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XXII
Lita Grey— second marriage and divorce
After "A Woman of Paris," Chaplin felt it would not be fair to Edna Purviance, with her new standing as a dramatic actress, to ask her to play the comparatively unimportant feminine lead in his next comedy. Moreover she had matured and her type had gone out of fashion. The bold "Flapper" had displaced the demure and lady-like heroine. Chaplin began to try out new girls. He preferred an unknown, perhaps as a salary saver, but still more because it gave him pleasure to mold inexperienced, fresh talent. The tryouts left him unsatisfied until Lolita McMurry appeared at the studio with her mother. Lolita was not unknown to Chaplin. She lived with her Mexican mother and grandparents in a bungalow near the studio. When she was seven years old she caught his attention. At the age of twelve, with her hair worn up, she played the flirting angel in the heaven sequence in "The Kid." Both she and her mother played maids in "The Idle Class." Now, at the age of sixteen, she was suddenly quite grown-up, attractive though of rather ordinary looks, with a broad face and a low forehead. Her charm lay in her animal spirits and carefree nature. She was backward in school; she lacked sensitivity and showed little signs of talent. She did not photograph well and when taught acting, showed little capacity to learn. Yet Chaplin was enthusiastic about the test. His "yes men" promptly agreed, with the exception of Jim Tully who would not commit himself.