Your truest and best admirer, Edna

In early 1915, Charlie Chaplin was looking for a leading lady for his next film A Night Out, when one of his employees saw Edna Purviance at a café, thinking she might be suited for the role. At the time Edna was working as a secretary and had no previous acting experience. Enthralled by her beauty and charm, Chaplin hired Edna, which was the start of a long working relationship. Edna would appear as Chaplin's leading lady and often romantic interest in 33 of his films, all of them shorts except for The Kid (1921) and A Woman of Paris (1923). In the latter film she had her first and only leading role and it was Chaplin's attempt to launch her career as a dramatic actress. Sadly, the attempt was unsuccessful and after two more films —the unreleased A Woman of the Sea and a French film Éducation de Prince (1927)— Edna's film career was over. (While several sources, including Wikipedia and IMDB, state that the actress made uncredited appearances in Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux (1947) and Limelight (1952), apparently she doesn't appear in those films at all; read more here.)

Apart from working together, Chaplin and Edna were also romantically involved (from 1915 until 1917) and remained friends after their relationship had ended. When Edna retired from acting, she lived a quiet life away from Hollywood. Chaplin, feeling responsible for her well-being, kept her on his payroll until her death in 1958. 

Above: Edna Purviance and Charlie Chaplin pictured together off-screen. Below: Edna and Charlie in (left) The Immigrant (1917) and A Dog's Life (1918).

When Chaplin was casting Monsieur Verdoux (1947), he considered Edna for the role of Madame Grosnay (which eventually went to Isobel Elsom). In his 1964 My Autobiography, Chaplin writes about meeting Edna again after not having seen her for twenty years. A melancholy and touching excerpt from the book in which he describes their reunion is seen below. Included in the excerpt are two letters from Edna to Chaplin. At the time of writing these letters, Edna was battling throat cancer and eventually succumbed to the disease on 13 January 1958, 62 years old. 

During the casting of Monsieur Verdoux, I had thought of Edna for the important part of Madame Grosnay. I had not seen her for twenty years, for she never came to the studio because her weekly cheque was mailed to her by the office. She confessed afterwards that when she received a call from the studio she was more shocked than thrilled.

When Edna arrived, Rolly, the cameraman, came into my dressing-room. He, too, had not seen her in twenty years. ‘She’s here,’ he said, his eyes glistening. ‘Of course, she’s not the same – but she looks great!’ He told me that she was waiting on the lawn, outside her dressing-room.

I wanted no emotional reunion scene, so I assumed a matter-of-fact manner as if it had been only a few weeks since I last saw her. ‘Well! Well! We’ve eventually got round to you,’ I said cheerily.

In the sunlight I noticed that her lip trembled as she smiled; then I plunged into the reason why I had called her, and told her about the film. ‘It sounds wonderful,’ she said – Edna was always an enthusiast.

She read for the part and was not bad; but all the while her presence affected me with a depressing nostalgia, for she was associated with my early successes – those days when everything was the future!

Edna threw herself into the role, but it was fruitless – the part required European sophistication, which Edna never had – and after working with her three or four days I was forced to admit that she was unsuitable. Edna herself was more relieved than disappointed. I did not see or hear from her again until she wrote to me in Switzerland to acknowledge her severance pay:

 

Dear Charlie,

For the first time I am able to write my thanks for your friendship down the years, and for all you have done for me. In early life we do not seem to have so many troubles and I know you have had your share. I trust your cup of happiness is full with a charming wife and family.…

[Here she described her illness and the terrific expense of doctors and nurses, but she finished as she always did with a joke:]

Just a story I heard. A chap was sealed in a rocket ship and shot upwards to see how high he could go – was told to keep track of the altitude. So he kept counting 25,000 – 30,000 – 100,000 – 500,000… When he got this far he said ‘Jesus Christ!’ to himself, and a very silent soft voice answered back: ‘Yessss –?’

Please, please, Charlie, let me hear something from you in the near future. And please come back, you belong here.

Sincerely your truest and best admirer,

Love, Edna.

 

Through all the years I had never written a letter to Edna; I always communicated with her through the studio. Her last letter was an acknowledgement of the news that she was still on the payroll:

 

November 13th, 1956.

Dear Charlie,

Here I am again with a heart full of thanks, and back in hospital (Cedars of Lebanon), taking cobalt X-ray treatment on my neck. There cannot be a hell hereafter! It all comes while one can wriggle even a little finger. However, it is the best known treatment for what ails me. Hope to be going home at the end of the week, then can be an outside patient (how wonderful!). Am thankful my innards are O.K., this is purely and simply local, so they say – all of which reminds me of the fellow standing on the corner of Seventh and Broadway tearing up little bits of paper, throwing them to the four winds. A cop comes along and asks him, what was the big idea. He answers: ‘Just keeping elephants away.’ The cop says: ‘There aren’t any elephants in this district.’ The fellow answers: ‘Well, it works, doesn’t it?’ This is my silly for the day, so forgive me.

Hope you and the family are well and enjoying everything you have worked for.

Love always, Edna.

Shortly after I received this letter she died. And so the world grows young. And youth takes over. And we who have lived a little longer become a little more estranged as we journey on our way.

Source: Charles Chaplin: My Autobiography (1964)

Charlie en Edna in Behind the Screen (1916)

Essanay: A nearly forgotten film studio

Founded in 1907 and based in Chicago, the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was one of America's earliest film studios. During its ten-year existence, the studio made some 2,000 films of which only 200 survived. With a specialty in Westerns, Essanay also produced the first American film version of A Christmas Carol (1908) and the first American film featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes (1916). Stars of the studio included Gloria Swanson, matinee idol Francis X. Bushman, the first western star Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson (co-founder of Essanay) and Wallace Beery. The studio's biggest star was Charlie Chaplin. 

  

In December 1914, Chaplin left Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and joined Essanay at a much higher salary than he had been receiving at Keystone ($1,250 a week instead of $150). During his short time with Essanay the comedian made a total of 14 shorts, among them The Tramp (1915) in which the iconic Tramp character was introduced. Chaplin left the studio in December 1915 —having become hugely popular— and next signed with the Mutual Film Corporation at a salary of $10,000 (!) a week.

It is believed that Chaplin's departure ultimately brought about Essanay's decline. In 1917, the studio ceased production and was eventually absorbed by Warner Brothers. If it hadn't been for Chaplin, Essanay Studios would possibly be forgotten today.

Above: 1915, Essanay stars (from left to right) Francis X. Bushman, Charlie Chaplin and Broncho Billy Anderson. Below: Gloria Swanson began her career as an extra for Essanay and became one of the studio's stars. Here she is photographed with (among others) George Spoor (without hat, on the right) who co-founded Essanay with Anderson.

Being a popular studio in its day, Essanay received many manuscripts from hopeful screenwriters for review. When the submitted material was deemed inadequate, instead of sending out individual rejection letters, the studio sent the following form letter. 

Source: slate.com

Feel sure you will have a quick recovery

Italian-born Rudolph Valentino was one of the most popular Hollywood stars of the 1920s, starring in successful films like The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Sheik (1921), Blood and Sand (1922) and The Son of the Sheik (1926). When Valentino suddenly died on 23 August 1926 at the young age of 31, it provoked hysteria among his numerous fans. A day after his death some 100,000 people gathered outside Frank Campbell Funeral Home in New York, where the actor's body lay in state. Frantic fans tried to enter the funeral home, determined to get a last glimpse of their idol and even smashing windows to get inside. A lot of people got injured being trampled underfoot or cut by broken glass. Eventually, after bringing in extra officers, the police managed to put an end to the disturbances. Valentino's death was the first celebrity death that had inspired such mass hysteria, with several fans even committing suicide.

Following a funeral mass in New York on 30 August 1926 (attended by a number of Hollywood stars including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson), Valentino's remains were transported to Hollywood where a second funeral was held. He was eventually buried at the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, now known as the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. A memorial service honouring Valentino still takes place at the cemetery every year.

The cause of Valentino's sudden and premature death was attributed to peritonitis, an infection of the inner lining of the abdomen. Eight days before he passed away, Valentino had collapsed at a hotel in New York City and was rushed to the Polyclinic Hospital where he had immediate surgery. Initially diagnosed with appendicitis, the actor turned out to have a perforated ulcer mimicking appendicitis (a rare condition now known as Valentino's Syndrome). At first doctors were optimistic that Valentino was going to recover but then he developed peritonitis and his condition rapidly worsened. On 23 August 1926, he fell into a coma and died a few hours later. (It is said that Valentino believed that he would recover and that on the morning of his death he had chatted with his doctors about his future.)

While in the hospital, Valentino had received get-well telegrams from several of his colleagues, including the following two from United Artists founders Charles Chaplin and Mary Pickford & Douglas Fairbanks. At the time Valentino was under contract to United Artists after having been approached by Chaplin and Fairbanks to join their studio in 1925. Valentino eventually made only two films for UA, i.e. The Eagle (1925) and The Son of the Sheik (1926), the latter film released after his death. Sent on 17 August 1926, two days after Valentino had surgery, the telegrams below show that Chaplin, Pickford and Fairbanks were still hopeful of his recovery.

Source: Bonhams

Source: Bonhams

Here is some  interesting footage of the crowds outside Frank Campbell Funeral Home and Valentino's funeral in New York.

UPDATE 30 APRIL 2021

I came across this telegram sent by Charles Chaplin to George Ullman, Valentino's manager, on the day of Valentino's death.

Via: Facebook

All the Chaplins and their ilk must be dealt with

On 18 September 1952, Charles Chaplin left the USA for Britain to embark on a tour promoting his latest film Limelight. The next day, Attorney General James McGranery revoked Chaplin's reentry permit, thus banning him from the USA, the country which had been Chaplin's home for nearly forty years. McGranery made his decision after consulting FBI's J. Edgar Hoover, who had been building a file on Chaplin since 1922. It was announced that Chaplin's reentry permit had been rescinded because he "[had] been publicly charged with being a member of the Communist Party, with grave moral charges* and with making statements that would indicate a leering, sneering attitude toward a country whose hospitality [had] enriched him". Before being allowed back into the USA, Chaplin, who was British and had never sought American citizenship, had to appear before the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) and answer questions about his political views and moral behaviour. In the end, Chaplin never applied for reentry and remained in Europe (in Switzerland) for the rest of his life. 

*Apart from being accused of political subversion, Chaplin was also accused of being morally subversive. With the "grave moral charges" McGranery referred to material in the FBI file concerning Chaplin's affair with actress Joan Barry, which occurred in the 1940s. 

Above: Charlie Chaplin photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Below: Chaplin and Buster Keaton in a scene from Limelight, the only film in which these icons appeared together. 

The revocation of Chaplin's reentry permit made headlines and especially conservative journalists were having a field day with the news. One of them was famed gossip columnist Hedda Hopper who had actively campaigned against Chaplin for years. In her column she said that while Chaplin may be a good actor it "doesn't give him the right to go against our customs, to abhor everything we stand for, to throw our hospitality back in our faces [...] I've known him for years. I abhor what he stands for, while I admire his talents as an actor. I would like to say, 'Good riddance to bad company'." (This vicious attack from Hopper was one of the "worst press lashings" Chaplin had ever received, according to Charles Maland, one of Chaplin's biographers.)

The American Legion, one of Hopper's allies and a very powerful organisation with 2.5 million members, went even further and passed a resolution in October 1952, calling on film theaters not to show any of Chaplin's films and in particular to boycott his newest film Limelight. Limelight was subsequently picketed in New York, and theaters in Los Angeles and also in other cities succumbed to the Legion's pressure and cancelled the film's screenings. The Legion also approached United Artists, the distributor of the film, urging them to join "in this drive to rid our country of the likes of Charles Chaplin, his person and his films" (see the disturbing letter below). In their fight against Chaplin, the Legion received support from Ward Bond, president of The Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, and RKO boss Howard Hughes.

The actions of the American Legion eventually paid off. Limelight played in approximately 150 of the 2,000 theaters in which it was initially booked and consequently Chaplin withdrew the film from circulation. It wasn't until 1972 that Limelight was rereleased in the USA. 

In April 1972, after a period of twenty years, Chaplin returned to the USA to receive an Honorary Oscar for his work (watch a very emotional Chaplin here, being given a 12-minute standing ovation, the longest in Oscar history). At the Oscar ceremony the following year, an absent Chaplin was awarded his only competitive Oscar for Best Original Dramatic Score for Limelight, a score which he co-wrote with Ray Rasch and Larry Russell. As Limelight was not released in Los Angeles until 1972, it was then eligible for Oscars despite being a 20-year-old film.

Source: Discovering Chaplin

Transcript:

February 11, 1953

United Artists Corporation

302 North 13th Street 

Philadelphia, Pa.

Dear sirs:

I have this day been informed that the World Theatre, this City, will discontinue the Charles Chaplin film "Limelight" immediately.

The American Legion in the spirit of true Americanism calls on you as the distributor agency of the film to discontinue distribution of "Limelight" and follow the lead of the local World Theater and Grauman's Chinese, the Downtown and El Rey Theatres in Los Angeles, California.

Howard Hughes of RKO has stated: "I have been making a most concerted effort to persuade the management of the theater corporation to take the necessary legal measures to cancel all bookings of "Limelight"." The same opposition to the film has been taken by actor Ward Bond as president of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals.

A recent radio poll in Philadelphia has disclosed overwhelming opposition to the picture.

Charles Chaplin by his repeated un-American behavior through the years has spurned the good will of the American people who must answer him in kind. His disrespect for our country and its ideals and his active sponsorship and affection for foreign isms inimical to the United States makes it imperative that we display our objection by refusing to patronize any of his productions.

The American Legion requests all right thinking and loyal Americans to join in this crusade. All the Chaplins and their ilk must be dealt with- and that dealing, in spite of their stand, will be fair and just.

We call on United Artists Corporation to join the World Theatre, the Fox theatres in California, Mr. Ward Bond, Mr. Howard Hughes, the American Legion and all Americans in this drive to rid our country of the likes of Charles Chaplin, his person and his films.

Very truly yours,

(signed)

Joseph A.C Girone

Phila. County Commander

The American Legion

Source

Groucho & Chaplin

Around 1912, Groucho Marx saw Charlie Chaplin for the first time in Winnipeg (Canada), then an important city on the Vaudeville circuit. Groucho happened to be passing by the Empress Theatre where Chaplin was playing and hearing roars of laughter he decided to go in. In his autobiography Groucho and Me (1959), Groucho recalled telling his brothers about seeing Chaplin for the first time: "I told them I had just seen a great comic. I described him . . . a slight man with a tiny moustache, a cane, a derby and a large pair of shoes. I then penguin-walked around the depot, imitating him as best I could. By the time I finished raving about his antics my brothers could hardly wait to see him." 

Doing a vaudeville tour themselves, Groucho and his brothers caught up with Chaplin in Vancouver a month later and met him backstage. In his autobiography, Groucho said that they became "real chummy" with Chaplin in the weeks that followed and even went to a "sporting house" together (according to Groucho, Chaplin was "terribly shy" back then). It wasn't until years later that Groucho ran into Chaplin again in Los Angeles, but by then Chaplin was already a star, having become the world's most famous comedian.

Above: July 1937- to celebrate the re-opening of the Beverly Hills Tennis Club, tennis players and new owners Fred Perry (far left) and Ellsworth Vines organised a match- a battle between Britain and the U.S- with Chaplin teaming up with Perry and Groucho with Vines.// Below: April 1972- Chaplin, who lived in Switzerland after being labelled a communist in the 1950's, was invited back to the U.S. to accept his honorary Academy Award. Here he is pictured with Groucho and Danny Kaye looking on (photo by Candice Bergen).

Groucho greatly admired Chaplin. While he was not in the habit of complimenting other comedians, Groucho said about Chaplin in the May 1936 issue of Motion Picture magazine: "I know now there will never be anyone like him. He's in a class by himself, just as he has always been", and again in his 1959 autobiography: "He's still the greatest comic figure that the movies, or any other medium, ever spawned". Chaplin also admired Groucho, wishing he could talk on screen like Groucho did.

During the 65 years of their acquaintanceship, Groucho and Chaplin saw each other perhaps a dozen or so times (according to Hector Arce, author of Groucho (1979)). One of the occasions where they had met was at dinner at the famous Chasen's restaurant in Hollywood on 4 September 1940. Groucho wrote a letter to his good friend Arthur Sheekman the next day, talking about his conversation with Chaplin. An excerpt from the letter is seen below (only the part that deals with Chaplin) with interesting remarks from Groucho such as "He's very odd. In some ways, he has no sense of humor at all [..]". Also, Groucho mentioned in his letter what I already mentioned above, i.e. that Chaplin envied him for talking so "swiftly" on the screen. Groucho later said it was the greatest compliment anyone had ever given him.

September 5, 1940

Dear Sheek,

I'm working terribly hard and I don't like it. I really don't mind the work; it's just that when I work, I sleep badly; and it's insomnia rather than labor that makes me feel lousy.

Last night I had dinner with Chaplin at Dave Chasen's and he was in high humor- unusual for him. He told me, among other things, that he's not Jewish but wishes he were. He said he was part Scotch, English and Gypsy, but I think that he isn't quite sure what he is. He's very happy about his movie [The Great Dictator]. He ran it yesterday for the Breen Office - it runs over 13,000 feet and there wasn't a foot cut out of it. He thinks it will be a big hit. He's very odd. In some ways, he has no sense of humor at all and then again it's wonderful. He told me he hated the English but that he hoped they would win the war. He also hates Noel Coward and even refuses to see his playlets, which are now running at El Capitan.

At the finish of the meal, the most astonishing thing happened: he grabbed the check (for six; it came around $30*) and refused to let me have it. I was quite relieved, but luckily I'm sunburned and I don't think the white or my nervousness was discernible through the tan. He has a reputation for stinginess but I have always found him generous- not only with his money but with his praise. He thinks I'm wonderful and said that he envies my glibness and wishes he could talk as swiftly on the screen as I do. Well, enough of Chaplin and me!

[....]

[*According to the inflation calculator $30 in 1940 would now be $541.90]

Source: The Groucho Letters: Letters from and to Groucho Marx (1967)

A bone to pick with Chaplin

Louise Brooks and Charlie Chaplin had a love affair in New York during the summer of 1925. At the time, 18-year old Brooks was a chorus girl with the Ziegfeld Follies and had yet to make her film debut, while Chaplin --36 years old and married to Lita Grey-- was already a popular filmmaker (he was in New York for the premiere of The Gold Rush). Their intense love affair lasted for two months after which Brooks and Chaplin went their separate ways. Although Brooks' views on Chaplin were mostly positive throughout the years, in 1964 after reading Chaplin's autobiography she said some very nasty things about him (see the two letters below). By 1966, Brooks had changed her tune considerably, remembering Chaplin in an essay in "Film Culture" (read here). 

Louise Brooks wrote the following letter about Charlie Chaplin to Frank (a friend?) on 27 November 1964. The letter is quite vicious but makes for a fascinating read.

Via: the silent movie blog

Transcript:

7 N Goodman Street

Rochester 7 NY

27 November 1964

Dear Frank

You were right about having a bone to pick with Chaplin. I would have forgiven him everything if he had written a first-rate film book. This he did not chose [sic] to do because of his vulgar need to please. At least he has made me understand why I never liked him. When I met him again after New York at the Hollywood home of Arthur Hornblow, I did not speak but moved into a corner. From that lovely vantage point, I watched him doing all his tricks -like a poodle- for Garbo, whom he had just met. She sat smugly on the arm of a chair leaning on the back, watching him under her lashes (like centipedes) with her slight contemptuous smile while her feet pawed idly at the slippers she had cast on the floor. He could not afford emotionally to remember her in the book. Did I say poodle? Well, she did a jolly job of altering him.

Oh, the book has made me ill. His sex pride! His intellectual fatuity! All those babes knocking on his bedroom door. He still tries to pass off a crude bunch of lies to a world who would not know the difference. He grew to hate Paulette, who was, as I told Herman, a bitch in a ditch. They did a sneak marriage in Mexico because she was putting the freeze on him during THE DICTATOR and that could have ruined him. And he does not even mention Martha Raye, who was so magnificent in M VERDOUX or Von Sternberg or Monta Bell. And picture after picture of how pretty he was in his youth!

I am working very long hours. Manya tired me. Since I left the Church, I have had few human contacts. I prefer the blank paper to the needy companion.

Regards,

(signed) Louise Brooks

Charles Chaplin photographed by Edward Steichen in 1925, and the first edition of Chaplin's autobiography.

And this is an excerpt from a letter by Brooks written to a woman named Dorothy. The letter is undated but was also written after the publication of Chaplin's autobiography in 1964. 

Source: heritage auctions/ image reproduced with permission

Transcript:

The BBC interview, which ran 50 minutes, was pretty good, although the kid who interviewed me was a screaming pansy. Happily, we did not discuss Chaplin. That such a barren little man could have produced [redacted] such a monumental collection of work is beyond belief. I have been so busy defending him over the last decades that I had forgotten, until I read his book, how very vulgar and cheap he was. His sex pride! All [redacted] those babes knocking on his bedroom door! His character becomes more and more Dorian Gray-ish-- his films becoming more wonderful as he devolves into something frightful, vapid, and crass. Another fine example of the missing link between genius and humanity!!

regards

(signed) Louise Brooks

Chaplin's support for The Hollywood Ten

Left photo: John Howard Lawson; right: Charles Chaplin

The late 1940s and early 1950s are often referred to as the darkest years in Hollywood history. During this period, also known as the McCarthy era, anyone suspected of having communist ties was investigated. In 1947, the HUAC (House on Un-American Activities Committee) began its investigations into Hollywood communism through high-profile, public hearings at which people in the film industry were forced to testify. Ten screenwriters and directors, later known as The Hollywood Ten, refused to cooperate with the HUAC and were consequently sent to prison for contempt of Congress and blacklisted. Screenwriter John Howard Lawson was one of The Hollywood Ten, appearing before the HUAC on 29 October 1947 (interesting footage of Lawson's testimony can be seen here). Found guilty of contempt of Congress, Lawson spent a year in prison and was fined $1,000. After his release from prison, he moved to Mexico where he continued to work under pseudonyms. 

Along with The Hollywood Ten, more than 300 artists (actors, directors, but mainly screenwriters) were blacklisted. Charlie Chaplin, known for his communist sympathies since WWII, was one of them. He was forced to settle in Europe after he had gone to England in 1952 and his reentry permit to the U.S. was revoked. On 9 September 1955, having taken up residence in Switzerland, Chaplin wrote a letter to his friend John Howard Lawson. In the letter Chaplin not only praises Lawson for his courageous actions, but also conveys his concern on America's political climate.

Source: special collections research center, morris library

Transcript: 

9th September, 1955

This message, John, on your sixtyfirst Birthday, is a small token of appreciation to you as an artist and a man of outstanding courage and integrity; a man who has stood resolute against those who would attempt to control thought and desecrate the true American spirit.

In these days of trumped-up hysteria, I think it is important and essential that the artist and intellectual unite and consolidate against these political forces that have instigated this deplorable police system, which attempts to turn the United States into a nation of informers.

Such morbidity, if allowed to continue, will grow into a cancer that will not only destroy American democracy, but will also destroy the soul of the American people.

Nevertheless, the true American spirit as exemplified in such men as yourself, Paul Robeson, Dalton Trumbo and legions of others, exalts my faith that the eventual outcome will be a victory for those who believe in true Americanism. 

Good health and good luck to you John, and my salutations to everyone present.

Charles Chaplin (signed)

Note: the handwritten address and comment were, judging by the handwriting, not added by Chaplin himself.

The Hollywood Ten with John Howard Lawson in the middle row, second from the left.

"I have never wavered from my original determination..."

In September 1939, one week after the start of WWII, Charlie Chaplin began filming "The Great Dictator" (1940), his satire on Adolf Hitler. The project was daring and controversial, evoking strong protests from various parties. The British government, for one, announced it would prohibit the film's screening, in accordance with its appeasement policy regarding Nazi Germany.

Even before filming had started, there were protests and also false reports in the press that Chaplin had given up his project. On 18 March 1939, Chaplin issued the following statement to the press, saying he would not back down but continue with his film. Years later, however, he would state in his autobiography (1964) that if he'd known then of the atrocities of the concentration camps, he could never have made the film.

Source: bonhams/ image reproduced with permission

Transcript: 

CHARLES CHAPLIN FILM CORPORATION
1416 North La Brea Avenue
Hollywood, California

Owing to erroneous reports in the press that I have abandoned my production concerning dictators, I wish to state that I have never wavered from my original determination to produce this picture. Any report, past, present or future, to the effect that I have given up the idea, is deliberately false. I am not worried about intimidation, censorship or anything else. I am making a comedy picture on the lives of dictators which I hope will create much healthy laughter throughout the world.

(Signed) Charles Chaplin

March 18, 1939

Ten cents a photo

Until 1929, fan photos of Hollywood stars were sent out by the film studios for free. These photos were hugely popular amongst fans and produced in large quantities. It is said that one of the studios was sending out 1.5 million photos a year, and that the total of photos sent by the studios and freelance actors amounted to 50 million a year. Beginning in 1929, fans would be charged for the photos (10cts for a 5x7" photo, 25cts for 8x10" and $1 for 1x14"). They'd receive a standard reply card from the studio (signed by the actor whose photo had been requested), saying there was a rule against sending free photos and asking the fans to pay for them in advance. There were Hollywood stars, however, who refused to charge their fans for the photos. Charlie Chaplin, for example, argued that he owed his success to his fans, mostly children, and to ask them for money would be unfair. Chaplin would continue to send out photos free of charge, which must have cost him a fair amount of money (considering he received 20,000 fan letters per month).

Charles Chaplin

Here are two reply cards from Warner Brothers, one signed by Errol Flynn, the other one by Olivia de Havilland.

And reply cards from Paramount (signed by Fred MacMurray), Twentieth Century Fox (signed by Fredric March) and Samuel Goldwyn Inc. (signed by Merle Oberon).

Source: immortal ephemera

Fred MacMurray, Fredric March and Merle Oberon