Charlie Chaplin the" Leftist"

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin epitomises the phrase ”Legends die but his craft is eternal”,he was true celluloid genius, but his off-screen saga is still hounded in mystery. Chaplin had troubelled childhood, it was poverty prone and he shared a complex relation with his parents. Hannah( mother) had mental history ,was in and out of asylum ,Chaplin.Sr(father)had abandoned his family when Charlie was just two years ,but both were talented vuadellic art performers ,so the inspiration for Chaplin in the gene pool.

The early 1900 marked the emergence of Chaplin ,he scripted on screen character’s par excellence .Brilliance in his craft and eye for details produced magic on screen(The famous ‘tramp’ character was born).Till the 1930’s he was respected figure and was literally the financial powerhouse of motion picture, that was when his leftist philosophy surfaced.

The 1930 era was clouded with cold war (aftermath of World war 2) the anti communist hysteria was on rage and Chaplin’s work started reflecting his leftist inclination. Chaplins movies “Modern times” was satirical on the dismal condition of the poor which created unpleasant waves in the political circle. Chaplin’s next attempt “the Great dictator” questioned the blind following of motherlands nationalism ,this was enough to put Chaplin on the wrong side and his public speech of formation of second European front worsened his cause and image in the political circle. Now it was a chief concern of Congressmen to curb his communist ideology depicted by his work.
In this era of McCarthyism, Chaplin was accused of "un-American activities" and as a suspected communist . J. Edgar Hoover, instructed the FBI to keep close eye on Chaplin’s movement. The FBI pressure grew on Chaplin ,Hoover ,revoked Chaplin's re-entry permit, exiling Chaplin,he later settled in Vevey ,Switzerland where he died in 1977.Chaplin returned only twice to U.S.A after his exile and in one such return was awarded the honorary Oscar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Pl-qvA1X8

The leftist Chaplin was reduced to mere tramp in the American drama of political intolerance