The People Who Meet on Boats Between Shanghai and Hong Kong

Thanks to Peter Aspden, the weekend FT’s always readable arts guy, who wrote a column on the newly unveiled and restored Jean Cocteau murals at the Church of Notre Dame de France in Leicester Square (read all about it here). He also mentions in passing that Jean Cocteau met Charlie Chaplin on a boat steaming between Hong Kong and Shanghai. I like the idea of these two meeting and, obviously, I like that it happened on a boat somewhere between Shanghai and Hong Kong. However, it might have been a bit strained as neither man spoke the others language apparently. Still I do know from various biographies of him that Cocteau admired Chaplin but not sure what Chaplin thought of Cocteau. Cocteau of course was an infamous opium fiend!