Charlie Chaplin, the great comedian who knew how to make the whole world laugh to tears, was a completely non-comic character in life. In Hollywood, he was firmly entrenched in the glory of a heartthrob and a ladies' man. Indeed, in Chaplin's life there were countless women and several marriages, but he met his happiness only when he was 54 years old ...
From dirt to Kings
The life story of Charlie Chaplin resembles a fairy tale: he escaped from horrendous poverty and achieved worldwide recognition. True, unlike Cinderella, Chaplin did not have a fairy godmother, he had to achieve everything himself. Charlie was born in England to a variety show starlet and a mediocre artist. His mother, who lost her voice early, was forced to leave the theater and start earning a living by sewing, her father left the family when little Charlie was one year old. Charlie's mother, as best she could, tried to provide for her two sons, she could not count on her father's help: the drunkard could not even pay the required alimony. When Charlie was 12 years old, his mother became seriously ill, she was placed in a psychiatric hospital. In order not to die of hunger, Charlie and his older brother left school and went to work.
What kind of work Chaplin did not undertake to somehow make ends meet: he sold newspapers, made toys, worked in a printing house, a glass-blowing workshop, a doctor's office. And all this time the boy dreamed of the theater. Once, plucking up courage, Charlie turned to a theater agency and offered his candidacy for any role in any theater. And he got a place in a second-rate theater troupe, with which he traveled all over England.
For the first time, Charlie's comedic talent was noticed while touring America. Then the company "Keystone" invited him to act in comedies for one hundred and fifty dollars a week. For beginner and no one famous actor it was a fantastic amount. Without delay, Chaplin agreed. Films with his participation had big success, but Chaplin was hard to find mutual language with the directors: he had his own vision of what to shoot and how to play. Charlie decided to make films based on his own scripts. And I didn't guess. The films created by Chaplin brought him millions of fees and gave him the fame of the greatest comedian in the history of cinema.
Under 16 and under...
In HIS autobiography, the artist did not mention his first marriage. Nevertheless, the fact is obvious: Charlie Chaplin got married when he was 16 years old, and his bride even less. The young people broke up very soon, and their son Sydney became the only reminder of past love. After Charlie's first failed marriage for a long time avoided Serious relationships, preferring them to non-binding relationships with girls of easy virtue.
In his memoirs, the actor wrote: “In 1914, I was barely twenty-five years old, I was in the prime of my youth, in love with my work, and not only because it brought me success. It had a special charm: the opportunity to meet with all the famous movie stars ... And here it is amazing beautiful girl, Peggy Piers, with a delicately shaped face, a beautiful white neck and a charming figure, made my heart flutter. As soon as we saw each other - and we both ignited. The feeling was mutual, and my soul sang. Each of our meetings was full of declarations of love, and each of our meetings was full of struggle. Yes, Peggy loved me, but I couldn't get her. She was firm, and in the end I despaired and retreated. I had no intention of getting married then. I too valued freedom, which promised me extraordinary adventures. Not a single woman could compare with the vague image that lived in my soul.
But such a position of Chaplin did not stop women, he was young, rich, good-looking. Naturally, many fought for his attention. One of the comedian's mistresses described him like this: "Ideally built, always dressed with particular scrupulousness, with snow-white teeth and ivory skin, he seemed so clean and sparkling, like a pearl just taken out of the ocean waters ..." And Charlie, in turn, he loved women and could not and did not want to refuse charms: “Writing scripts, acting on my own and directing films required incredible efforts, an exhausting expenditure of nervous energy. I tried not to let novels get in the way of my work. And when passion nevertheless broke through the barriers, everything usually came out not thank God - either too much or not enough. But work has always been the most important thing for me.”
Such a "shortage" was Chaplin's second marriage to the ballerina Mildred Harris. Charlie was 28, and Mildred was only ... 14 years old, she was pretty, but Chaplin seemed stupid. Nevertheless, he began to court the girl, and very soon they got married. Moreover, on the part of the comedian, there was no particular zeal in this marriage. Rather, Mildred's worried mother insisted on the ceremony. “The ceremony was terribly simple and business-like… My heart was vague. I felt that I was entangled in a network of stupid accidents, that all this was meaningless and unnecessary, and our union lacked a solid foundation ... I was not in love, but now that I got married, I wanted me to love my wife and that our marriage would be happy. Chaplin's hopes were not destined to come true. Mildred became pregnant and gave birth to a child who lived only three days. Chaplin became interested in creativity and very quickly lost interest in his young wife. In three years life together They've divorced.
After that, the actor lived as a bachelor for 4 years until he met actress Lita Grey. They met on film set another Chaplin film Golden fever". At that time, Lita was ... 12 years old, and nothing but paternal care was included in the initial plans of the comedian. But Lita grew up before his eyes, became prettier, and Chaplin could not restrain his growing, by no means paternal attraction. They got married when Chaplin was 35, and Lita was 15 years old, while the girl was pregnant. They secretly got married in Mexico, fleeing from the ubiquitous press, eager for scandals. For Chaplin, the fame of a lover of young girls was firmly entrenched.
Lita gave birth to the actor two sons, and two years later filed for divorce. Her 42-page statement to the court was sold on the streets by enterprising newspapermen as a sensational editorial. Lita accused her husband of cruelty, immorality, infidelity: for several years of marriage he had five mistresses, he repeatedly threatened her with a loaded gun and more than once offered to have group sex. The scandalous divorce proceedings cost Chaplin 1 million 125 thousand dollars in alimony, another million went to legal costs. The actor himself, unlike his wife, was not so verbose in the comments: “I will not touch on the details of this marriage - we have two adult sons, whom I love very much. My wife and I lived for two years, but nothing happened; both have only a feeling of bitterness. After the divorce, Chaplin had a breakdown, and spent some time in a clinic for the nervously ill.
After recovering from stress, Charlie shoots another masterpiece - the film "Lights big city". With the picture, he goes to Europe, and not only for fame and box office: “I had a secret hope that I would meet a person in Europe who could somehow direct my life. But nothing happened. Of all the women I met there, very few would have been able to do it, and those few did not need me.
Back in Hollywood, Chaplin continues his search for happiness. Among the women he conquered famous actresses of that time Mabel Norman, Edna Purviance, Pola Negri, Marion Davis, Peggy Hopkins Joyce. He is proud of his fame as a don Juan and heartthrob and even calls himself "the eighth wonder of the world", but at the same time he does not lose hope of meeting the one with whom he will remain forever. In the actress Pollet Godard, he saw such a woman, but their marriage did not last long. However, Pollet was really the only one. The only one with whom Chaplin maintained friendly relations after the divorce.
Beam of light in the dark realm
These are troubled times in Europe. Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, Roosevelt delayed the opening of a second front, and Chaplin spoke in support of Russia. Perhaps it was after this that his troubles began. Hollywood began to treat the actor with great suspicion. Chaplin was recorded as a champion of communism. Among other things, Charlie met another woman, relations with which only added fuel to the fire. Acquaintance with aspiring actress Joan Berry did not bode well. Chaplin immediately liked the girl, they began to meet often, and he even signed a contract with Joan for a role in his new film. After that, the problems began: the girl seemed to have broken the chain. She came to Chaplin late at night, drunk, threw tantrums, broke windows, he called the police more than once to calm down the raging actress. Chaplin begged her to turn down the role, but Joan was adamant. And at this difficult moment for the actor, a ray of sun dawned on the horizon. Chaplin was advised to try Una O'Neil, the daughter of a famous playwright, for the role.
Exhausted by Joan's antics, Charlie had no hope of success. However, as soon as he looked at Una, Chaplin realized that this was fate: “She smiled, and my gloomy premonitions were immediately dispelled. I was captivated by her radiant charm and some special charm inherent in her alone ... The more I got to know Una, the more I was amazed by her sense of humor and tolerance - she always respected other people's opinions. I fell in love with her for this, and for much more.
Una reciprocated Chaplin's feelings. The actor was finally happy, but the idyll did not last long. Joan Berry has announced that she is pregnant by the comedian. Press attacks on Chaplin resumed. The lovers decided to get married immediately, they were not embarrassed by the colossal age difference (Chaplin was 54 years old, Una was not even 18). They got married in secret. But Honeymoon spoiled by a sudden lawsuit: Joan demanded alimony. And, despite the fact that DNA analysis established that Chaplin was not the father of the child, the court ordered him ... to pay the mother the necessary allowance!
Chaplin understood - Hollywood turned away from him forever. He made several more films, but their success did not bother the comedian. He made the decision to leave the US. The ship had not yet managed to leave the port waters, as Chaplin was brought a telegram that from now on access to the States was closed to him. Chaplin was not upset, the events last days prepared him for this blow. Together with his young wife, the actor settled in Switzerland and never thought about returning to America. He got what he was looking for. From now on, life has centered around Una - his largest and, perhaps, the only love. She bore him five daughters and three sons. Una adored her husband and considered their marriage perfect: "He helped me grow up, I helped him stay young." Great comedian dies at 88 faithful wife survived Chaplin by 14 years ...
We continue to talk about cinema. Start here " "
Today we are discussing Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, 1931.
Who will guess what is shown in the picture and what does this subject have to do with Charlie Chaplin?
This is a slapstick - a cracker to imitate the sound of a slap (from English words slap "slap" + stick "bar, stick"). It was first used in Italian comedy del arte, and later both the term and the technique itself were transferred to the cinema. Charlie Chaplin started out as the King of Slapsticks - films with fights, falls, water douses and goggles. If interested, see how it was monstrously.
But Chaplin became great because he was able to go beyond his genre. This is a perfect example of a developing director. Almost as bright as Nikita Mikhalkov - a perfect example of a degrading director. Chaplin added sadness, compassion, humanity and hope to classic comedy. The result is a funny melodrama.
By the way, one of the clearest proofs of moral progress is also the change in the norms of the ridiculous that has occurred over the past hundred years. Today, almost no one laughs at an old woman slipping or at a cake thrown in a person's face. And in another hundred years, people will no longer understand the delights of boxing or the game Angry Birds- wait, you mean smart cultured people can come to watch how one person hits another in the face with all his might and applauds this? And jump with delight when the beaten loses consciousness and falls to the floor? Or that children can take a warm living creature - a small bird and smash it against the wall in order to bring down the house in which the green pig lives? And they will rejoice in this double murder??? Stop it, I will never believe in such cruelty of people. And it will be so. I promise you. Remember my words in a hundred years.
I don't really like the translation of the title as "City Lights". I would replace the word "lights" with "light". The most accurate poster is the third one. She conveys the mood. A wonderful ideal, for the sake of which a person does the impossible. Chaplin filmed this film during the Great Depression. This film returned Hope to desperate people.
By the way, Chaplin himself managed to sell all his shares in 1928 before the Great Depression, based on unemployment data.
Kurt Vonnegut had a great idea - to depict the plot of the film graphically. It becomes obvious that in its structure the film "Pretty Woman" is no different from "Cinderella", and 80% of all American cinema is described simple graph"A man in a complete ass." Everything starts well, then everything gets very bad, and then there will definitely be a happy ending. Vladimir Propp would be happy.
Using this technique, the dramaturgy of "City Lights" can be graphically depicted as a sinusoid. whose amplitude is increasing all the time. Small troubles alternate with small joys, then the troubles increase - beating, prison, but the joys also reach their maximum - large sum money, recognition of a savior in a tramp, catharsis. The film ends at the maximum possible, so as not to go "in the red" again. None of the viewers would believe in the option “And they lived happily ever after and died on the same day”.
The whole plot of the film rests on a mistake - mistaking one person for another. Chaplin decides to squeeze the maximum out of this technique. Look how many situations there are in the film when one object is mistaken for another based on its external similarity.
Confetti is like spaghetti and a piece of cheese is like soap. It's so funny - to eat soap and let bubble. Chaplin's hero takes a bald head for dessert, and the Heroine confuses one thread with another and unwinds a vest instead of yarn. And then Chaplin himself will be mistaken for a robber.
Did you notice that most of the gags in the movie are repeated twice? Twice the Tramp puts his torn pants on the sword of the hero of the "Peace and Prosperity" monument. Twice they fall into the water. The joke with the unlit cigar is repeated twice, and several times Chaplin hides behind the referee. Interestingly, Chaplin's favorite sport was boxing, and his favorite dance was tango. And in this film, he crossed the fight in the ring with tango. Why Chaplin repeats his jokes, I don't know. The duration of the footage exceeded the duration of the film by 150 times.
The musical theme of the film is the song of the famous Spanish composer and pianist José Padilla Sanchez La Violeta» (Flower girl). In 1934, Chaplin would lose him a lawsuit in Paris and pay a penalty for using this melody without paying for it. And the melody is great. It was then used in the films All Night Long (1981) with Barbra Streisand, Scent of a Woman (1992) with Al Pacino and In the Mood for Love (2000) by Wong Kar-wai
The film was filmed intermittently for three years and its budget exceeded $1,500,000. Chaplin was very excited before the launch of the picture - at that time, sound films had already appeared and the silent comedy looked a little archaic. He organized a closed anonymous screening - the public met the film ambiguously. Then Chaplin spent a lot of money - $ 60,000 to advertise the film, and invited Einstein himself to the premiere. This time, the audience was delighted. The film grossed $5,000,000 at the box office. Bernard Shaw called Chaplin " the only genius who came out of the film industry." Today, the film is ranked #1 on the American Film Institute's list of the top 10 romantic comedies.
The image of a little tramp (Tramp) - here a completely unexpected witty pun with a president named Trump arises, but he will not be - then dozens of artists used it - from Raj Kapoor and Pencil to Alexander Kalyagin and Woody Allen. Chaplin himself considered his "Tramp" so successful that he used it in 70 films for 26 years. To all remarks that he was unoriginal, Chaplin replied: "It is your claims that are unoriginal." Interestingly, Charlie Chaplin never managed to win an Oscar in the acting category. But he will receive an Oscar "for his invaluable contribution to the fact that in this century cinema has become an art"
In his autobiography, Chaplin formulated 12 truths, the knowledge of which will make you a happy person:
If you didn’t laugh today, consider that the day is lost.
Everything in the world is impermanent - especially troubles.
Life seems tragic only when viewed from too close a distance. Step back and enjoy.
We think too much and feel too little.
To learn how to really laugh, learn to play with what hurts you.
Don't get used to luxury. It is sad.
Failure means absolutely nothing. It takes a very brave person to fail miserably.
Only clowns are truly happy.
Beauty is something that does not need to be explained. She is always visible.
Sometimes you have to do the wrong things in right time and right things into wrong.
Don't give in to despair. This is a drug that does the most terrible thing to a person - it makes a person indifferent.
Only the crazy can survive this crazy world. Don't be ashamed of yourself.
Did you like City Lights and what do you think of it?
When I fell in love with myself, I realized that longing and suffering are only warning signs that I live against my own nature. Today I know what it is Honesty.
When I fell in love with myself, I realized how much you can offend a person by imposing on him the fulfillment of my desires, realizing that this is not the time for this and the person is not ready for this, even if this person is myself. Today I call it Respect.
When I fell in love with myself, I stopped wanting another life, and I was able to see that everything around me invites me to grow. Today I call it Maturity.
When I fell in love with myself, I realized that under any circumstances I am in right place V right time and everything happens at the right time. I can always be calm. Now I call it Confidence.
When I fell in love with myself, I stopped wasting my time and stopped dreaming about future grand projects. Today I do what makes me happy, what I like to do, what pleases my heart, and I do it at my own pace. Today I call it Simplicity.
When I fell in love with myself, I freed myself from everything that harms my health - food, people, things, situations. Anything that leads me astray. Today I call it self-love.
When I fell in love with myself, I stopped trying to be always right, and since then I've been wrong less often. Today I realized that this is modesty.
When I fell in love with myself, I stopped living in the past and worrying about the future. Today I live for today, in which everything happens. I call it Satisfaction.
As I began to love myself, I realized that my mind could disturb me and even make me sick. But when I was able to connect him to my heart, he immediately became my valuable ally. Today I call this connection Wisdom of the Heart.
We no longer need to be afraid of arguments, clashes, or any problems with ourselves and others. Even stars collide, and out of their collisions new worlds are born. Today I know that this is Life. most big mistake in life people do when they're not trying to make a living doing what they love best.
(Charlie Chaplin's 70th birthday speech)
11 weeks after the funeral of Charlie Chaplin, it became known that the coffin with the body of an outstanding comedian was stolen. It soon became clear that the remains of a silent film star had been stolen for ransom. An unknown person demanded 480 thousand dollars from the actor's widow by phone. To the surprise of the robbers, Una Chaplin categorically refused to pay, saying: “My husband lives in heaven and in my heart. And what fell into your hands is not interesting to me.
Two
This girl won the hearts of many men. A breathtaking cocktail of beauty, gentle charm, excellent education, acting talent was thrown at her feet. the best representatives American culture last century.
Una O'Neill was born on May 13, 1926 in Bermuda. Her mother Agnes Boulton famous journalist, father - a brilliant American playwright Eugene O'Neill. He received four Pulitzer and one Nobel Prize, but he led a very hectic lifestyle. He drank so much that he always teetered on the brink of alcoholism, got married and divorced many times. Not surprisingly, after a few years, Eugene left the family. Agnes made every effort to ensure that the departure of her father did not become a tragedy for her daughter. The grown-up Una studied at a prestigious school, where she received an excellent education and acquired influential friends, among whom were the later famous designer Gloria Vanderbilt and actress Carol Grace. The mother's efforts bore fruit: Una grew up independent and completely independent in everything related to her personal life and career.
Unlike Oona O'Neill's carefree childhood, Charlie Chaplin's was rather tragic.
His mother Hannah Hill was a variety theater actress. Father Charles Sr. was a rather talented actor and owner of a great baritone voice. But he drank too much, and the career did not work out. Soon Hanna Hill broke up with him. Together with his stepbrother Sydney and his mother, Charlie Jr. lived in an attic in one of the mansions of London's Kensington Road.
Charlie Chaplin recalled these years as the saddest in his life: “Mom more and more often ended up in a psychiatric hospital, my brother and I lived: either in a workhouse, or in my father’s family, or in an orphanage. I managed to work in a stationery store, in a printing house, I was a glass blower, a sawmill, but I constantly dreamed of becoming an actor.
From the age of fifteen, Charlie began to apply to theatrical agencies. When he was invited to the Carnot troupe, the young man's delight knew no bounds: "I became an actor!" Soon he became famous all over the country for his sparkling sketches and cheerful improvisations, for which the public simply adored him. But in England, Charlie Chaplin was not loved by critics and theatrical figures. Then Chaplin went to conquer America. Here, thanks to the cinema, the talent of a brilliant comedian almost instantly conquered the Americans, and then the whole world. And only the personal life of Charlie Chaplin did not bring him satisfaction.
Before meeting Una O'Neill, he had been in love many times and married three times. The first wife was the seventeen-year-old Mildred. Charlie called her too frivolous for serious marital relations. The next marriage to sixteen-year-old Lita Gray was even shorter, although the couple had two children. The third darling of Charlie Chaplin - Paulette Goddard - also did not bring him happiness, despite the fact that she was twenty years younger than him.
Love at first sight
When she first met Charlie Chaplin, Una O'Neill did not recognize him. However, few people recognized the cinematic comedian in life, because in reality he did not look like a cinematic himself. For example, everyone believed that his eyes were almost black. And in life, Charlie Chaplin's eyes were distinguished by heavenly blueness. This was the first trait that bribed the young Una.
Immediately after their meeting, she called a friend in delight: “Just saw Charlie Chaplin. He has amazing blue eyes!
Una and Charlie met to discuss the role of a girl in a film that Charlie Chaplin was going to shoot based on the play Ghost and Reality. The contract was signed, the rapprochement began. He was captivated by the discrepancy between youth and the mature character of the girl. “The more I got to know Una, the more I liked her sense of tolerance, humor, respect for other people's opinions.
I was afraid of our huge difference aged, but Una knew what she wanted and how we should be. Therefore, we decided to get married immediately after the filming of the film "Ghost and Reality" - wrote Charlie Chaplin.
Tests
Difficulties began as soon as the lovers announced their engagement. Una's father, Eugene O'Neill, was the first to announce his unwillingness to give his daughter into the hands of a man one year older than him.
But in response, he heard a firm "no", and after that he stopped all relations with his daughter for many years.
And Charlie was haunted by his former women. The actress Joan Berry, with whom Chaplin had had an affair before the appearance of Una, showed up again. The girl was pregnant, but Chaplin did not want to acknowledge his paternity. Berry went to court, and soon the actor received a lawsuit to acknowledge paternity.
But all this only spurred on a couple. They chose a quiet town near Santa Barbara and went to the city official for permission. When Una and Chaplin left the town hall, reporters drove into the courtyard, and a real chase began! “We raced through the quiet streets of Santa Barbara, turned into lanes, screeching brakes, the car sometimes skidded, but we still managed to break away from the chase, we left for the suburbs and quietly registered our marriage there,” recalled Charlie Chaplin.
The trial took place. And although Chaplin was threatened with 20 years in prison, he was acquitted on all counts. Una, who by this time was expecting their first child, fainted when she learned about it.
Life has just begun
With a young and beloved wife, Charlie Chaplin again felt the taste for life. “Charlie helped me grow up, and I helped him stay young,” Una admitted.
And it really was. Soon Una began to prepare for childbirth. And immediately after the birth of her daughter Geraldine, she confessed to her husband that she did not want to be an actress, but was going to devote herself entirely to the family. “I was very happy. Finally beside me real wife, not a woman who wanted to make a career, Chaplin wrote. —
True, I was sure that in the face of Una, cinema had lost its magnificent comedian with an excellent, subtle sense of humour. But I didn't want to share it with anyone."
Get out of America
When Chaplin began filming The Great Dictator, film officials warned him of potential trouble. Those Americans who supported Germany's war against Russia began to threaten Chaplin.
But he stubbornly continued to work on the film, intending to ridicule Hitler in the eyes of the whole world: “It was wild for me to listen to how the fascist thugs in the very heart of America - New York, appeal to passers-by to oppose Russia, which alone in the world found the strength to fight back against fascism.
As soon as America entered the war, Charlie began to speak passionately at rallies in support of the allies. And the American authorities staged a real "witch hunt", accusing the actor of sympathy for communism: they say that Chaplin does not want to take American citizenship.
A demonstration took place in front of the cinema where the film "Monsieur Virdu" was shown. People shouted: “Chaplin is a henchman of the Reds! Get out of America!"
The Chaplin family remained in America until it was completed. famous movie"Ramp Lights". After its release on screens around the world, they again started talking about the great talent of Charlie Chaplin. And only America was silent, the persecution continued. Then Charlie and Una decided to leave for Europe. But even the process of issuing travel documents was full of humiliation: they were charged with non-existent tax debts.
Family happiness
Even on the ship, Charlie Chaplin received a radiogram stating that he was denied entry to the United States until he answered the accusations of the Emigration Commission. After reading the radiogram, Chaplin decided to put an end to his relationship with America, where he lived for forty years. In support of her husband, Una Chaplin renounced her American citizenship.
Arriving in Europe, the Chaplins settled in Switzerland in the town of Vevey. They bought a house with thirty-seven acres and a garden with fruit trees. Una managed the household herself. And only in raising children she was helped by two nannies. She arranged their life in such a way that Charlie could freely engage in creativity.
He continued to write screenplays and compose film scores.
The Chaplins had four more children: daughters Jane and Annette Emily, sons Eugene and Christopher, who was born when Charlie Chaplin was 72 years old.
Chaplin wrote about how happy he was in his family life: “When I return home and hear the noisy fuss of the children, the crying of the baby, the laughter and running around of the elders, the exhorting voice of the wife, then I say to myself: thank God, I’m home again ...”
Charlie Chaplin died at the age of 88.
His beloved wife Una remained with him until the end of his days.
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Charlie Chaplin was one of the few public figures in the USA, who sincerely and actively supported the help of the USSR and campaigned for the opening of the Second Front during WWII. However, the FBI and the government did not appreciate his altruism. This once again made them suspicious world star in sympathy for communism. Calls to help the USSR became one of the reasons why Chaplin persecution began in the United States, which included trumped-up lawsuits, a black PR campaign in the media, etc., which eventually forced him to leave the country.
Here is how he describes one of the episodes of the campaign for the opening of the Second Front in his book "My biography":
The Russian War Relief Committee in San Francisco invited me to speak at a rally in place of the ill Joseph E. Davis, the former American ambassador to Russia. I agreed, although I was warned just a few hours. The rally was scheduled for another day, and I immediately boarded the evening train arriving in San Francisco at eight in the morning.
My whole day was already scheduled by the committee by the clock: here - breakfast, there - lunch - I literally did not have time to think about my speech. And I was supposed to be the main speaker. However, at dinner I drank a glass or two of champagne, which cheered me up.
The hall, which could accommodate ten thousand spectators, was overcrowded. American admirals and generals sat on the stage, headed by the mayor of the city of San Francisco, Rossi. The speeches were very restrained and evasive. The mayor said in part:
- We must reckon with the fact that the Russians are our allies.
He tried in every possible way to minimize the difficulties experienced by the Russians, avoided praising their valor and did not mention that they were fighting to the death, turning all the enemy’s fire on themselves and holding back the onslaught of two hundred Nazi divisions. "Our allies are nothing more than casual acquaintances" - this is how I felt about the Russians that evening.
The chairman of the committee asked me, if possible, to speak for at least an hour. I was taken aback. My eloquence lasted at most four minutes. But, having heard a lot of stupid, empty chatter, I was indignant. On a card with my name on it, which lay by my device at dinner, I jotted down the four points of my speech and paced backstage, waiting, waiting. Finally they called me.
I was in a tuxedo and black tie. There was applause. It allowed me to sort of collect my thoughts. When the noise died down, I uttered only one word: "Comrades!" and the hall burst into laughter. After waiting for the laughter to stop, I emphatically repeated: "That's exactly what I wanted to say - comrades!" And again laughter and applause. I continued:
- I hope that there are many Russians in this hall today, and knowing how your compatriots are fighting and dying at this moment, I consider it a high honor for myself to call you comrades.
An ovation began, many stood up.
And then, remembering the argument: “Let both of them bleed,” and getting excited, I wanted to express my indignation about this. But something stopped me.
- I'm not a communist, - I said, - I'm just a man and I think that I understand the reaction of any other person. Communists are people like us. If they lose an arm or a leg, they suffer just like us, and they die just like we do. The mother of a communist is the same woman as any mother. When she receives the tragic news of her son's death, she cries like other mothers cry. I don't need to be a communist to understand it. Just being human is enough. And these days very many Russian mothers are crying, and very many of their sons are dying...
I talked for forty minutes, every second not knowing what I would talk about next. I made my listeners laugh and applaud as I told them jokes about Roosevelt and my speech on the issue of the war loan in the First World War - everything worked out just right.
“Now there is this war going on,” I continued. - And I want to talk about helping the Russians in the war. - After a pause, I repeated: - About helping the Russians in the war. They can be helped with money, but they need something more than money. I was told that the Allies had two million soldiers languishing in the north of Ireland, while the Russians alone faced two hundred Nazi divisions.
There was a tense silence in the hall.
- But the Russians, - I emphasized, - are our allies, and they are fighting not only for their country, but also for ours. Americans, as far as I know them, do not like to be fought for by others. Stalin wants this, Roosevelt calls for this - let us also demand: immediately open a second front!
There was a wild noise that lasted seven minutes. I said out loud what the listeners themselves thought and wanted. They didn't let me talk anymore, they applauded, they stamped their feet. And as they stomped and shouted and threw their hats into the air, I began to wonder if I had gone too far, had I gone too far? But I immediately became angry with myself for such cowardice in the face of those thousands who were now fighting and dying at the front. And when the audience finally calmed down, I said:
- If I understand you correctly, each of you will not refuse to send a telegram to the president? Let's hope that tomorrow he will receive ten thousand demands for the opening of a second front!
After the rally, I felt some wariness and awkwardness in the air. Dadley Field Melon, John Garfield and I decided to have dinner together.
"And you're a brave man," Garfield said, hinting at my speech.
They said that he had more novels than roles. legendary actor He was married 4 times and left 11 children. But he was happy only with his last wife with whom he lived for 34 years.
He was always only interested in very young girls. In his book The Story of My Life, Chaplin explained this: over the years, he wrote, a woman firmly chooses a direction from which she cannot be led off; she is either a windy coquette, or a virtuous lady. And in a young girl, both of these amazing incarnations are combined! Well, how can you resist?
But with his last wife, he forgot that he had once been fickle, unfaithful, not missing a single skirt. In her he loved both maturity and a strong character, and gray hair.
He wrote: “When Una with amazing dignity walks ahead of me along the narrow sidewalk, I look at her graceful slim figure, on smoothly combed dark hair, in which silver threads are already gleaming, and I feel so much love and tenderness that tears come to my eyes.
When Una walks ahead of me on the narrow sidewalk with amazing dignity, I look at her graceful slender figure, at her smoothly combed dark hair, in which silver threads already gleam, and I feel so much love and tenderness that tears come to my eyes.
Glamor girl
Una O'Neill, daughter of American playwright, laureate nobel prize in the literature of Eugene O'Neill, at the age of 15 she was one of the most famous girls New York. Very beautiful, interesting, witty, caustic and a little awkward, she spent almost every night in the most fashionable club in the city "Stork". Young Salinger was madly in love with Una. Una flirted with him, and calmly left him when the writer was at the front. "If the moon is round and yellow, like a slice of lemon, then all life is a cocktail."
If the moon is round and yellow, like a slice of lemon, then all life is a cocktail.
There was a second World War. The Nazis marched across Europe. Una went to screen tests, danced and had fun at parties. Visitors to Stork each year chose "Glamour Girl", the most best girl club. Una made it to the final and her photo was published in the New York Post. The secular successes of the daughter of a serious, even gloomy playwright made a lot of noise. At a press conference, the owner of the club slipped Una a glass of milk so that the photographs of the young beauty would look more decent.
Eugene O'Neill was furious: "God, deliver me from my children!". The playwright called his daughter "a spoiled girl, lazy and empty-headed, who has not proven anything except that she can be more stupid than her peers." He wrote her a letter in which he predicted that she would "sink into the darkness of her stupid and mediocre life."
Una is a spoiled girl, lazy and empty-headed, who has proven nothing but that she can be dumber than her peers.
Here it is necessary to explain: Una's parents divorced when she was two years old. Children famous parents grew, not needed at all by anyone. They received an excellent education, but did not receive a crumb of love. From the first days of their lives, rich, interesting, famous people who were completely indifferent to them were next to them. From the age of 15, Una lived with a friend.
Such a childhood will not be in vain for the offspring of the great playwright, and later both Una's brothers will have huge problems: one with drugs, the other with alcohol. And both will die voluntarily: one will open the veins, the second will jump out of the window.
And Una simply did not have time to get on this path. In 1943, at the age of 17, she went to a screen test for Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin was immediately captivated by her amazing beauty. And Una first saw in him a father - a father, which, to be honest, she never had.
The difference in 36 years Chaplin was 36 years older than Una. “I had women whom I fit as fathers, but to be grandfathers ...”, - he was surprised at himself. Una's father, having learned about his daughter's engagement, disinherited her and stopped all relations - they never saw each other again, but Una's eldest son was named Eugene.
I had women whom I fit as fathers, but to become grandfathers!
The playwright believed that marriage was another crazy trick of his daughter. But it was "happily ever after, until death do us part." Una and Chaplin lived 35 wonderful years and gave birth to eight children. They had three sons, Eugene, Christopher and Michael, and daughters Josephine, Geraldine, Victoria, Joana, Anna-Emil. Last child was born when Chaplin was 72 years old.
Una threw acting career(although Chaplin claimed that in the person of her wife the world had lost an excellent comic actress). "Glamour Girl" will forever be in the past.
Enemy of the state
But serene life did not come immediately. The 50s were very difficult for Chaplin and Una. During the McCarthy years, Charlie was accused of anti-state activities in favor of the Communists. The yellow newspapers published libelous accusations against Chaplin, the FBI collected dirt on him. The bullying was hard to bear.
When Chaplin and his family traveled to England in 1952 for the world premiere of his film Limelights, he was banned from re-entering the United States. In those terrible days, Una was brave and true friend to her husband. She was not banned from entering the United States, so she went home, quickly collected all of Chaplin's assets and brought them to Switzerland, where the family decided to settle. After that, Una, the daughter of the great American playwright and one of the first American beauties, renounced her American citizenship.
Long happy life
In Switzerland, Charlie Chaplin with Una and children will settle in a fabulous beautiful house on the shore of the crystal lake. There they will live, not grieve, raise children. The era of silent cinema will end, and Chaplin will not be able to do anything outstanding in the sound film. Una will no longer break anyone's heart, will not become anyone's muse, no one will care about her brittle laughter and the look of a frightened doe. Huge world, which once lay at their feet, will shrink to a close family world.
But… but how happy they will be!
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