World Tour Revisited: Epilogue

When Chaplin returned from his world tour on June 16th, 1932, "his head was brimming with ideas for the screen and a renewed compassion for mankind."¹ However, Hollywood had changed during his year and a half absence. Talking films had come to stay and Chaplin was "in no mood to take up battle"² with them.

Chaplin at the Brown Derby two days after his arrival back in Hollywood (June 18, 1932):
L-R: Ethel Barrymore, CC, Dorothy di Frasso, Eugene Palette, and Douglas Fairbanks.

Although he had several ideas for a new picture, he didn't begin work on them right away. One of his first priorities was to pen his travel memoir which was to be called "A Comedian Sees The World." So determined was Woman's Home Companion editor, Willa Roberts, to secure Chaplin's account of his world tour, she traveled all the way to Berlin in March 1931 to meet with him in person and seal the deal. Chaplin was offered $50,000 (or $1 per word) for his account. Biographer David Robinson noted that Chaplin was "more tempted by the challenge of writing than by the fee." This would be the first example of Charlie's own writing to appear in print, except for an economic policy statement he released to papers on June 27, 1933 (His first travel narrative, My Trip Abroad, had been written with the assistance of journalist Monta Bell in 1921).

May Reeves, Chaplin's lover and companion for most of the tour, recalled that he began writing the memoir during the summer of 1931 while they were in the south of France but made little progress. "He prepared to write his "Voyage Around The World' [sic] for Ladies Home Journal [sic], for which he was paid a dollar a word. He began well in the middle, but during the entire year we spent together he never progressed beyond these few phrases:

'I made the acquaintance of a young woman in Berlin
'Do you love me,' I asked.
'Love,' she replied. 'That's a big word, But I have so much sympathy for you!'³

Charlie began seriously working on the memoir in early 1932, while on the last leg of his trip, in Southeast Asia, with help from his half-brother, Sydney. He finished most of the project back in Hollywood, taking the rest of 1932 and the early part of 1933 to do so.

ACSTW⁴was published in five monthly installments in Woman's Home Companion beginning in September 1933.

Cover of the first installment of "A Comedian Sees The World,"
 Woman's Home Companion, September 1933

Chaplin retells the events of his world tour again thirty years later in My Autobiography. However there is a noticeable difference between the two. Chaplin historian Lisa Stein Haven explains:

This great disparity between the two versions of these tours supports an unstated promotional agenda for the travel narratives' version, one that seems to include a deliberate conflation of Chaplin's public and filmic personae...Chaplin's narratives rely on the audience's knowledge of the Little Tramp as traveling persona. Chaplin then exploits this characteristic of the Little Tramp by projecting a tourist persona in the narratives ["My Trip Abroad" & ACSTW] one that allows him to achieve a conflation with the Little Tramp persona that allows the books to succeed as promotional vehicles.⁵ 

This Little-Tramp-As-Tourist agenda is further promoted in the illustrations that accompany the series which depict both the real Chaplin and his screen image, the Little Tramp (above and below).

Pages from "A Comedian Sees The World," Woman's Home Companion, Dec. 1933 (left) and January 1934 (right). 

By the time Chaplin finished the world tour he was becoming more outspoken politically and his fame made his opinions newsworthy. "I was surprised to see how seriously my views were taken," he wrote, "Popularity had suddenly endowed my opinions with importance."⁶ By the mid-1930s, his political opinions "had become integral to his star image, and his films more didactic."⁷

There is one event on the world tour that David Robinson believes was the origin of Chaplin's next film. In an after-dinner speech at Lady Astor's Cliveden estate, early on the tour in February 1931, Chaplin "startled the guests" by launching into "a diatribe against complacent acceptance of the growth of the Machine Age." The guests "could hardly have known that they were witnesses to the genesis of Modern Times."⁸ These political assertions would be reinforced as the tour progressed through his meeting with Gandhi and witnessing the effects of the Depression on the countries he visited. By the time he returned home, these issues were heavy on his mind. One month after he finished writing "A Comedian Sees The World" in February 1933, Chaplin was ready to transform his observations and angst into comedy.

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¹Lisa Stein,"Chaplin Sees The World,"Modern Times DVD booklet, Criterion Collection, 2010
²David Robinson, Charlie Chaplin: His Life & Art, 1985
³May Reeves, The Intimate Charlie Chaplin,  2001. The woman Charlie describes here is probably the dancer La Jana whom he refers to only as "G" in ACSTW.
⁴ ACSTW = A Comedian Sees The World
⁵Lisa Stein, The Travel Narrative As Spin: Mitigating Charlie Chaplin's Public Persona in My Trip Abroad & A Comedian Sees The World, Ph.D dissertation, Ohio Univ., 2005
⁶Chaplin, ACSTW
⁷Lisa Stein, "Chaplin Sees The World"
⁸David Robinson, Charles Chaplin: His Life and Art

Other sources: 
Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964
Charles Maland, Chaplin & American Culture, 1989

World Tour Revisited: Charlie comes home, June 16th, 1932

Chaplin at the Southern Pacific Railroad station
in Los Angeles, June 16, 1932

The trail is nearly over and I am returning to Hollywood. Looking back on my holidays leaves me with an outstanding impression. Europe and the different countries I visited, embroiled in unrest, seem brewing a new epoch--theistic, sociological, and economical--unprecedented in the history of civilization. It animates me with a desire for accomplishment--not in the old way but in something new; perhaps another field of endeavor. ...

As I journey from Seattle to Hollywood. passing through the rich farmland of Washington, the dense pine forests of Oregon and on into the vineyards and orchards of California, it seems impossible to believe ten million people wanting when so much real wealth is evident. 

Nevertheless I am glad to be back in America. I'm glad to be home in Hollywood. Somehow I feel that in America lies the hope of the whole world. For whatever takes place in the transition of this epoch-making time, America will be equal to it.¹

Charlie was met at the train station by his old friend and manager, Alf Reeves. He was briefly interviewed by the press although he had more questions for the interviewers than they had for him. He wanted to know about conditions in the motion picture industry and about certain friends, pointing out that he had been away for a long time. "It was the first good rest in twenty years," Charlie told them, "but I still feel sorry for a goldfish, for that's about how much privacy I got. But everywhere I went they were marvelous to me."²

Like before he was asked about his next picture and if it would be a talkie. "My screen character is famous for pantomime so why should I talk?" Charlie replied. He was also eager to discuss his new economic plan that would establish an international currency to help pay off Germany's war reparation debt and restore financial normality. "On my travels I talked my idea over with renowned economists and none was able to find a flaw," he said somewhat boastfully. "I think it can be made practical. I am now preparing a paper on the subject which I will release in a few days.³

Chaplin's reported love affairs in Europe were described by him as "affairs of the newspapers." He was not engaged, he said.⁴

From the train station, Charlie went directly to his Beverly Hills home. "I stood in the center of the living room," he wrote. "It was late afternoon and a carpet of long shadows lay across the lawn and streaks of golden sunlight streaked across the room. How serene it all looked. I could have wept. I had been away eight [sic] months, yet I wondered whether I was happy to be back. I was confused and without plan, restless and conscious of an extreme loneliness." Chaplin went on to say that he had had in Europe a "vague hope of meeting someone who might orient my life. But nothing came of it. Of all the women I met, few fitted into that category--those that might have done were not interested. And now back in California I had returned to a graveyard." Chaplin wrote that instead of dining alone that night at his house, he took a lonely stroll down Hollywood Boulevard.⁵

Before Charlie left Hollywood in January 1931, he had been seeing quite a bit of Georgia Hale, his leading lady from The Gold Rush. In fact,  he had given her the run of his Summit Drive house, especially his tennis court, while he was away. According to Georgia, she never heard from Chaplin the whole time he was gone and read about his various love affairs in the newspapers.⁶ Her version of Charlie's first evening home is different than the one he presents in My Autobiography.

Much to her surprise, Charlie called the moment he got home. "Though he had not written me one word in one year, he greeted me as if he had been in close contact every day." Charlie had brought back two large suitcases filled with gifts for her. He tried to show them to her one by one but she wasn't interested. "So I didn't write you for a year. You'll forget all about it once you see the pretty things I got you," he told her. Georgia replied hysterically, "I don't want things...you haven't explained your silence...you haven't said one loving thing." "What is there to say?" Charlie responded coldly. Not only did Charlie refuse to explain his silence, but he cruelly began comparing "simple Georgia" to all the smart, worldly women he'd met on his tour. Hurt, Georgia had his chauffeur take her home. "We met for this one ugly encounter after one year apart," she wrote. She didn't see him again for ten years.⁷

Chaplin returned from his travels a changed man both personally and as a filmmaker. Shortly after his return he put pen to paper and began writing "A Comedian Sees The World," his second travel narrative but the first written without the help of a ghostwriter. I will elaborate more on these topics and the aftermath of Chaplin's tour in my next, and final, "World Tour Revisited" post (either by the end of the week or early next week).

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¹Charles Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World," Woman's Home Companion, January 1934
²Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1932
³ibid. Chaplin's economic plan was published in the press on June 27th, 1933
⁴ibid
⁵Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964
⁶While Chaplin was away, Georgia told Screenland magazine that she heard from him often. She was able to say where he had been and where he was going. It's possible that she may have fibbed to the reporter because she was embarrassed that she hadn't heard from him and the information about his travels had been gleaned from newspaper accounts she'd read.
⁷Georgia Hale, Charlie Chaplin: Intimate Close-ups, 1995

World Tour Revisited: Back in America, June 14th, 1932

Seattle at last! I am interviewed by the press. Everyone seems warm and friendly. Something has happened to America since I've been away. That youthful spirit born of prosperity and success has worn off and in its place there are a maturity and sobriety. ¹

Chaplin awoke aboard the Hikawa Maru in Seattle on the morning of June 14th. Wearing yet another double-breasted blue suit, a checkered tie, and his favorite button-up shoes, he "smiled and shook hands with immigration and  transportation officials--he'd kept them waiting almost two hours while he slept in." * He assured everyone that he was "terribly glad to be back in America." He added that besides rubbing shoulders with Gandhi, the Prince of Wales, and some "gorgeous European woman," he has been studying the state of the economy during his world tour. "I have a suggestion for the financiers of this country," he said. "Every fool, you know, has an idea. Mine is about international currency. I'm writing it now and I'm going to turn it over to them." However, perhaps more importantly, he was worried about the state of his own financial affairs. "The red side of my own ledger probably will give me spots before my eyes. You know, I've simply got to get to work and make some money for Charlie Chaplin, as well as worry about the world. They say I only work when I feel like it, but I certainly feel like it now," Charlie said, as he handed over a hundred-dollar check to his secretary Kono for their train tickets to Los Angeles.

"Get the best train, Kono," he said. "Let's be comfortable."²

Next Charlie was asked, as he was many times during his tour, "Will he make a talkie?"

"I can express more with a gesture than hundreds of words. A lot of actors talk too much. Maybe they want to prove they can. There are a hundred talkies to one silent picture. You have to distinguish yourself some way, you know."

He mentioned that he had been working out the plot for his new picture and writing some of his own music for it. He had not selected a leading lady but he saw "a couple of peaches" in Europe.

"Will you ever marry again, Charlie?"

"Well," he smiled, "I wouldn't get myself all dressed up and go out with that idea in mind. After all, there's no sense in being too deliberate about a thing...You can't tell what might happen. I'm glad I'm still young enough for these romantic rumors."³

Charlie is "interviewed by the press"

Charlie mentioned that the last time he was in Seattle, twenty years ago, he was doing a pantomime act ("A Night In An English Music Hall") five times a day at a theater (the Empress).

What was he going to do until his train left at noon?

"Well," Charlie said, "I think I'll take a drive around this lovely city of..." he hesitated & looked at Kono.

"Seattle," Kono said, "Lovely Seattle!"⁴

Charlie arrives back in Los Angeles on June 16th. Stay tuned for his homecoming...
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*Kono's recollection of events is slightly different than what is found in contemporary articles. According to him, Chaplin would not leave his cabin because he was in the throes of writing out his economic plan and insisted that Kono find him a stenographer. When Kono told him that the immigration officials were waiting to see him, Chaplin told him to have them come to him. The long-suffering Kono eventually persuaded an officer to come to his cabin after he convinced him that the man inside was Charlie Chaplin. Kono then went hunting for a stenographer--the "homeliest" one he could find. A few hours later, Kono returned to the cabin after visiting with friends (Kono lived & went to school in Seattle for several years) and basically stuffed the stenographer's pile of typed sheets in a briefcase and pushed Charlie off the boat and into a taxi so they could get to the train station in time. (Gerith Von Ulm, Charlie Chaplin: King of Tragedy, 1940)

¹Charles Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World," Woman's Home Companion, January 1934
²Seattle Times, June 14, 1932
³Bellingham Herald, June 14, 1932
⁴Seattle Times, June 14, 1932

World Tour Revisited: Charlie arrives in Vancouver, eh?

After a short stay at the William Head quarantine station near Victoria, the Hikawa Maru docked in Vancouver on the morning of June 13th, 1932. Sometime later, a weary Chaplin, who hadn't been to Vancouver since his vaudeville days, spoke to reporters in the smoking lounge of the ship. He had been unable to sleep the night before, finally going to bed around 6:00am to catch a few hours' rest. "There was too much excitement for me, I'm afraid, and I couldn't get a wink. People rushing about, anxious to catch a first glimpse of the British Columbia skyline."

More than anything, including his next picture which he insists will be silent, Charlie was anxious to discuss his economic theories. "I am reputedly a comedian, but after seeing financial conditions of the world I have decided I am as much an economist as financiers are comedians, if you know what I mean." He continued, "People everywhere want more material benefits and the privileges that go with wealth. Financiers will have to take less profit and they will have to get on a basis of larger volume of business and smaller return."

Chaplin said that depression "hangs like a pall of smoke over every country I visited. Wait, perhaps I shouldn't say every country. There was one place where the people, semi-civilized to our western understanding, didn't know there was a depression. That was in the island of Bali." Chaplin thought the place was lovely but he wouldn't want to live there. "The depression depresses me but I wouldn't want to be out of it at any cost.  I must be in the milieu of life. I like being where things happen."

Photo of Chaplin supposedly taken at Nanaimo Harbor, B.C.,
June 1932

Here a reporter for the Vancouver Sun describes Chaplin's offscreen appearance and relates a story he told of being chased around Japan by the paparazzi:

Chaplin doesn't  look much like his motion picture self. The hair of his broad, finely modeled head is almost white. His large, luminous blue eyes are serious. Sartorially, he was a "rhapsody in blue." A double-breasted serge suit of navy blue. Blue tie. Blue shirt. Small blue veins show in the skin of a rather pallid face.  

But he displayed one characteristic gesture when he was telling of how reporters and photographers chased him everywhere in Japan. 

"It was really embarrassing," he said. "I'd be looking in a shop window, or I'd stop a moment on the street and there they would be." He jumped from his chair and pantomimed the figure of a press cameraman, crouched over his camera. 

"Being trailed that way makes me terribly self-conscious."

After spending the day in and around Vancouver, Charlie will sail for Seattle in the evening, arriving the next morning. So more on that tomorrow.

World Tour (1931-32) Revisited

Where was Charlie twelve months before? Hanging out with H.G. Wells in the south of France:
http://discoveringchaplin.blogspot.com/2013/06/world-tour-revisited-charlie-may-visit.html

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Sources:
New York Times, June 14, 1932
Seattle Times, June 13, 1932
Vancouver Sun, June 13, 1932

World Tour Revisited: Going back to Cali, June 2nd, 1932

After an 18th-month tour of the world, Chaplin, along with his secretary Toraichi Kono, boarded the SS Hikawa Maru at Yokohama and began his journey home. Before his departure, he had his favorite meal of tempura (deep fried prawns)* at the Hanacho restaurant in Tokyo. Charlie loved this meal so much that his last act before leaving Japan was to purchase a quantity of prawns to have sent aboard the ship.¹

Charlie waves to the crowd as he boards the Hikawa Maru,
June 2nd, 1932

It was in Tokyo that morning that Charlie and his half-brother, Syd, parted ways. Syd had to remain in Japan for another couple of weeks before he could catch the Terukuni Maru to Europe. He eventually returned to his wife Minnie and their home at the Palais Rosa-Bonheur in Nice sometime at the beginning of July.

According to Kono (and as per Gerith Von Ulm's Charlie Chaplin: King Of Tragedy), the brothers' relationship was strained by the end of the tour. "Syd had been annoying Charlie with an unwarranted solicitation as to money spent on their travels. The money was Charlie's, but Syd disapproved of Kono's disposition of it."² The brothers were not to see each other again for another five years, although Syd continued to handle Charlie's European business deals until the end of 1933.³

Charlie and Kono (second row, far left) pose with the crew of
the Hikawa Maru.
(Photo credit: Charles Chaplin In Japan by Ono Hiroyuki)

A page from the passenger list of the Hikawa Maru, dated June 2nd, 1932.
Charlie's name is at the top, Kono's at the bottom. (Click to enlarge)

Coming up on June 13th: Charlie arrives in Vancouver.
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*Reports vary but Charlie was said to have eaten as many as 30-50 prawns in one sitting.

¹New York Times, June 3rd, 1932
²Gerith Von Ulm, Charlie Chaplin: King Of Tragedy, 1940
³Lisa K. Stein, Syd Chaplin: A Biography, 2011

World Tour Revisited: The Chaplin brothers in Japan, May-June 1932

Charlie crammed as much as possible into his three-week stay in Japan. In addition to attending kabuki shows, sumo matches, and tea ceremonies, he played tennis, gorged on tempura (his favorite Japanese meal), and even visited a prison--something he liked to do on his travels.

As much as he enjoyed his visit (he would return in 1936 and 1961) he was disappointed by the westernization of the country:

Should you ask me offhand my opinion of Japan, I should say it is a nation of inconsistancies. A simple illustration is a man attired in a kimono wearing a derby hat, also the adoption of western dress at the cost of their own silk industry. ¹

Little is known about what Syd thought of the place. Months later, in a letter to his friend R.J. Minney, he wrote: "I enjoyed the trip immensely. I always wanted to visit the Orient, so I am glad I got it out of my system. Of course, I haven't seen the half of it, dearie, I shall still look forward to seeing India, the interior of China, Indochina, etc., but the Orient should be taken in small doses and one should hold the nose while taking it." He claimed, though, that he was glad to get home, having developed gout on the trip from too much rich food. ²

Below are a few photos from the brothers' visit:

Chaplin visits Prime Minister Makoto Saito at his residence. Saito was the successor to Tsuyoshi Inukai who was assassinated on Chaplin's second day in Japan while he was at a sumo match with his son, Ken:



A tea party, possibly at the home of Mrs. Horikoshi which Chaplin describes in "A Comedian Sees The World": "this charming lady has a school which she supports herself for the daughters of her friends where she teaches the gentle art of the tea ceremony." Syd is standing at right in the second photo.

Tennis at the Fujiya Hotel in Hakone:

Charlie tries on a Samurai Warrior's headgear. Syd is on the right.

Chaplin's autographed sketch of Mt. Fuji, May 29th, 1932:

Lastly, at the Hanacho restaurant. Ken Inukai, son of the assassinated prime minister, is seated between Charlie and Kono in the first photo and is posing between Charlie and Syd in the other photos. The last photo is signed by Sydney.

Coming up on June 2nd: the brothers go their separate ways. Syd returns to Nice and Charlie to Los Angeles.

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¹Charles Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World, Part 5," Jan. 1934
²Lisa K. Stein, Syd Chaplin: A Biography, McFarland, 2011

World Tour Revisited: Charlie takes advantange of kabuki season in Tokyo

Charlie and Sydney with kabuki actor, Nakamura Kichiemon I, May 1932

In an effort to divert Charlie's mind from the horrible events of his first couple of days in Tokyo, his longtime Japanese secretary, Toraichi Kono, reminded him how much he enjoyed the Kengeki sword fight dramas he saw in Los Angeles in 1929 and assured him he would be equally interested in a performance of the kabuki. Charlie didn't need much convincing and luckily for him, kabuki season was in full swing. He bought tickets for all of the performances.

The plays were held at Tokyo's prestigious Kabuki-za Theater which had a seating capacity of two thousand, and every seat was filled for each performance. Charlie recalled the experience in "A Comedian Sees The World":

Instead of the curtain rising, it is drawn aside to the sound of clicking wood which is a signal that the performance is commencing. The actors sometimes enter and exit from the runway that extends on out through the audience to the back of the theater. A revolving stage facilitates the rapid change of scenery. These devices they have used for hundreds of years.
The performance starts at three and ends at eleven, and the program is diversified. There is a long play consisting of six acts. In the middle of the play a one-act music posture drama is interposed. This is a story interpreted by dance. Female parts are acted by men who convey all the subtleties and nuances of a woman without giving any offense.
When a player makes his first entrance, instead of the customary European applause the audience shouts his name in a most fervent manner and the effect is stirring.¹ 

Kono, Charlie (in glasses), and Sydney watch a performance at the Kabuki-za Theater.
(Photo: Charlie Chaplin In Japan by Ono Hiroyuki)

One of the plays Charlie saw was similar to Romeo and Juliet, a drama of two young lovers whose marriage is opposed by their parents.² Charlie describes the performance: "The play opens in the bridal chamber showing the young couple just married. During the act, couriers intercede with the parents for the young lovers, who are hoping there may be a reconciliation. But the tradition is too strong. The parents are adamant. So the lovers decide to commit suicide in the traditional Japanese way, each one bestrewing a carpet of flower petals upon which to die--the bridegroom to kill his bride first, then to fall upon his sword. The comments of the lovers, as they scatter flower petals on the floor preparing for death, created laughter from the audience. My interpreter told me that the humor was ironic in such lines as 'To live after such a night of love would be anticlimax.' For ten minutes they continue such ironic banter. The bride kneels on her mat of flowers and bares her throat; as the bridegroom draws his sword and slowly walks toward her, the revolving stage begins to move, and before the point of the sword reaches his young wife's throat, the scene turns out of sight of the audience and shows the exterior of the house drenched in moonlight." After a long silence, "voices are heard approaching the house. They are friends of the dead couple come to bring them happy news that their parents have forgiven them. They argue about which of them should break the news. They commence to serenade them and, getting no response, they beat on the door. 'Don't disturb them, ' says one; 'they're either asleep or too busy.' So they go on their way, continuing their serenade, accompanied by a tick-tock, boxlike sound, signaling the end of the play, as the curtain draws slowly across the stage."³

A year before Chaplin's arrival in Japan, City Lights was adapted into a kabuki theater piece called Komori no Yasusan, with the lead actor in a Chaplin mustache and the boxing scene converted into a sumo match. Playwright Shikura Kinka had never seen the film (City Lights would not be shown in Japan until 1934) and based his play on a description of it he read in a cinema magazine. Read Chaplin historian Ono Hiroyuki's essay on the play here.

For Chaplin, the kabuki performances were a high point of his 3-week visit to Japan and "a pleasure that went beyond [his] expectations."⁴

In my next installment of WTR: More highlights of Charlie & Syd's Japanese holiday.
Coming up on June 2nd: Charlie begins his voyage home.

One year ago on "World Tour Revisited":

Charlie meets Napoleon biographer Emil Ludwig in the south of France
http://discoveringchaplin.blogspot.com/2013/05/world-tour-revisited-charlie-meets.html

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¹Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World, Part V," A Woman's Home Companion, January 1934
²The play Charlie saw was probably "The Love Suicides at Amijima"
³Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964
⁴ibid.

Additional resources:
Gerith Von Ulm, Charlie Chaplin: King Of Tragedy, 1940
Ono Hiroyuki, "From Chaplin To Kabuki"

World Tour Revisited: The Prime Minister of Japan is assassinated while Chaplin attends a sumo match with his son, May 15th, 1932

The morning after their arrival in Tokyo, Syd excitedly came into Charlie's room and told him that his "bags had been searched and all of his papers disturbed." Charlie accused him of being overly suspicious but there had been other strange occurrences as well, namely the behavior of Charlie's secretary Toraichi Kono. During their drive to the hotel the evening before, their car stopped in front of the Emperor's Palace. Kono looked around nervously and then asked Charlie to get out and bow. "Is this customary?" Charlie asked. "Yes," Kono replied. "You don't have to bow, just step out of the car." Charlie did what he asked but thought the request was strange since there was no one around and if it were customary the public would have known and a crowd would have been there, if only a small one.¹

After the incident with Sydney's luggage, a government agent was assigned to look after them. Sydney insisted that they were being watched and felt that Kono was hiding something. Charlie had to admit that his secretary was looking "more worried and harassed every hour."²

Meanwhile, Charlie's plans for his first day in Tokyo were to attend a sumo match with Ken Inukai, the son of the Prime Minister, Tsuyoshi Inukai. The following day, Chaplin was to meet and have dinner with the Prime Minister.

As they entered the stadium, Charlie was greeted with a tremendous ovation. Sumo wrestling "is amusing to watch," wrote Charlie, "and if you don't understand the technique, the whole procedure looks comic. Nevertheless the effect is hypnotic and thrilling."³

Syd, Charlie, and Kono pose with sumo wrestlers.

Charlie and Syd intently watch the wrestling matches.

Unbeknownst to the crowd, as well as Chaplin and his entourage, something terrible had happened earlier that day:

As we were leaving a courier rushed into our box and told us the awful news--that the prime minister, Mr. Tsuyoshi Inukai had been assassinated in his home. This was a dreadful shock to everyone and put a damper on the whole nation.
The Prime Minister's son told us later that were were responsible for saving his life because the tragedy occurred while he was at the wrestling arena making arrangements for our tickets. Had he been home, the assassins would have murdered him with his father. ⁴

Inukai, one of Japan's foremost liberals, had only been in office since December 1931.

Chaplin describes the murder in "A Comedian Sees The World":

The tragedy is well-known--how the murderers, dressed as soldiers, shot and killed several guards, then broke into the prime minister's sitting room and with the points of their guns confronted the old gentleman and his family; how he led them to another room, remarking that if they intended to kill him to spare his wife and children the scene of such violence. The heroic courage of the Prime Minister was worthy of his exalted position. Not one word passed the assassins' lips as they were led by the august gentlemen down a long corridor into the little room where he calmly told them to state their grievances. Without a word, however, these murderers cruelly poured fire into their defenseless victim and left.

Chaplin accompanied Ken Inukai back to his home and saw the room in which a couple of hours before his father had been murdered. "The stain of a large pool of blood was still wet on the matting. A battery of cameramen and reporters were there, but they had the decency not to take photographs. They nevertheless prevailed upon me to make a statement. I could only say that it was a shocking tragedy for the family and for the country." ⁵

The prime minister , second from left, and his family, January 1932.
Ken Inukai is standing, his wife is to his right, their children are seated with
the premier and his wife, far left. 

The killers were members of a paramilitary, right-wing society called the "Black Dragon" and it was they, Chaplin believed, who had insisted that he bow to the emperor's palace. It was discovered later that Chaplin was also part of their original assassination plot.

At the assassins' 1933 trial, Lieutenant Seishi Koga, the leader, testified that there were plans to bomb the Prime Minister's residence during a reception for Chaplin, the reception was cancelled however. The assassins hoped that the death of Chaplin would throw Japan and the U.S. into war "which was needed to rehabilitate the Japanese spirit." ⁶

Thirty years later in his autobiography, Chaplin wrote: “I can imagine the assassins having carried out their plan, then discovering that I was not an American but an Englishman—'Oh, so sorry!'”

Coming up in the next installment of WTR: Chaplin attends a kabuki performance.

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¹Chaplin, My Autobiography, 1964
²ibid
³Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World, Part V," 1934
⁴ibid
⁵Chaplin, My Autobiography
⁶Washington Post, July 26, 1933

Additional sources:
Gerith Von Ulm, Charlie Chaplin: King Of Tragedy, 1940

World Tour Revisited: Charlie arrives at his final destination: Japan, May 14th, 1932

Japan, the adopted land of Lafcadio Hearn, had always stirred my imagination--the land of cherry blossoms, the chrysanthemum, and its people in silk kimonos, living among porcelains and lacquer furnishings. (Chaplin, ACSTW aka "A Comedian Sees The World")

A crowd of 20,000 greeted Charlie and Syd on the dock at Kobe. Charlie had not seen a crowd of this magnitude since he traveled through Europe the previous year.

L-R: Kono, CC, actress Shizue Natsukawa, and Sydney, Kobe, May 14, 1932

The city of Kobe was our landing place. When we arrived there thousands were waiting on the docks to greet us. Airplanes were flying, dropping pamphlets of welcome. (ACSTW)

Before the Terukuni Maru docked, about 200 reporters and photographers went aboard to interview Chaplin who graciously complied. He was asked to comment on the recent Lindbergh baby tragedy but said it was too terrible to talk of.* One thing he told them was that he still cherished his old pair of floppy shoes. "They are like old friends," he said.

Kobe,  May 14, 1932

Among the welcoming committee at Kobe was Japanese actress Shizue Natsukawa. Chaplin was also reunited with his his secretary, Toraichi Kono, who had left the Chaplin party in Singapore in March and traveled on to Japan to arrange for Charlie's visit while the brothers toured Ceylon, Java, and Bali.

From the harbor, Charlie and Syd motored through Kobe, ate at a local restaurant, then boarded a train for Tokyo.

While in Japan, the government graciously made me their guest while traveling by rail. On our way to Tokyo at every stop we were greeting by cheering crowds. Geisha girls were lined up and I was presented with gifts of all kinds. The Japanese are generous and hospitable.
Upon arriving in Tokyo, the throngs were so dense that four hundred policemen were helpless in keeping them from raiding the railroad depot. We eventually got on our way to the hotel....After the usual preliminaries with the press, I went straight to bed, exhausted but happy. (ACSTW)

The Chaplins, Shizue Natsukawa & Kono at a restaurant in Kobe. One of the highlights of Charlie's visit
was witnessing a Japanese tea ceremony, which revealed to him "the character
and soul of the nation...Each movement is studied to create tranquility. Not a sound
is made during the preparation. Not a gesture is unnecessary. You watch in silence the beautiful
preparation. In the sanctity of peace you refresh your troubled mind in liquid jade." 

Charlie with the mayor of Tokyo, May 14, 1932

At Tokyo's Hotel Imperial, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

Although Charlie & Sydney had always wanted to see Japan, the chief reason for their visit was to secure bookings for City Lights that would bring Charlie a decent profit on the film. At this they failed miserably. The best offer on the film was $50,000 and Chaplin wanted $100,000. City Lights did not premiere in Japan until 1934. Sadly, this would not be the only bad luck to plague Chaplin during his visit to Japan.

Coming up tomorrow: "The May 15th Incident"

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Where was Charlie 12 months before?

Basking in the sun at Juan-les-Pins. 

http://discoveringchaplin.blogspot.com/2013/05/world-tour-revisited-juan-les-pins.html

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* The 20-month old infant, the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, had been kidnapped in March 1932, his remains were discovered on May 12th.

Sources: 

Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World, Part 5," Woman's Home Companion, Jan. 1934

Lisa K. Stein, Syd Chaplin, McFarland, 2010

New York Times, May 15, 1932

Robinson, The Private Life of Charlie Chaplin, Liberty, 1933

World Tour Revisited: Charlie & Syd set sail for Japan, May 6th, 1932

Straits Times, May 6, 1932.

The brothers arrive in Kobe on May 14th. They do not visit China.

World Tour Revisited: Passing time in Singapore

Illustration by Peter Helck from the final installment of "A Comedian Sees The World,"
 Woman's Home Companion, January 1934. Note Charlie and Syd on the rickshaw.

Just to recap: After two weeks in Bali, Charlie and Syd returned to Singapore on April 20th, 1932 where they had planned to catch the boat for Japan on the 24th. Unfortunately Charlie became ill and was in the hospital for a week so their plans for Japan had to be postponed. He was released on April 26th and joined his brother at the Adelphi Hotel. There is no mention of his illness or hospital stay in his travel memoir, "A Comedian Sees The World," only that they had returned to Singapore to await the next boat for Japan & would make the most of their visit:

There were several days to wait before before we could get a boat to Japan, so in the meantime we merged ourselves into the life of Singapore.

Of course anything after Bali is a letdown. But Singapore has its charm. Every evening we would ramble through the native quarters on rickshaws. Occasionally we would go to the New World--the native Coney Island of Singapore--where every known variety of entertainment is given, from Malay opera to prize-fighting. (Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World," 1934) 

The brothers finally sail for Japan on May 6th.  Meanwhile, here are some highlights of their stay in Singapore:

Charlie hosts a luncheon at the Adelphi for the Ranee of Sarawek
 (on Charlie's right) and her daughter (on his left), April 27th, 1932.

Charlie and Syd at the Singapore races, April 30th, 1932.
(Straits Times, May 1st, 1932)

Singapore races.

Singapore Free Press, May 2nd, 1932

Where was Charlie 12 months before?

In Marseilles, where he is confronted with the truth about Syd's past with May Reeves. He also meets Sister Aimee Semple McPherson who lifts his spirits, if nothing else...

World Tour Revisited: Two letters handwritten by Chaplin from the Adelphi Hotel in Singapore, dated April 27th, 1932

These letters were penned one day after Chaplin's release from the Singapore General Hospital following a week-long bout with dengue fever. They were sent to the doctor who treated him, and the doctor's son.

"Dear Doctor, I hope the enclosed will prove satisfactory,
 it is little enough to do in return for your help and kindness.
However allow me to thank you again. Sincerely yours, Charlie Chaplin"

"My Dear Ian, This little note will serve as an introduction.
I might mention the fact that your father took me down a peg or two (I mean my temperature)
while I was in the hospital at Singapore. Hoping to meet you sometime in England.
Cordially yours, Charlie Chaplin"

Source: Bonhams

World Tour Revisited: Interview with Syd Chaplin in Singapore, April 23rd, 1932

Syd was interviewed at the Adelphi Hotel where he had been staying while Charlie recovered from dengue fever at the Singapore General Hospital. He discussed his and Charlie's future film plans, the talkies, their recent trip to Bali, and why he disliked his 1925 film, Charley's Aunt.

Source: The Straits Times, April 24, 1932.

World Tour Revisited: An ambulance meets Charlie's boat at Singapore, April 20th, 1932

Charlie became ill with dengue fever the night he and Syd sailed from Batavia on April 18th. The next day he didn't appear for meals and kept to his cabin. As the SS Ophir neared Singapore, the captain arranged for a doctor to meet the boat.

The Straits Times (Singapore), April 20th, 1932.
 (D.E.I. = Dutch East Indies)

The brothers' initial plan was to sail for Japan on the 24th but Charlie will remain in the hospital until the 26th. They will not leave for Japan until May 6th.

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World Tour (1931-32) Revisited: Where was Charlie 12 months before?

On April 15th, 1931, Charlie arrived in Algeria from Nice. A couple of days later, his lover and traveling companion, May Reeves, joined him and the two remained there for the next ten days.

World Tour Revisited: The brothers say goodbye to Bali and return to Singapore

Charlie and Syd at the airport in Batavia, April 18th, 1932

Before leaving Bali, the brothers' immediate plans were to backtrack through Java and return to Singapore where they would catch the boat to Japan on the 24th. So on the evening of Sunday, April 17th (the day after Charlie's 43rd birthday), they departed from Buleleng, in northern Bali, aboard the SS Van Der Wyck and sailed to Surabaya, arriving the next morning. In order to avoid a hot, 13-hour train ride to Batavia, the brothers chose to fly over Java instead. Charlie, who was never a fan of flying, later told a reporter that the loud engines made him nervous but he enjoyed the scenery.

At the airport in Batavia, they were greeted by the Sultan of Pontianak and his wife. The Swedish cameraman Henk Aalsem once again filmed their arrival. An article in the Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad (Batavian Newspaper) noted that Charlie was very warm. "Above his blue shirt, his red face and salt and pepper hair formed a peculiar combination." The reporter also noticed Charlie's luggage which was "plastered with all kinds of labels from the most famous hotels in the world--from London, Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam."

Before driving to Tanjung Priok to catch the boat for Singapore, Charlie suddenly remembered that he needed to purchase a helmet, telling the reporters that he couldn't go to Singapore without a hat.*

In Priok, a small crowd, consisting mostly of women, had gathered at the quayside to see the boat off. From the rail of the Ophir, Charlie waved goodbye to the crowd--and to Java & Bali. He was so moved by the departure that he was seen dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief.

Henk Aalsem's footage of Charlie and Syd's return to Batavia.

Coming up on the 20th: The voyage to Singapore is a rough one for Charlie and their plans to sail to Japan are temporarily put on hold.

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*Charlie had a pith helmet in Bali, so I'm not sure why he needed a new one--perhaps he left it there.

Sources:
Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad, April 18, 1932
De Indische Courant, April 18, 1932

World Tour Revisited: Charlie "gleans the true meaning of life" from the Balinese

Chaplin entered into the spirit of the place and ate rice with his fingers from dishes made of banana leaves, squatted on the ground to watch cockfights, and would go any distance to see a native dance or hear an orchestra. His understand of the dancing and music was amazing. The music is entirely different from the white man's, and persons who have long been in Bali find it difficult to interpret, yet Chaplin went away from the performances humming entire passages with unerring instinct. And his imitations of the dancers would pack a Broadway house. (Florence Hirschfeld, "Charlie Chaplin, Balinese," New York Herald, June 12, 1932. Quoted in Syd Chaplin by Lisa Stein Haven, 2011)

The brothers saw their first native dance only a few hours after they arrived on the island. "After dinner at the Hirschfelds, Syd and I took a walk. The night was dark and sultry. In the distance they heard the sound of "jingling tambourines and clashing gongs in rhythmic tonal patterns. 'A dance is going on somewhere,' said Hirschfeld. 'Let's go.' About two hundred yards away a group of natives were standing and squatting around, and maidens sat cross-legged with baskets and small flares selling dainty edibles." After edging their way through the crowd, they noticed that "musicians were seated in square formation with instruments like xylophones in front of them. In the center were two girls, not more than ten years old, posed in kneeling fashion...dancing with their arms extended, weaving like serpents, swaying and undulating on their knees to the droning music."¹
"The girls were in perfect unison," Charlie remembered, "their necks swayed and their eyes turned and flickered back. Their fingers quivered. There was something devilish about it." When they had finished, the dancers sank back into the crowd out of view. "There was no applause and no compliments. Although they had performed beautifully, it was appreciated without comment."  Charlie explained further:

Two words I discovered were unknown in Balinese language--'love' and 'thank you.' Those dancers had practiced assiduously, striving for perfection without any personal gain. Not one person gets paid for entertainment. It is all given free. A village will entertain another and walk miles to do so, and for their services will be given only a meal."

After the performance we strolled over to Hirschfeld's house and sat on the veranda underneath myriads of stars. That was my first night in Bali. 

How different, I thought, from anything I'd ever seen. How far removed I felt from the rest of the world. Europe and America seemed unreal--as though they had never existed. Although I was in Bali only a few hours, it seemed I had always lived there.

How easy man falls into his natural state. What does a career, a civilization matter in this natural way of living? From these facile people one gleans the true meaning of life---to work and play--play being as important as work to man's existence. That's why they're happy. The whole time I was on the island I rarely saw a sad face."²

It should come as no surprise that one of the brothers' main reasons for visiting Bali were the beautiful, topless women. The following story suggests, however, that Charlie may have done more than just admire them from afar. During a visit to Charlie's home in Vevey years later, Michael Chaplin recalled that Syd asked his father: "Do you remember in Bali when you disappeared with those two girls?" Charlie, horrified that his brother had asked him this question in front of his children, refused to answer.³

Charlie and Walter Spies with some of the native dancers. 

One of the people Charlie and Syd met on the island was Walter Spies, a Russian painter and musician who had been living in Bali for five years studying their music. Spies entertained the brothers during most of their stay. "Our routine for the day would start after breakfast, taking automobile excursions to various parts of the island. These excursions we usually took in the morning, returning before lunch, and in the afternoon would take our siesta. In the evening, thanks to our friend Spies, there was always some form of entertainment which would complete our day."

The brothers saw a number of the local dances, including the Legong (possibly the one they witnessed on their first night), the Baris, the Lion dance, the Witch dance, and the Kris. Charlie recalled that he saw the latter dance during an all-night festival which included a barong play. "It took place on the outskirts of the forest and hundreds came from all parts of the island." The play centered around the character of a witch, represented by a man wearing a "terrifying mask, wild tangled hair and long nails who never fails to fill the public with horror and fear." During the kris, the performers often go into a trance, believing they are "imbued with the evil spirit of the character."  This is exactly what happened the night Charlie saw the performance. "In the play the witch is supposed to recoil from the fire and run into a small proscenium built at the end of the ring, but this night the fear of the witch was so great that the actor lost control and rushed madly though the crowd into the  jungle, shrieking in a state of hysteria. We all followed, running into the darkness to see what had happened to him." A priest rescued the actor, removed his mask, and holy water was administered. After ten minutes he came out of his trance.

Illustration by Peter Helck from "A Comedian Sees The World,"
Woman's Home Companion, January 1934

Both Charlie and Syd would return to Bali later. Charlie in 1936 and 1961, and Syd in 1938. "Possibly," as Syd's biographer, Lisa Stein Haven, pointed out, "to convince themselves that such a place really existed."⁴

Below are the brothers' home movies from Bali. The man squatting with Charlie to feed the monkeys at the beginning is Walter Spies.

Where in the world was Charlie twelve months earlier?
http://discoveringchaplin.blogspot.com/2013/04/world-tour-1931-32-revisited-charlie.html

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¹Chaplin, "A Comedian Sees The World," WHC, Jan. 1934
²ibid
³Interview with Michael Chaplin, BBC Radio program "The Chaplin Archive," 2011
⁴Stein, Syd Chaplin, McFarland, 2011