 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:30,720 Speaker 2: about it until ten years later, and the League of 333 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 2: Blood used the public trial as a soapbox to spout 334 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 2: their views and advocate for the restoration of Emperor Hirohito 335 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 2: to full authority. Hundreds of thousands of letters of support 336 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,680 Speaker 2: poured him. Nine kids in a god of Prefecture offered 337 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 2: to be tried instead of the assassins. They sent the 338 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:49,600 Speaker 2: Court of jar containing their nine severed pinky fingers to 339 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,719 Speaker 2: show that they weren't kidding. But when the assassins were 340 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 2: given sentences of only a few years, it sent a 341 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 2: clear message. The fires of violent nationalism that were already 342 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 2: raging in Germany and Italy had found fuel to burn 343 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,880 Speaker 2: in Japan, and soon the whole world would be a blaze. 344 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:20,479 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this. We're, We're, We're. Charlie 345 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,439 Speaker 2: Chaplin was staring down the barrel of a gun. The 346 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:25,159 Speaker 2: woman on the other end of that barrel had come 347 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,919 Speaker 2: a long way, all the way to California from New 348 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 2: York City. He didn't know if she would actually do it, 349 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:33,879 Speaker 2: pulled the trigger if she had it in her. He 350 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 2: wasn't even sure how to react, but what to say. 351 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,880 Speaker 2: Chaplin had been on the business end of a metaphorical 352 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 2: shotgun before. Rumor had it that his romantic escapades once 353 00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:45,919 Speaker 2: landed a bullet in the back of someone else's skull, 354 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 2: But this was his first time at literal gunpoint. He 355 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 2: regretted giving her that money back in New York. How 356 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,360 Speaker 2: could he have known that she'd use it to finance 357 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 2: her trip all the way across the country for the 358 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,240 Speaker 2: explicit purpose of shooting him dead in his own house Hoos. 359 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 2: Chaplain had a thing for underage women, and in the 360 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 2: early twentieth century, the Hollywood star machine served young women 361 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 2: to stars on a platter. Chaplain met his first wife, 362 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 2: Mildred Harris, when she was just sixteen, and he married 363 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,200 Speaker 2: her when she was seventeen. After Mildred's mother announced to 364 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,040 Speaker 2: the press that Chaplain had gotten her daughter pregnant. Her 365 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 2: pregnancy turned out to be a false alarm, and the 366 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 2: couple split after a few months. The divorce was ugly. 367 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 2: It was nineteen twenty. Chaplain was in a battle with 368 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 2: his studio First National about the distribution terms for his 369 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 2: forthcoming film, The Kid. The movie had taken him a 370 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 2: year and a half to make, a lifetime for a 371 00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 2: man who once turned out seventy one films in seven years. Now, 372 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 2: Mildred was rejecting his settlement offer and hiring new lawyers 373 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 2: paid for by First National. They wanted to attach Chaplain's 374 00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 2: business assets to the divorce settlement, and those assets included 375 00:22:55,359 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 2: the negatives of The Kid. The film cinematographer got a 376 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,879 Speaker 2: call from Chaplain in the middle of the night go 377 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 2: down to the studio. Chaplain told him get the negatives 378 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 2: and then get out of town, and the cinematographer and 379 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 2: his assistant packed the film into coffee tins twelve cratesworth. 380 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 2: They drove the crates to Santa Fe. They met Chaplain 381 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,159 Speaker 2: at the train station. From there, the group sped to 382 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 2: Salt Lake City, where they set up an editing suite 383 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,359 Speaker 2: in a hotel room, handling film stock treated with incredibly 384 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,920 Speaker 2: flammable chemicals. They made a rough cut of the film, 385 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:29,680 Speaker 2: and The Kid made its debut in the theater down 386 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 2: the block from the makeshift cutting room, before shipping to 387 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,680 Speaker 2: New York out of the clutches of Chaplain's studio and 388 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:39,040 Speaker 2: his ex wife. In that fall, the rumor mill went 389 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 2: into overdrive. The gossip Calm in the New York Daily 390 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 2: News wrote the Chaplain was having an affair with the 391 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 2: actress Marion Davies. Her flaing with Chaplain may have only 392 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 2: been her rumor, but her long running affair with William 393 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 2: Randolph Hurst, the powerful and married newspaper publisher, was very 394 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 2: much public knowledge. After the Daily News published a squib 395 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 2: about Davy's and Chaplain's involvement, Hearst invited a party of 396 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,200 Speaker 2: Hollywood to lead out on his yacht. The group included 397 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 2: Marion Davies, film producer of Thomas Since, and, according to 398 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 2: some versions of the story, Charlie Chaplin. After only a 399 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 2: few days out, the yacht returned port in San Diego, 400 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 2: where Ince was carried to shore unconscious. Chaplain's assistant and friend, 401 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 2: torre Ichikono, was there to meet the boat, and he 402 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,359 Speaker 2: swore he saw a bullet wound and Ince's head ins 403 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,440 Speaker 2: died a few hours later, and there was no inquest. 404 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 2: The body was cremated within two days. The papers denied 405 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,360 Speaker 2: followed play. Hearst papers denied there was even a boat. 406 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 2: They claimed Inns got sick in Hearst's ranch a day's 407 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 2: drive up the coast. Chaplin claimed he wasn't on the boat, 408 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 2: even though his a system was there to meet him 409 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 2: on the shore, and Marion Davies said there were no 410 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 2: firearms on board, although Hearst kept twenty two on the 411 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:56,640 Speaker 2: yacht so he could shoot at seagulls. A little gun 412 00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,439 Speaker 2: small caliber, the kind of gun that might cause a 413 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 2: head wound severe enough to cause death without being instantly fatal, 414 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:09,159 Speaker 2: and orson Wells heard another rumor. What Wells heard what 415 00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 2: he and screenwriter Hermi Mankowitz and ultimately decided it was 416 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 2: too outrageous to include in the film they were making 417 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 2: about William Randolph Hurst. Was that the newspaper Magnate discovered 418 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 2: Thomas Ince and Marian Davies alone together in the lower 419 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,640 Speaker 2: galley of the yacht in the dim light. Hurst thought 420 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 2: he'd stumbled upon a tryst between Davies and Chaplain. Ince 421 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 2: was about the same height as the little tramp. Herrist 422 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 2: grabbed a seagull shooting pistol, and, thinking he was aiming 423 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 2: at Chaplain, shot Ince in the back of the head. 424 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,400 Speaker 2: Before they got the poort. Hirst swore everyone aboard secrecy. 425 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 2: Certainly he was powerful enough to make one little murder 426 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 2: go away. This was the man who started the Spanish 427 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 2: American War, after all. But whether or not they believed 428 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,920 Speaker 2: the story, Wells and men thought it was too much 429 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 2: to include in their film. So Citizen Kane, a movie 430 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,120 Speaker 2: that hangs its central metaphor on William Randolph Hurst's nickname 431 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 2: for Mary and Davies's clitteress, cut out the story of 432 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 2: Thomas Ince's murder. Chaplain had a few quieter affairs and 433 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,240 Speaker 2: two more marriages before we met Joan Barry in nineteen 434 00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 2: forty two. Barry came to Hollywood from Brooklyn when she 435 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,879 Speaker 2: was twenty, dying to make it in pictures. Chaplin signed 436 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:25,640 Speaker 2: her to a contract and started sleeping with her. When 437 00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:29,360 Speaker 2: Barry proved to be an unstable alcoholic, Chaplain canceled her 438 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 2: contract and bought her in one way ticket back to 439 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:37,159 Speaker 2: New York. Unfortunately, Chaplain's sideline as a political speaker in 440 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 2: support of the war brought him to New York not 441 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 2: long after. Barry found out he was in town and 442 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 2: called repeatedly. Chaplain brushed her off, and then she showed 443 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,200 Speaker 2: up at Chaplin's hotel. He gave her three hundred dollars 444 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:53,439 Speaker 2: in cash, and that seemed to do the trick. He 445 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,959 Speaker 2: hoped it would be the last he'd see her. Now 446 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 2: Here was Joan Barry in the flesh two nights before 447 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,879 Speaker 2: Christmas in nineteen forty two, holding Chaplain hostage in his 448 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,879 Speaker 2: own house in California. She paid her way back west 449 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,760 Speaker 2: with the money Chaplain gave her in New York. Chaplain's 450 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:13,920 Speaker 2: sons were with him that night, but when they found 451 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 2: their father being held at gunpoint, he shuttled them into 452 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,359 Speaker 2: the rooms. According to Barry, the threat of violence turned 453 00:27:20,400 --> 00:27:23,919 Speaker 2: Chaplain on. Their relationship had always been more turbulent than 454 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 2: traditionally romantic. She claimed the standoff led to sex, and 455 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,240 Speaker 2: she left Chaplain's house on her own the next morning. 456 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 2: A week later, she was back. Her return visit came 457 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,280 Speaker 2: on the advice of gossip. Calmness had a hopper who 458 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,639 Speaker 2: went on to prominence as one of the leading supporters 459 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 2: of the House on American Activities Committee in the national press. 460 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,160 Speaker 2: Hawper heard Barry's story and suggested she break into Chaplain's 461 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 2: house one more time get things on the record, the 462 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 2: reasons why I would become a parent. Five months later, 463 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 2: Barry returned to California pregnant, alleging Charlie Chaplin was the father. 464 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 2: Her mother filed a paternity suit. Under California law, the 465 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 2: burden of proof was on the father, and Barry agreed 466 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,679 Speaker 2: to the blood tests once the child was born. But 467 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 2: before that blessed event or the trial that followed, Chaplain 468 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 2: was indicted by federal authorities under the Man Act. They 469 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:20,639 Speaker 2: said he paid Joam Barry to travel from California to 470 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,919 Speaker 2: New York City for the purposes of sex, setting her 471 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,680 Speaker 2: up there in advance of his visit. Chaplain was ultimately 472 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 2: vindicated at trial, and there was no evidence he had 473 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 2: sex with Barry while he was in New York, and 474 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,959 Speaker 2: he'd never been alone with her, but the blow to 475 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 2: his reputation was severe. The paternity trial was even worse. 476 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 2: Blood tests showed Chaplain couldn't be the father, but blood 477 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 2: tests were inadmissible in California. Barry's lawyers dredged up Chaplain's 478 00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,719 Speaker 2: long history of involvement with very young women. There has 479 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 2: been no one to stop Chaplain in his lecherous conduct 480 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 2: all these years except you. Her lawyers told the jury, 481 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 2: you'll sleep well the night you give this baby knee, 482 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:05,959 Speaker 2: and the jury declared that, despite scientific evidence to the contrary, 483 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:10,640 Speaker 2: Charlie Chaplin was the father of Joan Barry's child. The 484 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 2: paternity trial achieved when all Chaplain's messy divorces, dalliances and 485 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 2: underage starlits and sex trafficking accusations couldn't. His reputation was 486 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 2: in ruins. It didn't help that his next film, Monsieur Verdeaux, 487 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 2: had Chaplin playing a bigamous wife murderer. America was finally 488 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:50,880 Speaker 2: ready to kick the little tramp to the curb. March 489 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,640 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy eight, a phone rang in the Boston Field 490 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,040 Speaker 2: office of the FBI. The person on the line had 491 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 2: information about Charlie Chaplin, the subject of FBI interest for years. 492 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 2: But Jay Egar Hoover, the FBI director who included Chaplain 493 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 2: in the long list of suspected communists that haunted his 494 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 2: paranoid psyche, was dead, and so too was Charlie Chaplin. 495 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,440 Speaker 2: The call was from a businessman in Portland, Maine, who 496 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 2: spoke with a local psychic he claimed was one of 497 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,440 Speaker 2: the strongest in the area. The psychic said she knew 498 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 2: who stole Charlie Chaplin's body from his grave in Switzerland 499 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 2: five days earlier, she knew why they'd stolen it, and 500 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 2: she knew where the body was now. Charlie Chaplin lived 501 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 2: a quarter century in exile from his adopted homeland. He 502 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 2: refused to contest his revoked re entry papers when he 503 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,880 Speaker 2: sailed away on the Queen Elizabeth in nineteen fifty two. Instead, 504 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 2: he sent Una back to the States. Two months later, 505 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 2: she dug up the small fortune Chaplain and buried in 506 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 2: their backyard, sewing the bills into the lining of her 507 00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 2: main coat to bring back with her abroad. She sold 508 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 2: the house in the Chaplain studio, and she wrapped up 509 00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 2: what remained of United Artists. The Chaplain settled in Switzerland 510 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:10,600 Speaker 2: on Lake Geneva, and Chaplain never sought American citizenship una 511 00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 2: renounced hers. He made two more films before dedicating his 512 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 2: time to re editing and rescoring his older films. He 513 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 2: came back to America once, in nineteen seventy two, to 514 00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 2: accept an honorary Academy award. The film industry had been 515 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 2: forced to reckon with its complicity in the Red Scare 516 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 2: and the history of the Hollywood Blacklist. The lifetime award 517 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 2: for Chaplain was part of that, and so was the 518 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 2: twelve minutes Standing ovation to receive from the crowd. Once 519 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:43,840 Speaker 2: the applause died down, he went back to Switzerland. In 520 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 2: nineteen seventy five, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, four 521 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:51,440 Speaker 2: decades after her grandfather, George the Fifth, had declined to 522 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 2: do so. Chaplain had suffered a series of strokes and 523 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 2: wasn't able to get out of his wheelchair to kneel 524 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 2: before the Queen on Christmas morning nineteen seventy seven, Chaplain 525 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,479 Speaker 2: died at home in his sleep. He left over one 526 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 2: hundred million dollars to Una. She laid him to rest 527 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 2: in a small ceremony in a cemetery near the family's home, 528 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:16,880 Speaker 2: but his body didn't rest there long. On the morning 529 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 2: of March second, Una Chaplin got a call from the cemetery. 530 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,360 Speaker 2: Charlie's body was gone. There were marks in the mud 531 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 2: where it had been dragged. Tire tracks led to the 532 00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:30,200 Speaker 2: nearby road. The search for Chaplain's body was international news. 533 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 2: Speculation was rampant. Some said neo Nazi stole the body 534 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 2: and desecrated it as revenge for Chaplain, mocking Hitler and 535 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 2: the Great Dictator. The psychic in Portland, however, had a 536 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:44,880 Speaker 2: different vision. Hers involved three grave robbers, two men and 537 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 2: a woman, all Germans, and her vision they stole the 538 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 2: body because they hated Americans, but like the assassins in 539 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 2: the League of Blood, they failed to notice that Chaplain 540 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 2: was British. According to the psychic, they had the body 541 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 2: enduring Germany and had no intention of asking for a ransom, 542 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,240 Speaker 2: and the FBI agents in Boston passed the psychics tip 543 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 2: up the chain of command all the way to FBI 544 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 2: Director William Hedgecock Webster, who relayed the information to authorities 545 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 2: and bond The Swiss authorities thanked Webster, but informed him 546 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:18,120 Speaker 2: that the body snatchers had already phoned Una Chaplain with 547 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,640 Speaker 2: the ransom demands to the tune of six hundred thousand dollars. 548 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 2: Una refused, Charlie would have found their demands ridiculous and 549 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 2: there was no way she was going to pay them. 550 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,440 Speaker 2: The calls kept coming. The police tapped UNA's phone and 551 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 2: stationed officers to stake out two hundred payphones in the area. 552 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,560 Speaker 2: Five weeks after the body disappeared, they caught a man 553 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,560 Speaker 2: phoning in another desperate demand for cash from Chaplain's widow. 554 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 2: Roman Vardas, a twenty four year old Polish refugee, heard 555 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 2: all about Chaplain's death along with the rest of the world. 556 00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 2: He also heard all about Chaplain's money, money that now 557 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,840 Speaker 2: belonged to his widow, that one hundred million dollar inheritance 558 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 2: more money than one person needed. Roman Vardes needed money. 559 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,280 Speaker 2: That led him to an idea. But now he was 560 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,400 Speaker 2: leading police to a body buried in a cornfield a 561 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:13,280 Speaker 2: mile from the Chaplain's home. He explained, they hadn't planned 562 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,200 Speaker 2: on stealing it, and they were going to stage a 563 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 2: grave robbery, digging up the coffin, reburying it deeper in 564 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 2: the grave, and covering it up. And after they got 565 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:23,319 Speaker 2: their money from Una, they'd revealed the Chaplain's body had 566 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,760 Speaker 2: been in the grave the whole time. But it rained 567 00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:27,640 Speaker 2: the knight of the crime, and the mud and the 568 00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:30,600 Speaker 2: grave turned to suit and a real grave robbery became 569 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:35,040 Speaker 2: easier than a fake one. Roman Vardes was sentenced to 570 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:38,320 Speaker 2: four and a half years hard labor. His partner, who'd 571 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 2: only driven the getaway hears and helped rebury the body, 572 00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:44,799 Speaker 2: was led off with the suspended sentence. Vardas wrote to 573 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 2: Una asking for forgiveness, which she gave him, and Charlie 574 00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 2: Chaplin's body, now sealed in concrete to prevent another theft, 575 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:56,239 Speaker 2: was put back in its original plot in Switzerland after 576 00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 2: one last adventure, an adventure that might have amused the 577 00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 2: Little Tramp and a dark final story that ought to 578 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 2: be in pictures. I'm Jake Brennan and this is Hollywood Land. 579 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:26,440 Speaker 2: Hollywood Land was created by Years Truly and is produced 580 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:30,320 Speaker 2: in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like Rate and Review 581 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:32,640 Speaker 2: Hollywood Land, wherever you get your podcasts, and get in 582 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 2: touch with us on social media at double Elvis. If 583 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:37,840 Speaker 2: you like Hollywood Land, check out my other show, the 584 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,920 Speaker 2: award winning Disgraceland, which looks at the world of music 585 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,480 Speaker 2: through the lens of true crime. Just search for Disgraceland 586 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 2: or wherever you get your podcasts. Good Double Lot