A King in New York
1957
****
Director: Charles Chaplin
Cast: Charles Chaplin, Maxine Audley, Jerry Desmonde, Oliver Johnston, Dawn Addams, Sid James, Joan Ingram, Michael Chaplin, John McLaren, Phil Brown, Harry Green
Forced to flee his home country of Estrovia, King Shahdov arrives in New York City nearly penniless and becomes an unwitting celebrity in the age of television. In his penultimate directorial work and final screen performance, Charlie Chaplin pokes fun at consumerism, political paranoia, and the absurdities of American culture and media. This enjoyable film blends social critique and comedy, and Chaplin has clearly used his own 1952 exile from the US as source material.
