Charlie Chaplin

New Zealand Listener, Volume 12, Issue 297, 2 March 1945, Page 5

Charlie Chaplin

news that came out of the U.S.A. in the past week had nothing directly to do with the war. This was the report from Washington that a measure had been introduced in the Senate directing the Attorney-General to determine whether Charlie Chaplin should be deported as "an undesirable alien." It was distressing because it was a reminder, of a rather spectacular kind, that democracies are not immune against stupidity and that witch-hunting and heretic-baiting are still popular pastimes among people with little minds. That the threat to Chaplin will almost certainly not be carried out does not alter the fact that it has been solemnly made in one of the two most august assemblies in the United States. In one sense, of course, the very suggestion that Chaplin should be turned out of doors by America is a fantastic joke -a joke from which only he could extract the fully irony and pathos, To say this is not in the least to justify Chaplin’s private life. Yet his public life has been such that surely much can be forgiven him: Not many men in this century have done more for their adopted countries than Chaplin has done for the U.S.A, Of the few real geniuses that the movies have yet produced he is still the greatest. He was the first of the big stars to stand up against Hitler when appeasement was still profitable in Hollywood. And to millions all over the world he has become the symbol of the little man who survives oppression. None of this, however, gives anybody cause to be self-righteous at America’s expense. We have recently seen something of the same sort happening in France and Italy, where ignorance, malice, and hysteria combined to bear false witness against Maurice Chevalier, Sacha Guitry, and Beniamino Gigli. War always produces an overcharged emotional atmosphere which makes some members of the pack more ready to lead the rest in harrying and pulling down any who show signs of running alone or whose coat is a different colour from the normal. That is why the others--the liberal, sensible people eyverywhere-should be on their guard against the temptation to join in this kind of hunt. most distressing item of