{"product_id":"when-charlie-met-joan-the-tragedy-of-the-chaplin-trials-and-the-failings-of-american-law","title":"When Charlie Met Joan: The Tragedy of the Chaplin Trials and the Failings of American Law","description":"Charlie Chaplin, the silent screen's \"Little Tramp,\" was beloved by millions of movie fans until he starred in a series of salacious, real-life federal courtroom dramas. The 1944 trial was described by ace \u003ci\u003eNew York Daily News\u003c\/i\u003e reporter Florabel Muir as \"the best show in town.\" The leading lady was a woman under contract to his studio--red-haired ingénue Joan Barry, Chaplin's protégée and former mistress. Although he beat the federal criminal trial, Chaplin lost a paternity case and had to pay child support despite blood type evidence that proved he was not the child's father. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A decade later during the Cold War, the U.S. government used the Barry trials as an excuse to bar the left-leaning, sexually adventurous, British-born comic from the country he had called home for forty years. Not only did these trials have a lasting impact on law; they also raise concerns about the power of celebrity, Cold War politics, the media frenzy surrounding high-profile court proceedings, and the sorry history of the casting couch. \u003ci\u003eWhen Charlie Met Joan\u003c\/i\u003e examines these trials from the perspective of both parties, asking whether Chaplin was unfairly persecuted by the government because of his left-leaning political beliefs, or if he should have been held more accountable for his cavalier treatment of Barry and other women in his life.","brand":"Diane Kiesel","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46486489825516,"sku":"9780472133581","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0684\/1791\/3068\/files\/9780472133581.jpg?v=1748315827","url":"https:\/\/intl.allstora.com\/products\/when-charlie-met-joan-the-tragedy-of-the-chaplin-trials-and-the-failings-of-american-law","provider":"Allstora","version":"1.0","type":"link"}