| List of Illustrations and Credits | xi |
| Preface | xiii |
| Acknowledgments | xix |
| Abbreviations | xxi |
| Part 1 | To the Top | |
| 1 | Chaplin, the Early Films, and the Rise to Stardom | 3 |
| The Rough-Edged Diamond: Charlie at Keystone | |
| "Chaplinitis": Charlie at Essanay | |
| The Genteel Tradition and the "Vulgar" Charlie | |
| Romance and Pathos: The "Refining" of Charlie | |
| 2 | The Perils of Popularity | 25 |
| Chaplin's Star Image in the Mutual Period | |
| The Further "Refining" of Charlie | |
| Chaplin the "Slacker"? | |
| The First Marriage and Divorce | |
| Troubles at First National | |
| Part 2 | At the Top: Charlie and the 1920s | |
| 3 | From The Kid to The Gold Rush | 55 |
| Finishing Up at First National | |
| Interviews and Writings in the Early 1920s | |
| Branching Out: A Woman of Paris | |
| Creating an Epic: The Gold Rush | |
| Cultivating the Intelligentsia | |
| 4 | Struggling through the Twenties | 94 |
| Chaplin and Lita Grey | |
| Mixed Reviews: The Press and the Second Divorce | |
| The Burdens of Being Funny: The Circus | |
| Charlie and the Threat of the Talkies | |
| Farewell to the Twenties: City Lights | |
| Part 3 | The Challenge of Progressive Politics | |
| 5 | The Depression, the World Tour, and Modern Times | 127 |
| A Comedian Sees--and Comments on--the World | |
| Critics, Artists, and Depression America | |
| Chaplin's Public Politics before 1936 | |
| Modern Times: Production, Publicity, and Promotion | |
| Modern Times: Political Ambiguity and Critical Response | |
| 6 | The Popular Front, The Great Dictator, and the Second Front, 1936-1942 | 159 |
| The Popular Front and American Antifascism | |
| The Great Dictator: Preparation, Production, and Promotion | |
| The Great Dictator and the Aesthetic Contract | |
| Critical, National, and International Reaction to The Great Dictator | |
| Chaplin and the Second Front | |
| Part 4 | Unraveling | |
| 7 | Joan Barry, the Press, and the Tarnished Image | 197 |
| The Affair | |
| Chaplin, Barry, and the Courts | |
| Chaplin, Barry, and the Gossip Columnists | |
| The Press and the Barry-Chaplin Story | |
| 8 | Monsieur Verdoux and the Cold War: Irreconcilable Differences | 221 |
| The Hollywood Emigres | |
| The Cooling of Progressivism in Early Postwar America | |
| Lashing Out: Monsieur Verdoux | |
| Monsieur Verdoux: Initial Promotion and Reception | |
| The Campaign That Failed | |
| 9 | Chaplin's Politics and American Culture, 1943-1952 | 253 |
| Chaplin the Progressive Activist, 1943-1949 | |
| Chaplin and the U.S. Congress | |
| Chaplin and the FBI: The Internal Security File | |
| Backing Away from Politics, 1950-1952 | |
| 10 | Limelight and Banishment: The Futility of Reconciliation | 279 |
| Chaplin, the U.S. Government, and Banishment, 1952-1953 | |
| Limelight: Autobiography and the Aesthetic Contract | |
| Critical Response to Limelight | |
| The Press and Banishment | |
| The Limelight Boycott and Chaplin's Star Image | |
| Part 5 | The Exile and America | |
| 11 | The Exiled Monarch and the Guarded Restoration, 1953-1977 | 317 |
| Running Battles: Chaplin, American Culture, and the Later 1950s | |
| Shifting Winds: The 1960s | |
| A Guarded Restoration: The 1972 Return Tour | |
| Rereleases and Chaplin's Star Image in the 1970s | |
| 12 | Epilogue | 361 |
| Notes | 375 |
| Select Bibliography | 419 |
| Index | 427 |
