VANISH MAGIC BACK ISSUES SPECIAL EDITION No. 2 | Page 6

“ Entryway hello from Charlie April 16, 2016, the night before the official opening to the public, a party was held on the premises honoring (and being attended by) notables from every sphere of the world. Swiss papers reported one hundred and fifty journalists, from seventy-six countries also attending. As well, twenty members of the Chaplin family were present, including four of his children (Swiss papers noted) and at least two of his grandchildren. On April 17th, nearly every newspaper and TV show in Europe held prominent mention of the great Charlie Chaplin, and the majestic creation CHAPLIN’s WORLD. Opening Day, April 17, accompanied by my wife, being fifth and sixth on line, we entered CHAPLIN’s WORLD at precisely 10am—when the doors of CHAPLIN’s WORLD opened to the rest of the world! CHAPLIN’s WORLD is situated on his estate, his home, the Manoir de Ban. The thirty-six-acres focal point where he began living in 1953, after leaving the US under less than favorable circumstances that befell his kingly stature. Chaplin was hounded unethically, unmorally and with venom worthy of a man who clearly hated himself, J. Edgar Hoover, the Director of the (US) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Hoover was a man who regularly held covert meetings with Hedda Hopper, the larger-than-life female Hollywood gossip journalist and social miscreant. Hoover was a cross-dresser complete with earrings that almost dragged on the floor. No one said anything when he showed up like this during the 1950’s at parties or when leaving the FBI building in Washington DC. (This was the time of the largest, most profane and patently ridiculous adventure in fetid politics man can offer. Hoover was a hypocritical, social malcontent who had various assignations with Roy Cohn, a mafia lawyer. ) Chaplin’s original TRAMP suit from THE KID Enough darkness—step into the light of CHAPLIN’s WORLD! Executed brilliantly by the Grévin Company, CHAPLIN’s WORLD is a museum unlike any other the world over. How delightful to be able to report to the masses of Earth ——— Charlie Chaplin is alive! If poetic essence is the intense energy of life, then Charlie Chaplin is not dead. Was he ever? At this very moment, while you read, thousands, if not millions, are watching a Chaplin film right now, all over our planet. The man who lived, and became, Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889—1977) may have achieved Gandhian mythology, but, better. (Interestingly, Gandhi and Chaplin met in the 1930’s swapping philosophy.) While Lord Mountbatten said of Mahatma Gandhi, “Generations to come will scarce believe such a one as he walked among us,” this statement also applies to Chaplin. Now, CHAPLIN’s WORLD proves this indelibly. “ The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart. Executed brilliantly by the Grévin Company, CHAPLIN’s WORLD is a museum unlike any other the world over. How delightful to be able to report to the masses of Earth ——— Charlie Chaplin is alive! Ben with Chaplin’s bowler hat