Richard Attenborough attempting to get the project made for 18 years. He directed the screen version of the musical "A Chorus Line" (1985) and the anti-apartheid drama "Cry Freedom" (1987). He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director for both films. His later films as director and producer include "Chaplin" (1992) starring Robert Downey Jr., as Charlie Chaplin and "Shadowlands" (1993), based on the relationship between C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham (the star of the latter was Anthony Hopkins, who had appeared in four previous films for Attenborough: "Young Winston", "A Bridge Too Far", "Magic" and "Chaplin"). Between
Chaplin (film) film is structured around flashbacks as the elderly Charlie Chaplin (now living in Switzerland) recollects moments from his life during a conversation with fictional character George Hayden, the editor of his autobiography. Chaplin's recollections begin with his childhood of extreme poverty from which he escapes by immersing himself in the world of the London music halls. After his mother Hannah Chaplin has an attack of nerves on stage during a performance, the four year old Chaplin takes his mother's place on the stage. Hannah retires from performing and is eventually committed to an asylum after developing psychosis. In the years