Page "Charlie Chaplin" Paragraph 39

Chaplin was markedly unhappy with the marriage, and spent long hours at the studio to avoid seeing his wife.

Soon after The Gold Rushs release he was at work on a new film: The Circus.

Chaplin built a story around the idea of walking a tightrope while besieged by monkeys, which became the film's " climactic incident ", and turned The Tramp into the accidental star of a circus.

David Robinson notes that the film provided " a welcome distraction " from the " wretchedness " of his home life ; Grey was pregnant for a second time, frustrating Chaplin and exacerbating difficulties between the pair.

Their second son, Sydney Earle Chaplin, was born on 30 March 1926.

Filming on The Circus was continuing steadily when a fire broke out on 28 September, destroying the set.

Although the studio was quickly brought back into operation, it marked the beginning of severe difficulties for Chaplin.

In November, Grey took their children and left the family home.

Unwilling to allow his film to be drawn into the divorce proceedings, Chaplin announced that production on The Circus had been temporarily suspended.