Charlie Chaplin FBI British MI5 & Foreign and Commonwealth Office Files

Description

Charlie Chaplin: Life, Art, and Controversies

• 1889 (April 16): Charles Spencer Chaplin is born in London.
• 1910: The Mann Act (White Slave Traffic Act) is passed in the US, prohibiting transporting women across state lines for “immoral purposes.”
• 1919: Charlie Chaplin co-founds United Artists with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith.
• Early 1920s: Chaplin first comes to the attention of the FBI due to his “left of center political views.” J. Edgar Hoover labels him one of Hollywood’s “parlor Bolsheviki.”
• 1923: Chaplin is reported to have made a covert donation to the American Communist Party.
• 1931: Film Sonores Tobis produces the film “A Nous la Liberte.”
• 1936: Chaplin releases his film “Modern Times,” which increases FBI scrutiny due to its political undertones.
• 1941: Chaplin releases his film “The Great Dictator,” further intensifying FBI review.
• 1943: Actress Joan Barry files a paternity suit against Chaplin in a California court. This leads to Chaplin being charged with “white slavery” and violating the civil rights of Barry under the Mann Act.
• 1940s (Early-Mid): Chaplin tells the Los Angeles branch of the National Council of American Soviet Friendship: “There is a great deal of good in communism. We can use the good and segregate the bad.”
• Undated (After 1943, before 1952): Chaplin is acquitted of the charges in the first two Mann Act indictments against him; other charges are dropped. A blood test shows it’s impossible for him to be the father of Barry’s child, but this evidence is inadmissible in California courts at the time. The first paternity trial ends in a mistrial. A second trial finds Chaplin guilty, and he is ordered to pay child support until the child’s 18th birthday.
• 1952:Chaplin leaves the United States to attend the London premiere of his film “Limelight.”
• His re-entry visa to the US is revoked, and he is barred from reentering as a “security risk.”
• The British intelligence agency MI5 opens a file on Chaplin at the FBI’s request, seeking information to help ban him from the US.
• An FBI memo states there is no evidence that could be presented to bar Chaplin’s re-entry, as informants making allegations refused to testify under oath.
• British officers investigating Chaplin’s origins at the FBI’s request cannot find a birth certificate for him.
• 1953: Chaplin denies being a communist but remains prevented from returning to the USA.
• 1958: MI5 assesses Chaplin as “progressive or radical rather than communist,” having never been convinced by the American reports. Sir Percy Sillitoe, then head of MI5, states there are “no reliable grounds for regarding him as a security risk” to the chief police commissioner in South Africa.
• 1952-1975: The British Government blocks Chaplin’s knighthood for nearly 20 years due to US concerns about his private life and leftist affiliations.
• 1972: Chaplin is allowed a visa to briefly return to the United States to accept an Honorary Oscar at the 44th Annual Academy Awards.
• 1975 (March): Chaplin is eventually knighted.
• 1977 (December 25): Charlie Chaplin dies in exile in Switzerland.
• 1977 (After death): Chaplin’s body is stolen from his grave and held for ransom. His remains are later recovered from a cornfield near the cemetery in Vevey, Switzerland.

Cast of Characters:

• Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889-1977): A London-born silent film comedian, director, and producer. He co-founded United Artists. He became the subject of extensive FBI and MI5 investigations due to his left-leaning political views and personal life. He was barred from re-entering the United States in 1952 and lived in exile in Switzerland until his death. He was eventually knighted in 1975 and posthumously had his body stolen and recovered.
• J. Edgar Hoover: Assistant to the Director of the FBI (and later its long-serving Director). He took an early interest in Chaplin, labeling him one of Hollywood’s “parlor Bolsheviki” due to his political views.
• Douglas Fairbanks: Co-founder of United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith.
• Mary Pickford: Co-founder of United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith.
• D.W. Griffith: Co-founder of United Artists with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford.
• Joan Barry: An actress who filed a paternity suit against Charlie Chaplin in 1943, leading to Chaplin being charged with “white slavery” under the Mann Act. Despite a blood test proving he was not the father, she won a second paternity trial.
• Ivor Montague: A Soviet agent who sent a greetings telegram to Charlie Chaplin, noted in the MI5 files.
• Sir Percy Sillitoe: Head of MI5 in 1958. He stated that MI5 found no reliable grounds to regard Chaplin as a security risk, contradicting American reports.
• David Robinson: Author of “Chaplin: His Life and Art.” He provided context regarding the non-registration of Chaplin’s birth, attributing it to the transient lifestyle of music hall artists.
• The Child of Joan Barry: The child at the center of the paternity suit against Charlie Chaplin, for whom he was ordered to pay support until the child’s 18th birthday.
• Film Sonores Tobis, Societe Anonyme: A French film production company that produced “A Nous la Liberte” in 1931 and later sued Charlie Chaplin, Charles Chaplin Film Corporation, and United Artists Corporation for alleged unfair competition and copyright infringement related to Chaplin’s film “Modern Times.”

Charlie Chaplin FBI,  British MI5 & Foreign and Commonwealth Office Files

3,071 pages of FBI, British MI5 intelligence and Foreign Office files, and court documents related to Charlie Chaplin.

Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was born in London. He came to America and became the most successful silent film era comedian. In 1919, he co-founded United Artists with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith. Having never become a United States citizen, he was barred from the United States in 1952 due to suspicions about his political beliefs. Chaplin was allowed a visa to return to the United States briefly, allowing him to be able to accept his Honorary Oscar at the 44th Annual Academy Awards in 1972. Chaplin died in exile in Switzerland in 1977. After his death, Chaplin’s body was stolen from its grave and held for ransom.   His remains were recovered from a cornfield near the cemetery in Vevey Switzerland.

FBI Files

2,060 pages of files, dating from 1922 to 1978 copied from FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., covering Charlie Chaplin.

Files include memos, reports, investigation summaries, a transcript of an interview conducted by INS officials concerning his political views, and newspaper clippings. The files cover the FBI’s concerns and investigations into Chaplin’s political views and personal life. Chaplin first came to the attention of the FBI in the early 1920’s, due to his left of center political views. Then Assistant to the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, wrote in a memo that Chaplin was one of Hollywood’s “parlor Bolsheviki.” Chaplin came under increased review after his 1936 film “Modern Times” and his 1941 “The Great Dictator.”

Much attention is given to the Joan Barry case. After the actress Joan Barry filled a paternity case in a California court against Chaplin in 1943, an investigation lead to Chaplin being charged with “white slavery,” and violating the civil rights of Barry. Chaplin was charged with violating the 1910 Mann Act, also called the White Slave Traffic Act. This federal law prohibited people from transporting women across state lines for “immoral purposes.” Originally intended to be a law against prostitution, at times its enforcement was expanded to include any activity considered immoral. Chaplin was acquitted of the charges brought against him in the first two indictments to go to trial and later, the other charges were dropped.

A blood test showed that it was impossible for Chaplin to be the father of Barry’s child. However, at the time blood type evidence was not admissible in California courts. The first paternity trial ended in a mistrial. A second trial found Chaplin guilty and he was ordered to pay support until the child’s 18th birthday.

After leaving the United States in 1952 to attend the London premiere of his film “Limelight,” Chaplin’s re-entry visa was revoked, and he was barred from reentering the United States as a security risk. Documents show the bureau’s efforts to compile information that would keep him out of the United States. Chaplin decided not to fight the decision and moved to Switzerland. He returned to the United States only once, in 1972, to accept a special Oscar, presented to him at the Academy Awards. According to a 1952 FBI memo, there was no evidence that could be presented that would bar his re-entry into the United States. When informants who had made allegations against Chaplin were asked to testify under oath, all refused.

MI5 Files

121 pages of MI5 files covering Chaplin dating from September 22, 1952 to December 20, 1960.

The British intelligence agency opened a file on Chaplin in 1952, when he was reported to have made a covert donation to the American Communist Party in 1923 and to have continued to have communist associations. The FBI, which described the star of Modern Times and The Great Dictator as one of “Hollywood’s parlor Bolsheviks”, asked the MI5 for information to help get him banned from the U.S. The MI5 gathered information through techniques including eavesdropping.

In 1953, he denied that he was a communist, but was prevented from returning to the USA. In 1958 the MI5 Security Service, which had never been convinced by the American reports, assessed him as progressive or radical rather than communist. The material includes a greetings telegram to Chaplin from the Soviet agent Ivor Montague.

When investigating his origins at the request of the FBI,  British officers could not find a birth certificate for Chaplin and the earliest official record was a passport issued in 1920. They investigated suggestions he was born in Fontainebleau, near Paris, or nearby Melun, while the FBI claimed his real name was Israel Thornstein and raised the idea, he may have been a Russian Jew. The MI5, despite extensive searches, could find no evidence of any of the claims leaving his true origins a mystery.

David Robinson, the author of “Chaplin: His Life and Art,” wrote that it is not surprising that his parents failed to register the birth. According to Robinson, “It was easy enough, particularly for music hall artists, constantly moving (if they were lucky) from one town to another, to put off and eventually forget this kind of formality; at that time the penalties were not strict or efficiently enforced.”

The MI5 noted that a decade earlier Chaplin had told the Los Angeles branch of the National Council of American Soviet Friendship: “There is a great deal of good in communism. We can use the good and segregate the bad.”

“We have no trace in our records of this man, nor are we satisfied that there are any reliable grounds for regarding him as a security risk,” Sir Percy Sillitoe, then head of MI5, told the chief police commissioner in South Africa, where Chaplin was planning a visit.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office Files

A 22-page file on honours recommendations give views on possible Knighthood for actor Charlie Chaplin. The files show that the British Government blocked Chaplin’s knighthood for nearly 20 years because of US concern about his  muddled private life and leftist political affiliations. He was eventually knighted in March 1975.

Film Sonores Tobis, Societe Anonyme v. Charles Chaplin, Charles Chaplin Film Corporation, and United Artists Corporation Court Documents

862 pages of  court documents. The complaint in this case alleges that Charlie Chaplin, Charles Chaplin Film Corporation, and United Artists, by producing and distributing the film “Modern Times”, engaged in unfair competition and infringed on the rights of Film Sonores Tobis which had produced the film “A Nous la Liberte” in 1931.