Page "Charlie Chaplin" Paragraph 62

Chaplin continued being a subject to political controversy throughout the 1950s, especially as he was awarded the International Peace Prize by the Communist World Peace Council and lunched with Chou En-Lai in 1954, and when he briefly met Nikita Khrushchev in 1956.

His first European film, A King in New York ( 1957 ), was also a political satire that openly parodied the HUAC.

Its protagonist is an exiled king, played by Chaplin, who arrives in New York with a plan to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

While there, he meets an intelligent little boy ( played by his son, Michael ), whose parents are targeted by the FBI.

Chaplin founded a new production company, Attica, for the film and rented a studio from Shepperton Studios for the shooting.

Filming in England proved a difficult experience, as he was used to his own Hollywood studio and familiar crew.

According to David Robinson, this also had an effect on the quality of the film.

A King in New York was released in September 1957, and received mainly mixed reviews.

Chaplin decided not to release the film in the United States, which also meant that it was financially much less successful than his earlier films, despite moderate commercial success in Europe.

He also banned American journalists from its Paris premiere.