-Garbitsch
Charlie Chaplin, master of the silent film format, second only to Buster Keaton. In his second speaking role, Chaplin chose to skewer a growing threat to the world, to the initial criticism of most of the western world.
When this film went into production, western Europe was still reeling from the effects of The Great War, the Great Depression, and the possibility of a repeat of the horrors less than a generation gone were so horrifying, that most reasonable people living at the time would do or agree to anything to avoid that. Hell, there were even some who thought that the fascist regimes coming into their own were models of efficiency to be emulated, trimming the fat of the undesirable elements from their societies in a completely non-foreboding or threatening manner. At least they weren't communists, right?
But some took notice of the rhetoric and sentiment. And, in the tradition of the great satirists, decided that the best way to bring attention to it was to poke fun at them.
When The Great Dictator was being filmed, there was condemnation coming from all sides. Why would Chaplin choose to attack the Nazis and the Black Shirts in such a manner? Why antagonize them? What was wrong with a country setting itself right, and who had the right to tell them how they did it was wrong?
The film was condemned and banned before its release in Britain and the US, but they made it anyway. And by the time of its release, Britain was already under attack by the Luftwaffe, its expeditionary force in France defeated and evacuated. The British needed to laugh. And a message that this too would pass.
***
"This is a story of a period between two World Wars - an interim in which Insanity cut loose. Liberty took a nose dive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat."
The Great Dictator concerns the fictional nation of Tomania, and opens on the Western Front of the Great War. Charlie Chaplin plays a Jewish barber turned soldier whose exploits result in some hijinks, including a dud shell from Big Bertha following him around, an antiaircraft gun spinning out of control, an attack in the wrong direction, and a plane ride in with a pilot (Reginald Gardiner as Schutz) whose sense of telling which way is up is somewhat impaired, and then the surrender of the Tomanian forces. All in the first ten minutes. As a result of the ill-fated aeroplane flight, the Barber has a bout of amnesia that apparently lasts a dozen years.
He misses out on some important developments, like the rise of Adenoid Hynkel (also Chaplin) and his party of the Double Cross, and the suppression of the Jewish population in Tomania. Hynkel has a loyal inner circle, including his propaganda minister, the conniving Garbitsch (Henry Daniell), and the leader of his air force and object of much abuse, Herring (Billy Gilbert).
"Any resemblance between Hynkel the dictator and the Jewish barber is purely co-incidental."
Chaplin's use of fake Tomanian language, largely improvised and filled with enough actual German-sounding words to lend it credibility, is both comical and terrifying. Of note is a particular scene where Billy Gilbert accidentally says "Banana" while suffering Chaplin's wrath.
This man is apparently dangerous.
He's rescued at the last moment by Schutz, who had joined the Double Cross, but who had not entirely drunk the Kool-Aid.
Also of note in the Ghetto is Paulette Goddard as Hannah. She has no time to spare for fools, and calls others out on their malarkey whenever she gets a chance, especially in a scene involving some coins and puddings. She's also an optimist in a time of reality, and her effect on the Barber is notable, from bringing him out of his shell, to apparently inspiring him during the film's climax.
The negatives are few. There are some glaring continuity errors, not all of the performances are top shelf, and the love story doesn't strike me as entirely necessary (if they'd just stayed friends and not pursued a relationship, I don't think anything would've been lost). But the overall film is great enough to overcome its detractions.
Events unfold, two wars and one peace are declared, identities are mistaken, and the debate of whether citizens exist for the benefit of the state, or if the state exists for the benefit of its citizens is brought up. Slapstick, wordplay, inspiring, and terrifying, this film transcends its setting in place and time.
***
Hitler, believe it or not, was a fan of Chaplin's, and had a print of this film smuggled into Germany by way of Spain. Reportedly, he saw the film twice, but it's unclear how he actually felt about it.
After the events of the Holocaust became known, Chaplin stated that if he'd known about how terrifyingly horrific they were, he'd have never made this film.
This film may have been one of the reasons that Herbert Hoover and the FBI went after Chaplin years later, not because he was obviously against the Nazis and fascism, but because he was against them too early.
-Rambler
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite! Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up Hannah! The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed, and brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope, into the future! The glorious future, that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up!"
-The Jewish Barber
