Wife of the Life of the Party

Rating:
Summary: Her ghostwritten first book was better
Review: ...and that's saying plenty. Lita Grey Chaplin had at least a hand in producing two books on her brief two-year marriage to Charlie Chaplin. The first book, published in 1966, was ghostwritten, but was much more interesting than this boring, plodding effort. If you're looking for lurid sexual escapades and revelations, opt for the 1966 offering, for there is nothing interesting contained in this book. In fact, the majority of the book is taken up with the complete divorce complaint of the Chaplins from 1927, which makes for stilted, uninspired reading. The photographic section is similarly flat and uninspired. The only thing worth reading in the entire book is the introduction written by Sydney Chaplin, Lita and Charlie's second born son.

One other reason for investigating the book is that it shows the unflattering side of Charlie, one which Chaplin addicts (like me) try to avoid confronting. Chaplin was a man of extreme moods and he could be enormously seductive, charming and adorable one minute, and a crude, insensitive cad the next moment. In fairness, Lita trapped Charlie into marriage when she got pregnant at the age of 16. Chaplin was interested in a torrid affair and not a permanent relationship; he demanded she get an abortion, she refused, and he was stuck in a loveless marriage. The whole arrangement was screwy from the get go, but Charlie's notorious aversion to contraceptives again did him in. Chaplin comes off very badly throughout the narrative and Lita even claims she never even loved him. Again, ths is in direct contrast to her 1966 book which shows her to have been a nymphmaniac/besotted Chaplin chick all the way.

I'd recommend this only to people who have a mania to read everything ever printed on Charlie; for casual fans, there's no necessity to bother over this tepid trifle.

Rating:
Summary: Thanks to the warning reviewers
Review: First, my rating should not be considered since I did not read this book. I would just like to take a minute to say something. I don't think I can actually thank the 2 reviewers warning not to buy this book by writing to them personally, so I will say it here. Thank you! I had a feeling this book would be just as you described. I didn't think Lita's motives or personality could ever be truly credible after the way she publicly drug his name through the mud during the divorce. Thank you for solidifying my assumption and saving me a few dollars! Glad others feel the way I do!

Very appreciative,
Chaplin fan forever

Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Life
Review: Here is a marvelous book detailing the fascinating and interesting life of LITA GREY CHAPLIN. She of course was the child bride of CHARLES CHAPLIN that mangaged to sue and win a substanial sum when divorcing him in 1927, causing one of the great Hollywood scandals of the 1920's. I enjoyed this book because it clears up all the distortions and inaccuracies of her first ghost-written memoir, "MY LIFE WITH CHAPLIN". In his introduction, author Jeffrey Vance clearly places LITA GREY'S importance in the history of CHARLIE CHAPLIN : She influenced three of CHAPLIN'S greatest films : THE KID, THE GOLD RUSH, and THE CIRCUS. Also included are the divorce documents and helpful notes and afterword. A must for CHAPLIN aficionados.

Rating:
Summary: The dirt, m'am, nothing but the dirt
Review: Lita Grey as hardly an important figure in the career of the great Chaplin. She was, of course, a scandalous footnote, one of the many far-too-young women in his life. Her time with Chaplin was brief, so any notion of her being any level of expert on him is, at best, vague.

Her influence on his art is greatly overstated, her impact on his life was limited to his wallet, and this book won't give anyone any legitimate insight into the artist or the man. It is just a self-serving tome, and not worth your while.

Leave us not support this; avoid, except for the titillation value.

Rating:
Summary: The dirt, m'am, nothing but the dirt
Review: Lita Grey as hardly an important figure in the career of the great Chaplin. She was, of course, a scandalous footnote, one of the many far-too-young women in his life. Her time with Chaplin was brief, so any notion of her being any level of expert on him is, at best, vague.

Her influence on his art is greatly overstated, her impact on his life was limited to his wallet, and this book won't give anyone any legitimate insight into the artist or the man. It is just a self-serving tome, and not worth your while.

Leave us not support this; avoid, except for the titillation value.

Rating:
Summary: Sadly not worth the effort
Review: Lita Grey Chaplin, the screen legend's second, teenaged, bride, published her memoirs of life with Chaplin back in 1966. That supposedly shocking "exposé" was apparently mainly the work of a ghost-writer who spiced it up to bolster sales. "Wife of the Life of the Party," on the other hand, is advertized as a much more balanced view of the lady's stormy, if brief, marriage to Chaplin. It may be; I haven't read the 1966 book. But Lita still presents herself as innocence incarnate and Charlie as an unfeeeling cad and a debaucher. The truth, I suspect, lies somewhere in between. The big question, however, remains: Does it matter anymore? Chaplin's work speaks for itself. Obviously, the writing of the book was a cartharsis for an elderly woman, who, sadly, passed away shortly before it was published. My two stars are for Miss Chaplin's interesting account of the making of THE KID and for co-author Jeffrey Vance's copious and informative notes and wrap-around.

Rating:
Summary: Sadly not worth the effort
Review: Lita Grey Chaplin, the screen legend's second, teenaged, bride, published her memoirs of life with Chaplin back in 1966. That supposedly shocking "exposé" was apparently mainly the work of a ghost-writer who spiced it up to bolster sales. "Wife of the Life of the Party," on the other hand, is advertized as a much more balanced view of the lady's stormy, if brief, marriage to Chaplin. It may be; I haven't read the 1966 book. But Lita still presents herself as innocence incarnate and Charlie as an unfeeeling cad and a debaucher. The truth, I suspect, lies somewhere in between. The big question, however, remains: Does it matter anymore? Chaplin's work speaks for itself. Obviously, the writing of the book was a cartharsis for an elderly woman, who, sadly, passed away shortly before it was published. My two stars are for Miss Chaplin's interesting account of the making of THE KID and for co-author Jeffrey Vance's copious and informative notes and wrap-around.