My Autobiography

Chaplin is Chaplin. This is enough to make his autobiography interesting. It is his honesty and sensitivity and attempts to be in touch with himself at various points of his life that makes this book remarkable. And it is through sharing his inadequacies and traumas that the comic tramp makes me cry. This book is invaluable in getting an insight into early days of Hollywood. It also provides a great account of Charlie's life and struggles. So the learning is tremendous. However, the best part of the book is its humanness - fallible, confused, hesitant, and shy and yet successful, rich, adored, and mobbed by fans. What struck my heart is the loneliness in the midst of a celebrity status and Charlie's ability to get in touch with it and share it. What is also moving is his trauma during the McCarthy era and his eventual 'reverse migration' to Europe. Even JFK could not get him back.

While the movie Chaplin is very well done, no person can tell a story like they can tell there own. Based on this, I chose to read the book written by the cinematic legend himself. While there are some discrepencies between the book and movie, books have an ability to make details evident that movies can not make evident.The book spends a considerable amount of time in his early life. Chaplin struggled with a rarely present father and a mentally ill mother. It was through this poverty that he followed the chosen career path of his parents in the theatre. The theatre would would lead him to America where he would begin working in the new film industry. Through this industry he made classic films that continue to influence modern cinema despite their age. When Chaplin made a film, it had something to say. It was art that spoke to the human soul with humor, love, and hope. His films were not merely a way to make money.Aside from his work in films, Chaplin was a humanitarian. He supported America in times of war depite not being a citizen. Chaplin never forgot his roots, making him empathetic to the needs of the less fortunate. This trait led to the revoking of his citizenship when he spoke of openly of opening a second front in Russia during World War II. It was through this stance that he was labeled a "communist" and had his citizenship was revoked. In spite of these attacks led by J. Edgar Hoover, Chaplin rarely mentions Hoover in his book. Nor does he harbor ill will toward America. It is a travesty that this film legend and humanitarian was treated so poorly by the American government in his later years.The book ends shortly after Chaplin has settled in to his new life in Switzerland. With his new life, Chaplin has a positive outlook. One has to wonder what might have been if Chaplin finished his life in America. Surely he was capable of creating more great work. However, sometimes a man's greatest work and pleasure is his family.

GREAT, WONDERFUL, THE BEST. these are just a few of the words that could discribe this briliant book about the talented little tramp, Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin. He tells of his hardships as a child, and his stage debute at the age of five that changed his life, all the way to the first time he walked onto the keystone movie sets, with the creation of the little tramp. He goes on to tell us about all of his movies and all of the trouble making them. He talkes about the invasion of talking movies and the meeting and wedding of the love of his life to the day he died, Oona O'neil. He very gracfully talkes of his exil on the way to the london premier of "Limelight," and the buying of his new house in Switerland, Manoir de Ban. This was, is, and forever will be a great book for all ages to read.

I originally read this book back in the early 1970's when I was a teen-ager. Recently I found it at my Dad's house and had the great pleasure of re-reading it. As with any autobiography there is a certain amount of self-promotion and justification, however this book really keeps it to a minimum. The period covered is from birth until his expulsion from the United States, and gives great insight on the early years of Hollywood, including his formation of United Artists with Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. If you're a fan of "the Tramp" then I highly recommend this book. If you're not a fan but looking for a great true-to-life story, I would still recommend it as well.

While this is by no means a perfect book, it is still very enjoyable to read Chaplin's account of his life and times. Other works may portray him more accurately and with less bias, but they cannot offer the same personal touch that this book presents. For the most part, the book is a smooth read-even though Chaplin tends to leave out important points that are uncomfortable (but essential), creating a few strange transitions. Further, it appears that even the realm of non-fiction biography is not safe from fictional enhancements. Chaplin, being the tireless dramatist, invented at least one character in this book for fluency and apparently stretched a story here or there as well. Despite this, a fan of the great comedian must respect (or at least accept) the fact that this is how Charlie Chaplin wanted to be remembered.