Rating: 
Summary: A life reviewed from all angles.
Review: Although parts of this biography of Sir Charles Chaplin are very. . . distrubing, it does also present Chaplin at his best. It is a great read for one wanting a little more of the personal take on the early history of Hollywood, and its colorful characters. The biography also deals with the blacklisting that occurred during the McCarthy communist inquisition, and Chaplin's stance and involvement. If you want to read nothing but the nice things in Chaplin's life, do not even open the front cover of this copy. If your admiration of Chaplin is for his work, and you can handle a tarnished side of Chaplin, then by all means, read this book!
Rating:
Summary: A life reviewed from all angles.
Review: Although parts of this biography of Sir Charles Chaplin are very. . . distrubing, it does also present Chaplin at his best. It is a great read for one wanting a little more of the personal take on the early history of Hollywood, and its colorful characters. The biography also deals with the blacklisting that occurred during the McCarthy communist inquisition, and Chaplin's stance and involvement. If you want to read nothing but the nice things in Chaplin's life, do not even open the front cover of this copy. If your admiration of Chaplin is for his work, and you can handle a tarnished side of Chaplin, then by all means, read this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Possibly the best Chaplin biography written.
Review: An unflinching look at Chaplin, the person. Often surprising, but never dull reading. In a word, very fair in the author's treatment of Chaplin. Highly recommend for those who want a more truthful history of the Little Fellow's life.
Rating: 
Summary: not for chaplin fans
Review: due to a snafu with my computer, the first review i wrote for this book was lost. i could have just given up, but i am determined to implore those of you considering adding this book to your library to please resist! only because i had to choose a star rating did i give it a one star. i would have chosen 0 star if given the choice. though milton is obviously a talented writer and did much research for this project, she obviously has some kind of grudge against chaplin. true, he unfortunately left a great deal to exploit with the scandals, both personal and political. but what she so obviously neglected was his creative genius that earned him the title King of Comedy. she emphasizes rumors as facts and takes it upon herself to tell us what chaplin was more than likely feeling or thinking about any particular subject, when there is no way she could assume. for instance, in describing 'city lights,' a clear masterpiece, she completely distorts, in my opinion, the best movie ending EVER. that look on the tramp's face as he looks at the girl he loves - his face so full of love, fear, hopefulness - it is unbelievably touching and beautiful, but milton insists that he is using it to manipulate his audience - hopeful he still has their devotion and fearing his hold on them has passed. she portrays him to be an absolute monster. clearly, he couldn't have been the easiest person to live with, but it gives her no right to drag him through the mud as she did. i hate to think of the people out there just discovering the genius of charles chaplin - seeing her book and thinking it will be a good, truthful read. start with the david robinson book, or jeffrey vance - they are much more honest and fair. i keep my milton book only because i refuse to turn it over to a library or used book store to infect a future reader's mind.
Rating:
Summary: What a Story
Review: Having known next to nothing about Charlie Chaplin, I was not sure if I would enjoy this book at first; however, by the time I had finished the first chapter, I was hooked. It is more like a novel than a biography. It is well written and from time to time maks you laugh. The only draw back is the excessive excerpts from other works, which I ended up skipping.
Rating:
Summary: Good book--nasty little man
Review: I am one of those heretics who doesn't think The Great Chaplin is all that great. Keaton, Linder, yeah--but Chaplin? Maudlin and self-indulgent. After reading this absorbing book, I also realized what a nasty piece of work he was as a person--the story about the cat on M. Beaucaire put me on edge for days!
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT! AN ABSORBING GLIMPSE INTO A HOLLYWOOD LONG GONE
Review: I just finished reading this book and couldn't put it down! It is a truly engrossing look at the life, and the times, of an artist who truly defined the art of film-making through his work. I found Ms. Milton's work to be painstakingly thorough, even-handed, and balanced. She really draws you in until you feel as though you're looking over Chaplin's shoulder throughout the book. A truly great read for any buff of Chaplin and/or old-time Hollywood. BRAVO! However, I do have one gripe...Ms. Milton's effort deserved a more diligent proofreading, prior to publication. All in all, though, this is a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: A truely biased Bio. an epic waste of time and money.
Review: I was at first rather impressed by the epic size of the book thinking it must contain something new about the comedian. Well, I was wrong. It was long, tedious and nasty. Granted, Chaplin was not perfect, but the author's preoccupation with his imperfections borders on sickening. A better title for this book would be 'Trash, what I think of Charlie'. Joyce Milton would do well writing for tabloids...
Rating: 
Summary: Tramp - no insight into Chaplin as a filmmaker
Review: I wish I had done a little research on this book before reading it. As it turned out when I was near the end of the book it struck me that I wish I hadn't bought or read it. Undoubtedly the author is a talented writer and an impressive researcher, but the book's almost nonexistant focus on Chaplin as a filmmaker should be a caution to any reader.
Before getting to the bulk of the book I will point out the one positive aspect of the book. Chaplin's childhood left me in awe. To say that it was tough doesn't even come close, and I couldn't help thinking how lucky he was to rise from nothing to the succesful filmmaker that he became. Then there is the rest of the story.
In the +500 pages of 'Tramp,' Joyce Milton concentrates on two aspects of Chaplin's life. First, the author details the many sad and destructive relationships Chaplin had with his wives, mistresses, and countless others in Hollywood. Almost no one comes out looking good in any of these relationships - not Chaplin or most of the women. For about thirty years, until his marriage to Oona O'Neill, it is one tarnished and ruined experience after another. Paulette Goddard is one of the few who comes out in any positive light. And of Oona O'Neill, the one woman that Chaplin seemed to be able to have anything resembling a successful relationship, we end up learning the very least.
Second, the author dedicates an excessive amount of space on Chaplin's Marxists views. The point is clear - it is the highest irony that a multimillionaire actor had such strong opposition to free enterprise. A lot can be said of that, and Milton takes every opportunity to do so. The endless cast of insigificant Communist sympathizers goes on and on. What a boring lot they were! Eventually I read over these parts with no care to retain any of the information. In the end it was just plain tiresome.
It was largely surprising how little space Milton spent on Chaplin as a filmmaker. Many of the chapter titles are Chaplin's own movie titles. Yet, for example, in the nearly 30-page chapter 'City Lignts,' if you were to string together the few paragraphs that actually deal with the movie 'City Lights' you'd be lucky to put together 2 or 3 pages. At the end of the book, Milton makes the point that if you want to know Chaplin as a filmmaker, watch his videos, they are readily available. I second that - rent or buy his videos, skip this book.
Rating:
Summary: American Slapstick
Review: Joyce Milton's painstakable bio on Chaplin is amazing. She writes over 500 small-print pages of absolute detail from David Robinson's cover-all-ground novel, to Richard Attenborough's bio-pic "CHAPLIN". Though Chaplin fans may be getting tired of endless bio's, she says all the same, but with new detail and some new facts. I would recommend this story of rags-to-riches to anybody. ***** out of five
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