Showing posts with label Charlie Chaplin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charlie Chaplin. Show all posts

Monday 8 December 2014

The Shah's Order of the Crown for Charlie Chaplin

سلطاني در نيويورك

In December 1975, the Shah of Iran decorated Charlie Chaplin with a an Order of the Crown (Third Tadj medal) which was given to the retired comedian in his Swiss house.

Probably the Shah was unaware of the fact that the shrewd actor/director had already mocked him and his failure in seeing the changes in his country (as well as being a victim of his ignorance) in A King in New York, where the name of the dictator on the run is Shahdov.

If great art prophesies the things of future, then the sad ending of a dying, exiled Shah, waiting for  permission by the US government to be treated in a New York hospital (which was eventually rejected) clearly resembles the world of A King in New York.

The images are courtesy of Charlie Chaplin Archive in Bologna, Italy.