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Chaplin's 1921 trip abroad 139
plays." His horrified publicity man, Robinson, hurried him back into his cabin. As the boat neared Southampton, Chaplin's nervousness returned. The mayor was scheduled to greet him in the morning, when the ship docked. There were consultations on how he was to be addressed and Chaplin spent a sleepless night rehearsing a speech before the mirror. Opening his door in the early morning, he was swept back by the invading task force of English reporters, looking for a little man with a little mustache. The same questions, over again. Now, however, Chaplin had recovered his ease: He gave patient answers and in the meeting with the flustered mayor he proved the better poised.
A group of friends came on board: Tom Geraghty, Hollywood scenario writer who had authored Fairbanks' "The Mollycoddle" and "When the Clouds Roll By"; actor Donald Crisp, then directing movies in England; his cousin Aubrey Chaplin; Sonny Kelly, a friend from his music-hall days and brother of Hetty, the sweetheart of his adolescence; and others who claimed they knew him "when."
We have Chaplin's published reactions to the trip. Despite his discomfort in crowds and his weariness with his fixed "prop" smile, at public occasions, he did not deny being "a little shocked" that "somehow the crowds here are not as large as I had anticipated." On being informed that the boat was a day late and the crowd had had no way of learning the hour of arrival, his disappointment was assuaged.
The train ride to London thrilled him with the views of the English countryside. He also enjoyed reminiscing with Sonny and his cousin Aubrey. Casually he asked about Hetty. "Hetty? Why she died two years ago," replied Kelly. Chaplin was profoundly moved. He had been too busy with his career to follow happenings in far-off