When Charlie Chaplin’s Art, Sex and Politics Collided with America
Join Michael in his conversation with Scott Eyman about his fascinating new book, Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided which explores the life and times of the movie genius leading to his banishment from the United States in 1952. In these days of cancellation, Eyman gives us urgency by highlighting the danger that government interference poses to artistic speech.
Scott was formerly the literary critic at The Palm Beach Post and is the author or coauthor of sixteen books, including the bestseller John Wayne and Pieces of My Heart and You Must Remember This with actor Robert Wagner. Eyman also writes book reviews for The Wall Street Journal and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. He and his wife, Lynn, live in West Palm Beach.
About Our Guest
Scott's other books include “20th-Century Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio” (Running Press; TCM; 2021); “Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise” (Simon & Schuster, 2020); “Hank & Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart,” (2017); the NYT Bestseller “John Wayne: The Life and Legend,” (2014) and two NYT Bestsellers with veteran actor Robert Wagner: “You Must Remember This” (2014) and “Pieces of My Heart” (2008).
His third book with Robert Wagner was “I Loved Her in the Movies” (2016). Among his other books are “Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille,” which won the 2011 Richard Wall Memorial Book Award, “Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer,” “Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford,” “Ernst Lubitsch: Laughter in Paradise,” and “The Speed of Sound” (all Simon & Schuster) and “John Ford: The Searcher” for Taschen.
Scott won the 2014 National Board of Review William K. Everson Award for Film History for his body of work. His journalism and criticism work made him a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He’s won multiple writing awards for his feature writing, film, and literary criticism.
He was an adjunct professor of film history for 7 years at the University of Miami in Coral Gables., FL. Scott has lectured extensively around the world, most frequently at the National Film Theater in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Moscow Film Theater. He’s done the commentary tracks for many DVDs, including “Trouble in Paradise,” “My Darling Clementine,” and “Stagecoach.” In 2014, he co-hosted with TCM Host Robert Osborne for a week on Turner Classic Movies, when the channel ran 24 hours of John Wayne every day. He’s appeared as a guest on the TCM Classic Cruises, at the TCM Film Festival, at Lone Star Western Film Festival, the John Wayne Birthplace Museum, the NYC Film Forum, and the Buster Keaton Festival, among others.
