Wagner was the editor of
Script Magazine, a
New Yorker-style publication out of Los Angeles, which Charlie contributed to on a number of occasions. He served as ghostwriter for Chaplin as well as press representative. He also made a brief appearance in the dance hall sequence of
A Dog's Life (1918). It was most likely through Wagner that Charlie met two other intellectuals who helped shape his political viewpoint: Upton Sinclair and Max Eastman.
Didn't Charlie either support (monetarily) or speak for Upton Sinclair when he was running for office at one point in the 30's? And if book memory serves - was this one of the reasons that he was pilloried for political beliefs? One of the many. I read "The Jungle" in high school, and if that book doesn't turn you vegetarian for at least a week...you were only skimming the book.
ReplyDeleteYes, he did speak for Upton Sinclair. Charlie was already on the FBI radar by that time, so I'm sure it didn't help matters.
ReplyDeleteI've never read "The Jungle" but I read a similar book about 13 years ago and I've been a vegetarian ever since.
According to Duncan, and I suppose to the daily production reports, in A DOG'S LIFE, Rob Wagner is the inebriate rich man in tuxedo, attacked by the 2 thieves in a street, in a scene shot on March,18 1918. If it is really him, I don't understand why Wagner had only been mentioned so far simply as an extra in the dance hall scenes.
ReplyDeleteD.
That man is definitely Wagner. Not sure why this scene is never mentioned since he is more recognizable. I don't even know where he is in the dance hall scenes.
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