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The Gold Rush Clippings 128/363

Variety, New York, December 10, 1924.

Bruno Kornman (photographer), Lita Grey Chaplin, undated,

University of Washington Libraries, autograph on photo

„Take the queen of the palace to the local high school“

Editorial content. „Chaplin In Dutch

                                                  Los Angeles, Dec. 9

      Charlie Chaplin has gotten himself in dutch with the

Los Angeles newspapers. All are reported as ,sore‘

at Charlie and the result of their ,mad‘ has resulted in the

announcement that Lillita McMurray Chaplin, his

16-year-old bride, known on the screen as Lita Grey, will

have to keep her school studies, though a married

woman, and may even quit the screen until she has reached

the age of 18.

      According to one of the boys working on an influential

local morning paper, ,Chaplin got snippy to the press,‘

and he is being ,taught a lesson.‘

      Seems as though when Chaplin decided to marry Miss

Grey he began giving the local papers the ,run-around.‘

They had several tips that he was going to Mexico and have

the knot tied, but on each inquiry Charlie said there

was nothing to it. Even when he started on the mission

southward, Chaplin kept denying that marriage was

the purpose by saying he was going on location. Then came

the ceremony, and after it Chaplin shut up like a clam.

      He had pulled his ,coup d‘etat‘ he felt and had no further

use for the press boys. The reporters who had been

on his trail were made to feel this, and when Chaplin got back

to town and the boys wanted to get near the bride

and obtain a little news copy they found that the gates to the

Beverly Hills mansion of Chaplin were barred to them.

      On the other hand, the family of the bride were very

nice to the boys. They told them all they knew and

incidentally that the bride was only 16. One of the newshounds, remembering that the California compulsory education

law called that children under 18 must go to school, decided

that the new Mrs. Chaplin should be a pupil though

married to the famous comedian. He dug up her birth

certificate and found that 16 was the age.

      So of course his paper printed a yarn that the Beverly

Hills authorities should march right up to the Chaplin

home and take the queen of the palace to the local high

school. 

      It is said that Mrs. Chaplin has a number of tutors who

are keeping her up in her studies and that everything

is O. K. at the home of Charlie, who admits that he is more

than twice the age of his latest bride, or 35 years old.

      At the Chaplin study it was learned that Mrs. Chaplin

may retire from screen work. That she has not

appeared in any sequence in The Gold Rush, which is the

new Chaplin picture being made, and that another

leading woman would be signed in her place.“ (...)

Redaktioneller Inhalt

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