Thursday, October 15, 2015

The Great Dictator 75 -- October 15, 2015

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75 years ago today, on 15-October-1940, United Artists released what was expected to be a controversial movie from Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator.  Chaplin played two characters for the first time since "The Idle Class" in 1921.  He played a nameless Jewish barber who had been shell-shocked during the First World War.  After twenty years, he wandered away from the hospital and no one wanted to look for him.  He returned to his barbershop in the ghetto.  Chaplin also played Adenoid Hynkel, the cruel dictator of Tomania.

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I always enjoy Jack Oakie's performance as Napoloni, the bombastic dictator of Bacteria.  I think he captured the way people had come to perceive Benito Mussolini.

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Paulette Goddard was spunky as Hannah.

My favorite part of the movie is the final speech.


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