Day By Day: 1936

Monday, April 6th: Charlie and Co. return from Bali.

Aboard the steamer Van der Wyck, the group arrived in Surabaya in the morning. They spent a few hours shopping and then flew to Batavia at noon.

Below: Charlie and Paulette are welcomed after landing in Batavia.

That might be a rare sighting of valet Frank Yonemori at far left. I don't see Alta, perhaps she is taking the photos.

The following recollection is from a fellow passenger who sailed on the Van der Wyck with the Chaplin party:

I never heard Charlie Chaplin make one jest. His smile was charming, but rare, and he was very, very quiet; sometimes he looked almost sad," said Mrs. C. Stuart, who...traveled in the same ship from Bali to Sourabaya with the world-famed comedian and his fiancee, Miss Paulette Goddard, and her mother.

"He hated publicity," Mrs. Stuart continued "and his greatest, wish was to be left alone. No one spoke to him of his work or sought to make his friendship."

"He had a most delightful speaking voice," she added. 

"It was amazing to find how his name was commonly known by the natives of all the Islands; even the natives of Bali, where there is no picture show, knew of him, and when the ship stopped in various ports, children would come on board and give him flowers. He was always very friendly and kind to the children. His name has come to mean so much to the natives that even the snake charmers' dolls are all called 'Charlie Chaplin.'

"He was so retiring that, when a number of visitors were dining in the ship at Bali, he had his dinner served in his own cabin."

Mrs. Stuart said that Miss Goddard also had a most infectious smile. ("Sydney Morning Herald," June 8, 1936)

Charlie and his companions will spend the night in Batavia at the Hotel des Indes and then fly to Singapore the next morning. Stay tuned... Day By Day: 1936