9 Charlie Chaplin’s war
-
Richard Carr
Abstract
Carr’s chapter builds on his recent biography of the filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, who rose to become the most famous man in cinema, and one of the famous in the world, all told. British born Chaplin would view the war from the comfortable surroundings of Los Angeles, California, but he would be profoundly shaped by its developments. This essay teases out his reaction to the conflict, and the controversy his reluctance to serve at the front generated. It then moves on to discuss how the conflict affected his own left wing politics, which were always of a radical nature but did not universally subscribe to the increasing consensus that the big state was a force for good.
Abstract
Carr’s chapter builds on his recent biography of the filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, who rose to become the most famous man in cinema, and one of the famous in the world, all told. British born Chaplin would view the war from the comfortable surroundings of Los Angeles, California, but he would be profoundly shaped by its developments. This essay teases out his reaction to the conflict, and the controversy his reluctance to serve at the front generated. It then moves on to discuss how the conflict affected his own left wing politics, which were always of a radical nature but did not universally subscribe to the increasing consensus that the big state was a force for good.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- List of abbreviations xii
- Introduction 1
- 1 Peace, but not at any price 17
- 2 At the crossroads 35
- 3 ‘One of the most revolutionary proposals that has ever been put before the House’ 56
- 4 Labour and socialism during the First World War in Bristol and Northampton 73
- 5 A stronghold of liberalism? The north-east Lancashire cotton weaving districts and the First World War 91
- 6 Living through war, waging peace 108
- 7 ‘Industrial unionism for women’ 126
- 8 The unsung heroines of radical wartime activism 145
- 9 Charlie Chaplin’s war 166
- 10 Irish Labour and the ‘Co-operative Commonwealth’ in the era of the First World War 182
- 11 Russia’s war and revolutions as seen by Morgan Philips Price and Arthur Henderson 201
- 12 The Stanford connection 220
- 13 The problem of war aims and the Treaty of Versailles 240
- Index 257
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables vii
- Notes on contributors viii
- List of abbreviations xii
- Introduction 1
- 1 Peace, but not at any price 17
- 2 At the crossroads 35
- 3 ‘One of the most revolutionary proposals that has ever been put before the House’ 56
- 4 Labour and socialism during the First World War in Bristol and Northampton 73
- 5 A stronghold of liberalism? The north-east Lancashire cotton weaving districts and the First World War 91
- 6 Living through war, waging peace 108
- 7 ‘Industrial unionism for women’ 126
- 8 The unsung heroines of radical wartime activism 145
- 9 Charlie Chaplin’s war 166
- 10 Irish Labour and the ‘Co-operative Commonwealth’ in the era of the First World War 182
- 11 Russia’s war and revolutions as seen by Morgan Philips Price and Arthur Henderson 201
- 12 The Stanford connection 220
- 13 The problem of war aims and the Treaty of Versailles 240
- Index 257
