This started out, eighteen years ago, as a long book, and is now even longer. For an author who cherishes brevity, this is a matter of concern; but in Chaplin’s case discursiveness seems justified. An artist of universal stature has left – uniquely and against all his intentions – an extensive, detailed record of the life and the working processes that resulted in his creation. It would, then, seem irresponsible to curtail this record, or to shirk the opportunity to make it available to future researchers.
Since the book first appeared, new information has come to light, new recollections have been published, and old errors and misunderstandings have been exposed. This edition includes, for instance, fresh information on Hetty Kelly and on Chaplin’s 1925 fling with the legendary Louise Brooks; and the FBI records – which only became available as the original edition went to press – are now examined in more detail and incorporated into the body of the book. The smaller additions and amendments are too numerous to mention. The filmography has been improved in the light of recent research. New pictures have become available. The numerous friends who have contributed to extended knowledge of Chaplin are thanked in the Acknowledgements.
An unexpected source of insight into Chaplin and his times was the opportunity to work on Richard Attenborough’s biographical film, Chaplin, which was in part based on this book. The extraordinary dedication of Attenborough and his designer Stuart Craig to recreating the physical world in which Chaplin’s films were made offered many revelations. The accuracy of their effort was attested when William James – who, as Little Billy Jacobs, had been the child star of Keystone in 1913, the year before Chaplin arrived there – visited the set of Mack Sennett’s studio which, in the absence of documentary evidence, Craig had reinvented. ‘It is just as I remember it!’ Mr James exclaimed. ‘It is given to a few people to have their memories realized.’
I hope that in its own way the new edition of this book is the realization of Chaplin’s own memories of creation; and that readers will enjoy sharing them.
David Robinson
Bath, July 2001