Charlie Chaplin was one of the greatest and widely loved silent
movie stars. From “Easy Street” (1917) to “Modern Times” (1936),
he made many of the funniest and most popular films of his time.
He was best known for his character, the naive and lovable
Little Tramp. The Little Tramp, a well meaning man in a raggedy
suit with cane, always found himself wobbling into awkward
situations and miraculously wobbling away. More than any other
figure, it is this kind-hearted character that we associate with
the time before the talkies. Born in London in 1889, Chaplin
first visited America with a theater company in 1907. As
unemployment reached an all time high in 1933, this decade,
sandwiched between the roaring twenties and World War II, left
little to be highlighted other than the dismal consequences of
the Great Depression. From failed farmers to discouraged
businessmen to working mothers to displaced children, the
Depression between 1929 and 1939 invaded homes across the
nation. Twenty-five percent of the country