Technology Dated But Message is Most Powerful

Rating: 9/10 (27 September 2006)

Chaplin plays the Dictator & ironically a Jewish Barber. There are eerie scenes resembling the Third Reich rounding up Jews which was happening when the movie was made.
This film features a lot of tried & true talent in the cast that worked with Chaplin in the silent era. It has a captivating performance by Paulette Goddard (Chaplins second wife) As the Jewish Barbers Girlfriend. Comedy bits by Chaplin in it are top notch from the beginning. It is his only sound film where Charlie still exhibits the energy he had in his silents. The script is a marvel for which Chaplin should be congratulated. The ending is a major dramatic surprise.
It is a dramatic speech in which Charlie looks wooden on screen while delivering the speech, but it is the words of the speech which are most important. The speech is a message from Charlie's heart, a plea for the modern world he saw in the late 1930's to please move towards world peace. This message is powerful enough to evoke tears, even in the modern viewer. The sad note is that even today, as then, nobody listens to this plea. The fanatic Hitler did not listen even though Adolf Hitler often seemed to use the news cameras to look like Charlie Chaplin.
Chaplins dance with the globe in this film illustrates what these fanatics want, but the destruction of the globe illustrates what they will get. This film has some of the greatest symbolism in the history of film, all at the hands of the little man who made us laugh, & out of character at the end of this film, makes us cry.
This film is the essential Chaplin, both historically & monumentally a great film.
I never heard this speech until I saw this movie. The entire film is a gem but to put this speech in perspective, Charles Chaplin] wrote this speech during one of the darkest times in 20th century history - in 1938 and 1939- during the rise of Adolf Hitler. Putting this in perspective - the speech is a plea for humans to care . This was Charlie Chaplin's first sound movie, and he wrote and directed it. Chaplin played Anoid Henkel - and Hitler's twin - a Jewish Barber. in the film, it is the Jewish BARBER making this speech. When set in the film, just before this speech, the Barber who everyone thinks is Henkle, is told he must go make the speech Henkle (Hitler) is supposed to make in front of a huge audience, the Barber's words are "I can't." What follows is this speech which is one of the greatest moments in Film History.