Made-for-television biopic about the early life of the great silent comedy filmmaker. As a young boy, Charlie (Joe Geary) lives in poverty with his mother Hannah (Twiggy) and father Charles (Ian McShane). Striving to break into the theatre and using performance as a means of escape from his impoverished background, Charlie also has to deal with the gradual mental breakdown of his disturbed mother, and the effect this has on his family.