Day By Day: 1936

Tuesday, April 7th: Return to Singapore

"Apart from being bitten by two or three mosquitos I got through Bali safely," said Chaplin after he arrived by K.N.I.L.M. plane from Batavia. He recalled with a smile how almost exactly 4 years ago he was rushed to the Singapore General Hospital in an ambulance after his first visit to Bali, where he contracted dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness.

Interviewed by the Singapore Free Press, he was asked again regarding his marriage plans. He replied: "There is no news to seek in that direction, I am afraid. I did not start this marriage story; it was made up by the press."

Chaplin was also informed that Mussolini had partially banned his new film, Modern Times, in Italy--ordering large sections of it to be cut. He remembered that Hitler had completely banned the film in Germany. "I am sure the dictators are thoroughly wrong," he said. "If they believe my picture is Communist propaganda, I can only say it is absolutely untrue. Our only purpose was to amuse and it is just my character in the circumstances of 1936. It is certainly a blunder, because as a film star I have no political aims. The film was shown throughout America  and they did not find it was propaganda."

From the airport, Charlie, Paulette, Alta, and Frank were driven to the Adelphi Hotel, where they will stay for the next three days. They will leave for Saigon on the 10th.

(Source: Singapore Free Press, April 8th, 1936)

I'm following one year of Charlie's life. Catch up on the first four months here: Day By Day: 1936