Charles Spencer Chaplin, the writer, producer, director, and editor of City Lights, was born in Walworth, London on April 16, 1899. His father was a music hall singer who, early in Chaplin's life, divorced his mother and subsequently, provided no support, financial or otherwise for either him or his older, half-brother, Sidney. Chaplin credited much of his success to his mother, Hannah, whom he loved dearly. She had been a stage actor, but evidently lost her ability to perform, but managed to earn a subsistence living for Chaplin and his brother by sewing. Unfortunately, Hannah slowly succumbed to mental illness and was often confined to an asylum for short periods of time by the time Charlie was seven years old. Charlie and Sidney were relegated to a workhouse for orphaned and abandoned children, until Hannah returned home from her first confinement. During one of Hannah's later stays at the asylum...