CHARLIE CHAPLIN VS. AMERICA

A history of the ideological, cultural, and personal campaign against the motion picture industry's most independent and incandescent light of the 20th century.

Eyman, author of biographies of Cary Grant, John Wayne, John Ford, and other major names in film history, presents a beautifully composed and unique look at how Chaplin was characterized as an immoral sexual deviant and Soviet-sympathizing subversive. The author vividly documents the federal government's relentless pursuit of Chaplin, particularly the notorious House Un-American Affairs Committee and J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, whose file on Chaplin grew to 1,900 pages, many of which were leaked to the artist's most mendacious and vociferous antagonists in the press. Eyman also showcases his keen knowledge of filmmaking by dissecting and analyzing Chaplin's work, particularly focusing on specific elements of his most socially significant productions: the darker, farcical aspects of capitalism in Modern Times; the anti-Nazi sendup of Hitler in The Great Dictator, which found him besieged by the then-isolationist U.S. government, the British government, and the Nazis themselves; and the audience-disappointing Monsieur Verdoux, the idea for which Chaplin purchased from Orson Welles. Eyman's insightful, articulate approach illuminates the fruits of his lifelong research, whether he is discussing Chaplin's grilling during a paternity suit in which he was wrongfully convicted (which gave aid and comfort to his enemies); his hands-on directing and the graceful athleticism of his acting; or the consistency of his somewhat naïve political views amid the tectonic shifts in American political sentiment following World War II. While Eyman clearly admires Chaplin, he does not descend into idolatry. The author starkly portrays Chaplin's personal shortcomings and idiosyncrasies as well as his winning, losing, and recapturing of his audience. Eyman also shows his happiness and domestic tranquility in his marriage to Oona O'Neill, whom he wed when he was 54 and she 18, a situation that established another launching pad for public outrage.

A brilliant must-read about the epic and turbulent life and times of a cinematic titan.