It was also the first time Sir Charles had set foot on American soil in over 20 years. In 1952, after being wrongly accused of un-American activities, in a witch hunt, he left for a London premiere of "Limelight," a largely autobiographical film, and never returned.
Actually though, the morning after he left for London in 1952, then US Attorney General James P. McGranery declared he would be denied entry upon his return (on "moral" grounds). [Sound familiar, Messrs. Sessions, and Trump?] Subsequent independent reviews of the FBI files that were released in the 1980s -- clearly demonstrate the government had no real evidence to prevent Chaplin's re-entry.
In any event, I wanted to give this fine artist (and British knight) his due and proper. His return in 1972 -- during the Vietnam War protests -- earned him a 12 minute standing ovation from the Academy.
Any and all real patriots in America owe him a debt of gratitude, for both his film-making/social commentary -- and his solid refusal to be intimidated by J. Edgar Hoover -- his chief detractor.
Now you know. And yes -- his story rings a relevant bell on this morning, as 45 threatens the DACA kids anew. . . disgusting.
[And now. . . go Villanova!]
नमस्ते
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