[117], In January 1918, Chaplin was visited by leading British singer and comedian Harry Lauder, and the two acted in a short film together. His first sound film was The Great Dictator (1940), which satirised Adolf Hitler. Charlie Chaplin: News Report of His Death - December 25, 1977 [92] At Essanay, writes film scholar Simon Louvish, Chaplin "found the themes and the settings that would define the Tramp's world". J. Edgar Hoover first requested that a Security Index Card be filed for Chaplin in September 1946, but the Los Angeles office was slow to react and only began active investigation the next spring. [508], Chaplin received three Academy Awards: an Honorary Award for "versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing, and producing The Circus" in 1929,[185] a second Honorary Award for "the incalculable effect he has had in making motion pictures the art form of this century" in 1972,[343] and a Best Score award in 1973 for Limelight (shared with Ray Rasch and Larry Russell). [24] Chaplin's father died two years later, at 38 years old, from cirrhosis of the liver. [378] Because he personally funded his films, Chaplin was at liberty to strive for this goal and shoot as many takes as he wished. [221], Following the release of Modern Times, Chaplin left with Goddard for a trip to the Far East. [289], Although Chaplin remained politically active in the years following the failure of Monsieur Verdoux,[af] his next film, about a forgotten music hall comedian and a young ballerina in Edwardian London, was devoid of political themes. [120], Mutual was patient with Chaplin's decreased rate of output, and the contract ended amicably. [409], Social commentary was a feature of Chaplin's films from early in his career, as he portrayed the underdog in a sympathetic light and highlighted the difficulties of the poor. Southwark Council ruled that it was necessary to send the children to a workhouse "owing to the absence of their father and the destitution and illness of their mother". He is the protagonist of Robert Coover's short story "Charlie in the House of Rue" (1980; reprinted in Coover's 1987 collection A Night at the Movies), and of Glen David Gold's Sunnyside (2009), a historical novel set in the First World War period. [312], Chaplin remained a controversial figure throughout the 1950s, especially after he was awarded the International Peace Prize by the communist-led World Peace Council, and after his meetings with Zhou Enlai and Nikita Khrushchev.
