‘Never thought it could be as cold as this in Hong Kong’: Charlie Chaplin on 1936 visit

“The most enthusiastic welcome Mr Charles Chaplin, the famous comedian, received when he arrived in Hongkong yesterday evening was from the children, crowds of whom were at the ship to meet their screen idol,” ran the story in the South China Morning Post on March 13, 1936.

“When the Dollar liner President Coolidge berthed at the wharf there were nearly 100 children, both European and Chinese, ready to board the ship, and while Press represent­atives spoke to Mr. Chaplin in his cabin, the children pressed round for a ‘close-up’ view.”

Chaplin was accompanied by Paulette Goddard, his fiancée and the co-star of his latest movie, Modern Times (1936), and her mother. The three planned to remain in Hong Kong for a short time, staying at The Peninsula hotel, and then visit Manila and Bali before returning to the United States via Hong Kong.

Chaplin told the Post that he remembered his last visit to Hong Kong well. “We were here only a day – but you had wonderful weather – I never thought it could be as cold as this in Hongkong.”