Star-dust in Hollywood (1930)

LAGOS SANDWICH-MEN Star-dust in Hollywood courtyard and balcony were packed to suffocation. The hilarity of the performance was interrupted by a sudden crash and howls from outside, quickly followed by the urgent ringing of an ambulance-bell. Our friend extricated himself from the box office and ran into the street. A tall palm-tree grew close to the walls of the compound, and up its forty feet of slender trunk a Charlie enthusiast had swarmed, congratulating himself on a free seat. In spite of this insecure perch, the glamour of Charlie had made him forget his position, and, letting go his hold in an ecstasy of delight, he overbalanced and fell, breaking both arms and several ribs. A second exhibition of Charlie given for the schoolchildren of Lagos was again interrupted, this time by the humour of the schoolgirls, who had been segregated in the balcony. Finding the boys' heads massed below them, the girls in the front rows had amused themselves by selecting any prominent pate as target for spittle. Even the delights of Charlie could not make the boys tolerate this inconvenience for long ; they tried to storm the balcony, but were beaten from the staircase by the Krooboy engineer armed with a heavy spanner. However, there is little need to give other examples of the world-wide popularity of Charlie Chaplin. In the hearts of almost every race, no matter whether it is European, Oriental, African, Celestial, or Esquimo, the genius of Charlie has been recognized and is welcomed. Only in America, from which the greater part of his humour has been drawn, is Charlie looked on with a rather dubious face. [212]