The Great Dictator (1940)

Run time: 06:54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I0Bk4WIQTQ   Posted on YouTube: August 20, 2007 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: September 23, 2007 By DU Member: PSPS Views on DU: 888

 
They had a series of movies on Turner Classic Movies last night which were the first where their stars appeared with sound. This clip is from the 1940 "The Great Dictator" which was the first time people heard Charlie Chaplin's voice.

Chaplin plays two roles: One as the Hitleresque character "Adenoid Hynkel" (Dictator of Tomania) and the other as a Jewish barber who, of course, bears a striking physical resemblence to the dictator. The Jewish barber, through a series of lucky coincidences, becomes mistaken for the dictator and, in this scene, gets his chance to speak to the people of Osterlich and all of Tomania, who listen eagerly on the radio.

The speech is soemthing that, sadly, fits right in with the state of the USA today.

Gods bless Charlie Chaplin!

It was a good idea to post his speech.

Maybe then we wouldn't be in such trouble.

This should be played on every TV station in the country every day until people wake up.

Funny that happens when people advocate love and peace. The reference to Luke 17 was a great touch, just like what George Harrison sang in Crackerbox Palace, "Know That The Lord Is Well And Inside Of You". I agree show this movie again and again.

Thank you for posting it. The scene where he bounces the globe on his hands and feet is also magnificent.

It's interesting to consider that this movie came out roughly a year-and-a-half before Pearl Harbor and our entry into WWII.

Americans were already well aware of what the Nazi's were doing in Europe, but weary from WWI, we were hesitant to fight a second war in Europe less than 25 years after the last one ended.

Chaplin, who was born in England, must have been beside himself as America stood by while his birthplace was bombed to holy hell.

Chaplin was beat up by McCarthy for this thing. I guess opposing dictators is considered communism. I used to wonder how perilously close we really are to a dictatorship we are. Of course now I wonder if the lens of history won't judge this period AS a period of imperial dictatorship within America, when the haze, fury, and static of 24-hour news propaganda lifts.