【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 39。s quick eye for a pretty girl had a coarse way about it that was considered, well, not quite nice by English audiences—that39。s how foreigners behaved, wasn39。t it? But for over half of his screen career, Chaplin had no screen voice to confirm his British nationality.Indeed, it was a headache for Chaplin when he could no longer resist the talking movies and had to find the right voice for his Tramp. He postponed that day as long as possible: In Modern Times in 1936, the first film in which he was heard as a singing waiter, he made up a nonsense language which sounded like no known nationality. He later said he imagined the Tramp to be a collegeeducated gentleman who39。d e down in the world. But if he39。d been able to speak with an educated accent in those early short edies, it39。s doubtful if he would have achieved world fame. And the English would have been sure to find it odd. No one was certain whether Chaplin did it on purpose but this helped to bring about his huge success.He was an immensely talented man, determined to a degree unusual even in the ranks of Hollywood stars. His huge fame gave him the freedom—and, more importantly, the money—to be his own master. He already had the urge to explore and extend a talent he discovered in himself as he went along. It can39。t be me. Is that possible? How extraordinary, is how he greeted the first sight of himself as the Tramp on the screen.But that shock roused his imagination. Chaplin didn39。t have his jokes written into a script in advance。 he was the kind of ic who used his physical senses to invent his art as he went along. Lifeless objects especially helped Chaplin make contact with himself as an artist. He turned them into other kinds of objects. Thus, a broken alarm clock in the movie The Pawnbroker became a sick patient undergoing surgery。 boots were boiled in his film The Gold Rush and their soles eaten with salt and pepper like prime cuts of fish (the nails being removed like fish bones). This physical transformation, plus the skill with which he executed it again and again, is surely the secret of Chaplin39。s great edy.He also had a deep need to be loved—and a corresponding fear of being betrayed. The two were hard to bine and sometimes—as in his early marriages—the collision between them resulted in disaster. Yet even this painfullybought selfknowledge found its way into his ic creations. The Tramp never loses his faith in the flower girl who39。ll be waiting to walk into the sunset with him。 while the other side of Chaplin makes Monsieur Verdoux, the French wife killer, into a symbol of hatred for women.It39。s a relief to know that life eventually gave Charlie Chaplin the stability and happiness it had earlier denied him. In Oona O39。Neill Chaplin, he found a partner whose stability and affection spanned the 37 years age difference between them, which had seemed so threatening, that when the official who was marrying them in 1942 turned to the beautiful girl of 17 who39。d given notice of their wedding date, he said, And where is the young man? —Chaplin, then 54, had cautiously waited outside. As Oona herself was the child of a large family with its own problems, she was well prepared for the battle that Chaplin39。s life became as many unfounded rumors surrounded them both—and, later on, she was the center of calm in the quarrels that Chaplin sometimes sparked in his own large family of talented children.Chaplin died on Christmas Day 1977. A few months later, a couple of almost ic body thieves stole his body from the family burial chamber and held it for money. The police recovered it with more efficiency than Mack Sennett39。s clumsy Keystone Cops would have done, but one can39。t help feeling Chaplin would have regarded this strange incident as a fitting memorial—his way of having the last laugh on a world to which he had given so many.2B Modest and softspoken, Agatha Muthoni Mbogo, 24, is hardly the image of a revolutionary. Yet, six months ago, she did a most revolutionary thing: She ran for mayor of Embu, Kenya, and won.Ms. Mbogo39。s victory was even more surprising because she was voted in by her colleagues on the District Council, all men. For the thousands of women in this farming area two hours northeast of Nairobi, Ms. Mbogo suddenly became a symbol of the increasingly powerful political force women have bee in Kenya and across Africa.Ms. Mbogo launched her dream of a career in politics in 1992 by running for the Embu Council, facing the obstacles that often trouble African women running for political office. She had little money. She had no political experience. She faced ridiculous questions about her personal life. My opponent kept insisting that I was going to get married to somebody in another town and move away, Ms. Mbogo said.Ms. Mbogo also faced misunderstanding among the town39。s women, many of whom initially were unwilling to vote for her. She became an ambassador for women39。s political rights, giving speeches before women39。s groups and going from door to door, handbag in hand, spending hours at a time giving a bination of speech and government lesson.I was delighted when she won the election, because men elected her, said Lydiah Kimani, an Embu farmer and political activist. It was the answer to my prayers because it seemed to be a victory over this idea that 39。women can39。t lead39。.Education of African women has bee a top priority for political activists. One organization has held dozens of workshops in rural Kenya to help women understand the nation39。s constitution and the procedures and theory behind a democratic political system. One veteran female political activist said that many women had not been taught the basics of political participation. They are taught to vote for the one who gives you a half kilo sack of flour, 200 grams of salt, or a loaf of bread during the campaign, said the activist.