When Charlie Chaplin was cancelled

IN TODAY’S CULTUREFBI wars, Hollywood has a starring role. Films tend to trigger debates about America’s history and values. That has long been the case, as a new book, “Charlie Chaplin vs America”, shows. Chaplin, a British citizen, was harassed by the American government, culminating in the revocation of a re-entry permit in 1952. It is a sobering account of in action. Indeed, it makes some of the current spats seem toothless by comparison.“I don’t want to create revolution,” Chaplin said. “I just want to create a few more pictures.” But the , suspecting Chaplin of communist sympathies, started surveilling the film-maker in 1922. In a paranoid climate, many looked for evidence of Marxism. Those convinced Chaplin was “red” pointed to his screen persona, the Tramp, an embodiment of the . They perceived it, too, in “Modern Times” (1936), a dramatisation of workers’ plight due to unemployment and automation, and in (1940), which called out America’s isolationism.