The remarkable, 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 Two, 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 from a trip abroad,
he settled in Switzerland, and made his last two films in London
In Charlie Chaplin vs. America, bestselling author Scott Eyman
explores the life and times of the movie genius who brought us such
masterpieces as City Lights and Modern Times. This is a perceptive,
insightful portrait of Chaplin and of an America consumed by political
turmoil.
