Hollywood Monday: The Great Dictator- A Memorial Day Tribute

Hollywood Mondays

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We chose this film clip to honor the brave men and women in our Armed Services. It is also a reminder that restraint and the wisdom to avoid a rush to judgement/violence makes us truly strong. War should always be the last and most regrettable option. Maybe if the Three Stooges, George, Dick and Donald (that’s George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld) had remembered this movie 4,486 American soldiers would still be alive and 32,226 others would not have been maimed or wounded in an unnecessary war. They paid the ultimate sacrifice because of WMD – Words of Mass Deception.

When Charlie Chaplin set out to direct and act in The Great Dictator, he had his sights set on a major historical villain. Disgusted by the Nazi Party’s persecution of the Jews and the fact that America was still neutral at the time the film was being made, Chaplin, the silent-film actor, spoke out about the madness of the political situation in Germany. The thing which is so powerful about this movie is that it’s not a propaganda film designed to drum up anger.

Chaplin was aware of the economic climate in Germany and the manner through which Hitler had manipulated his way into power, and he uses the final few moments in the film to speak about what happens when we allow ourselves to live by hate. Chaplin’s great passion emphasises the good that exists in humanity. The Great Dictator was Chaplin’s most successful movie, and with such a powerful message of hope and call for peace it is also his most enduring.

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