April 1972. Charlie Chaplin, the most famous star of silent film, has returned to America after 22 years. He has lived in Switzerland for two decades after leaving the United States.
The huge house of Charlie Chaplin in Geneva is now a museum. Garden around the house. Lake Geneva can be seen in the distance.
A son of Charlie Chaplin was touring the house. His name is Eugene Chaplin. He was born in Switzerland. Mother's name is Una. I am the fifth of the parents' eight children.
Eugene says, "Our life in this house was like a happy bubble. Very nice house. No problem anywhere. Absolutely ideal life. No outside problem would even touch our life." The chaplain lived in this house until his death on Christmas Day, 1977.
Speaking of the last days of his life, Eugene said, "Dad didn't make a lot of pictures at the end. But he was very happy. He used to go around the areaHe got the kind of normal life he wanted in Switzerland. "
But was their life normal as children of Charlie Chaplin? According to Eugene, their mother was the head of the family. He was in charge of everything in the house. When his father was working, he would close all the doors. Didn't like any kind of noise. There were strict rules at home.
"At night when we would sit down to eat together. If we wanted to get up from the dining table we had to get permission. Dad was very strict about our education."
"He wanted us to do well in our studies. Learn manners. He often told me, 'You can do whatever you want in life. But remember, you can do whatever you want.'
Eugene Chaplin says the emphasis on etiquette and education came from the experience of his father's childhood poverty and hard life in London. When Charlie Chaplin was just 14, his mother was sent to a madhouse. And from a young age he had to earn money by working in music halls.
Charlie Chaplin immigrated to America at the age of nineteen. That was the beginning of the world-famous fame he gained in his later life. There was an era of select films in America and Hollywood. Charlie Chaplin was very good at making jokes. The character of a vagabond with a bowler hat, loose pants and a cane on his head, known as Little Trump, gained worldwide fame in a very short time.
During his stay in the United States, Charlie Chaplin made more than 60 photographs. He used to make screenplays for those films. He was the main actor. He also directed the pictures. In the end, his company also did the work of distributing the pictures. The huge amount of money he earned from these films gave his creativity huge freedom. Hollywood gave him a unique position.
But at the same time this fame surrounded his personal life in various scandals. Because of Charlie Chaplin's leftist thinking, some of the most powerful people in the United States at the time became his enemies. Charlie Chaplin, like many Hollywood actors, film directors and writers at the time, was summoned by the Congressional Committee to appear before other non-American activists.
He has always denied that he is a communist. But by 1950, rumors and scandals were rife. Charlie Chaplin left the United States with his newlywed fourth wife and moved to Europe.
Speaking at the time, Eugene Chapman said, "My mother was 18 at the time of the marriage and my father was 54. People didn't like the marriage very well. A telegram came to him while he was on his way to Europe by shipHe was informed that his US visa would not be renewed.
"If he wants to re-enter the United States, he has to appear before a committee on ethics. When he heard that, he said he would not appearThen he wants to move to Switzerland. He was deeply hurt in that incident. He was not a communist. But his reputation and humanitarian outlook have not been well received by many. "
For the next 20 years, Charlie Chaplin lived in a huge 35-acre house in Switzerland. The scholars of the film world used to visit him regularly. Although they do not go to the United States, they travel to many countries in the world.
It was at this time that Chaplin began writing autobiographies and began editing his old photographs. No matter how strict the rules were at home, Charlie Chaplin was very funny at the same time, says his son Eugene Chaplin.
From the seventies onwards, the political climate in America began to change. Charlie Chaplin was awarded the Oscar in recognition of his outstanding contribution to American cinema. And was invited to visit the United States. He had a bad experience in the United States. So he was silent about going back.
But in the end, Charlie Chaplin agreed with his wife and landed at the New York airport. That was in April 1972. He was then 63 years old. Her hair is all white. Two decades later, Chaplin set foot on U.S. soil.
In the days that followed, he traveled to various cities. Met many old friends. At the Oscars where he received the award, the guests stood and clapped in homage to the chaplain. But by then Charlie Chaplin's body was broken. There were various ailments.
Charlie Chaplin breathed his last at his home in Switzerland on Christmas Day 198, five years after his visit to the United States.
Following in his father's footsteps, Eugene Chaplin has chosen drama, stage management and music as his profession. He now lives in a secluded village near his ancestral home in Switzerland.
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Charlie Chaplin, the most famous star of silent film, has returned to America after 22 years. He has lived in Switzerland for two decades after leaving the United States.