Charlie Chaplin: Intimate Close-Ups

Rating:
Summary: Totally misleading title
Review: From the title of the book, one would expect intimate (i.e., sexual) tid-bits to be explored in this book. Forget it, Georgia Hale was almost without doubt Chaplin's mistress for several years but this prudish, virginal woman inexplicably chose to present herself as a chaste, untouched maiden, all the while living in Charlie's Summit Drive estate in Hollywood. Georgia Hale was Charlie's co-star in his immortal 1925 film "The Gold Rush;" she was discovered by Chaplin and she owned her entire career to him. She also fell madly in love with him but claims that she held off sleeping with him because of his (miserably unhappy) second marriage to Lita Grey. Her morality supposedly prevented her from taking the plunge with the Little Tramp. Yeah, right.

Georgia writes poorly, wanders all over the place in her style and tells the reader very little about Charlie besides the fact he was moody, brilliant, beautiful, sexy, maddening and immature. Oh yes, let's toss in genius to the mix, but we already knew all of that. Hale was in a unique position of revealing much about Charlie during a pivotal period in his life; she was undeniably close to him and he trusted her and treated her better than he treated many of his other paramours. But she muddies the water with an insipid and irritating style and the absolute crusher is the final chapter. It's an idiotic dream sequence which goes on forever and is both banal and bizarre.

The most interesting story in the entire book is when she briefly reunites with Charlie at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1972. Oona leaves the room and Chaplin asks her, "Have you ever married?" Even after 40 years, Georgia is still hopelessly besotted with Charlie and breathlessly intones, "After you, Charlie, no man could compare." Naturally Chaplin adores this line and showers her with kisses. One senses this was Georgia Hale's greatest moment since Charlie threw her over in the early 30's.

In short, a poorly written book, a tome of missed opportunities. Oh, what could have been!

Rating:
Summary: Georgia Gets Her Man- For A Time
Review: I am a big Chaplin fan, so I try and read whatever I can get my hands on. Georgia Hale was Charlie's leading lady for The Gold Rush, and unbeknownst to me, one of his major loves off-screen. Their relationship was on-and-off again for several years, but he kept coming back to her. I enjoyed reading about Georgia's childhood and her search to meet the man (she claims) who completely saved her life. Her accounts with him are surprising, endearing, memorable. I only wish she would spend more time talking about herself as an individual, instead of Charlie's companion. This accounts for gaps in time and information since it is apparent that she feels the times not spent with Charlie are not worth mentioning. She also ends the book on a rather uneventful and abrupt note which is dissatisfying. You learn more about Georgia's post-Chaplin life (but not much) in the introduction by the author. However, it is a touching recollection of her times with this amazing man, hence my 3 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Intimate Close-ups: Charlie Chaplin
Review: I'm a huge fan of Charlie Chaplin's and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Georgia Hale was a "hidden" love of his and this book gave me a lot of new info on him. If you like Charlie Chaplin and want to learn about another part of his life, this is the book to read.