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Hollywood Exiles

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A story of glamour, duplicity and the FBI's battle against communism in Hollywood

Host Oona Chaplin guides listeners through the period known as the Red Scare - an ideological battle that implicated Hollywood’s biggest stars, including her grandfather, Charlie.

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Hollywood Exiles: 3. The case against Charlie Chaplin

06/03/2024 GMT

3. The case against Charlie Chaplin

BBC - Hollywood Exiles, 3. The case against Charlie Chaplin

Movie star Charlie Chaplin stands trial amid a media storm

A relationship of Charlie Chaplin’s lands him in legal trouble, as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and the FBI conspire against him. Hopper calls him and his movies “un-American.”

Charlie Chaplin’s personal life sparks legal woes. Hedda Hopper, known as the queen of Hollywood gossip, was Chaplin’s nemesis, and she deemed him "un-American.” Joan Barry was just 22 years old when she arrived in Hollywood with dreams of stardom. She soon met Chaplin and the pair became romantically entwined. When the relationship went sour, Chaplin’s enemies – including J Edgar Hoover and columnist and radio star Hopper – saw an opportunity. Chaplin soon landed in court facing charges under the White-Slave Traffic Act. 

Archive: 
 
The Hedda Hopper Show, 3 December 1940
J. Edgar Hoover, Battle of the United States, Army-Navy Screen Magazine, 1940 
Pearl Harbor newsflash, WOR Radio 1941 
The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin, United Artists, 1940

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