


After World War Two, Chaplin’s popularity waned because of his political beliefs and a series of scandals and because of what many saw as pro-communist sentiments, Chaplin was essentially exiled from the United States after 1952. He only directed two more movies after his exile and neither of them were as well-received as his previous work. Years later, after the political landscape changed a bit, Chaplin’s films were re-examined and his later works especially gained a renewed appreciation. In 1972 Chaplin was allowed to return to the U.S in order to receive an honorary award at the Oscars where he was greeted with the longest standing ovation in Oscar history.

Through his iconic Tramp character, Chaplin became one of the richest and most famous people in the world and it’s often said that at one time, Chaplin’s Tramp was the most famous image in the world. Chaplin was a supremely versatile artist who wrote, directed, produced, edited, scored, and starred in most of his films. A notorious perfectionist, Chaplin often spent years working on his films in an era where many directors turned out multiple movies a year.

By my reckoning, Chaplin made eight indisputable masterpieces, out of his eleven total, and many of them are often ranked among the greatest movies of all time. He was one of the few silent performers who was able to switch to sound without losing any effectiveness whatsoever and his films have already lasted nearly 100 years without showing any signs of growing old or stale.


This article was first posted on June 19, 2013