3Chaplin arrived in Los Angeles, home of the Keystone studio, in early December 1913.[68] His boss was Mack Sennett, who initially expressed concern that the 24-year-old looked too young. Chaplin reassured him, "I can make up as old as you like."[69] He was not used in a picture until late January, during which time the comedian attempted to learn the processes of filmmaking.[70] Making a Living marked his film debut, released 2 February 1914. Chaplin strongly disliked the picture, but one review picked him out as "a comedian of the first water."[71]For his second appearance in front of cameras, Chaplin selected the costume with which he became identified. He described the process in his autobiography:5Modern Times was announced by Chaplin as "a satire on certain phases of our industrial life."[208] Featuring the Tramp and Goddard as endurers of the Great Depression, it took ten and a half months to film.[209] Chaplin prepared to use spoken dialogue, but upon rehearsal changed his mind. Like its predecessor, Modern Times employed sound effects but almost no speaking.[210]Chaplin's performance of a gibberish song did, however, give the Tramp a voice for the only time on film.[211]After recording the music, Chaplin released Modern Times in February 1936.[212]Charles J. Maland notes that it was his first feature in 15 years to adopt political references and social realism.[213]The film received considerable press coverage for this reason, although Chaplin tried to downplay the issue.[214] It earned less at the box office than his previous features and received mixed reviews; some viewers were displeased with Chaplin's politicising.[215] Today, the film is seen by the British Film Institute as one of Chaplin's "great features,"[193] while David Robinson says it shows the star at "his unrivalled peak as a creator of visual comedy."[216]6 City LightsBy the time The Circus was released, Hollywood had witnessed the introduction of sound films. Chaplin was cynical about this new medium and the technical shortcomings it presented, believing that "talkies" lacked the artistry of silent films.[181] He was also hesitant to change the formula that had brought him such success,[182] and feared that giving the Tramp a voice would limit his international appeal.[183] He therefore rejected the new Hollywood craze and proceeded to develop a silent film. Chaplin was nonetheless anxious about this decision, and would remain so throughout its production.[183] The movie in question was to become City Lights.When filming began at the end of 1928, Chaplin had been working on the story for almost a year.[184]City Lights followed the Tramp's love for a blind flower girl and his efforts to raise money for her sight-saving operation. It was a challenging production that lasted 21 months,[185]with Chaplin later confessing that he "had worked himself into a neurotic stateof wanting perfection".[186] Halfway through filming Chaplin fired his leading lady, Virginia Cherrill, only to ask her back a week later.[187] One advantage Chaplin found in sound technology was the ability to record a musical score for the film;[186]he also took the opportunity to mock the talkies, opening City Lights with a squeaky, unintelligible speech that "burlesqued the metallic tones of early talky voices".[188]Chaplin finished editing the picture in December 1930, by which time silent films were an anachronism.[189] The surprise preview showing in Los Angeles was not a success, and Chaplin left the movie theatre "with a feeling of two years' work and two million dollars having gone down the drain."[190] A showing for the press, however, produced positive reviews. One journalist wrote, "Nobody in the world but Charlie Chaplin could have done it. He is the only person that has that peculiar something called 'audience appeal' in sufficient quality to defy the popular penchant for movies that talk."[191] Given its general release in January 1931, City Lights proved to be a popular and financial success—eventually grossing over $5 million.[192] It is often referred to as Chaplin's finest accomplishment, and film critic James Agee believed the closing scene to be "the greatest piece of acting and the highest moment in movies".The Great DictatorThe 1940s saw Chaplin face a series of controversies, both in his work and his personal life, which changed his fortunes and severely affected his popularity in America. The first of these was a new boldness in expressing his political beliefs. Deeply disturbed by the surge of militaristic nationalism in 1930s world politics,[223] Chaplin found that he could not keep these issues out of his work: "How could I throw myself into feminine whimsy or think of romance or the problems of love when madness was being stirred up by a hideous grotesque, Adolf Hitler?"[224] He chose to make The Great Dictator—a "satirical attack on fascism" and his "most overtly political film".[225] There were strong parallels between Chaplin and the German dictator, having been born four days apart and raised in similar circumstances. It was widely noted that Hitler wore the same toothbrush moustache as the Tramp, and it was this physical resemblance that formed the basis of Chaplin's story.[226]8Chaplin died in his sleep from the complications of a stroke in the early morning of 25 December 1977 at his home in Switzerland.[281][291]The funeral, held two days later on 27 December, was a small and private Anglican ceremony, according to his wishes.[281] He was interred in the Vevey cemetery.Two months later, on 1 March 1978, Chaplin's coffin was dug up and stolen from its grave by two unemployed mechanics, Polish Roman Wardas and Bulgarian Gantcho Ganev, in an attempt to extort money from Chaplin's widow, Oona Chaplin.[281]After she refused to pay the ransom, they started to threaten Chaplin's youngest children with violence.[281]Ganev and Wardas were caught in a large police operation in May, and Chaplin's coffin was found buried in a field in the nearby village of Noville.[281]It was reburied in the Vevey cemetery under 6 feet (1.8 m) of concrete. In December 1978, Wardas received a sentence of four and a half years' imprisonment and Gantcho a suspended sentence for disturbing the peace of the dead and for the attempt of extortion。