Charly Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin arrived in Vienna for a few relaxing days. But otherwise the occasionally warm Viennese heart knew no pity for the greatest film star of his time: Chaplin was badgered incessantly. Even his arrival resulted in a triumphal procession from the North Railway Station to the Hotel Imperial, with a crowd of 4,000 cheering the star. People climbed into trees to see him. Then he spoke his first words ever into a micro¬phone. His nervous cry of Guten Tak, Guten Tak! (The Viennese physically carried him out of the railway station, and he could only hold onto his hat and cane with one hand) became what is probably the shortest interview for this new (and to Chaplin as yet not trusted) medium. ‘I can only effectively assume to the role of The Tramp in mime,' he explained to the press, who wanted to know why he didn't continue speaking into the microphone. He did not yet want to make his voice known to the world.