The Great Dictator 1939 1941 next previous
The Great Dictator Clippings 144/369
Inez Robb, INS, Deseret News, Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 14, 1940.
Inez Robb
(...) Photo, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis,
Missouri, Oct. 28, 1940
„Laughter, not loud but tonic laughter“
Editorial content. „Laughter Soon To Blitz
All Dictators
Chaplin Discusses New Film
For First Time
BY INEZ ROBB
NEW YORK, Oct. 13. – (INS) – In a world which has been
their oyster as of even date, the totalitarian sachems – Hit
and Muss – are about to take their first beating. Destiny‘s terrible
tots are soon to be blitzed in waves of healthy laughter
which Charles Spencer Chaplin hopes will engulf America when
the inanities and absurdities of all dictators unfold in his
new picture The Great Dictator.
This new picture, which has aroused more speculation
than any other ever to come out of Hollywood, not
excepting even GWTW,“ Gone With the Wind „was discussed
by Chaplin today for the first time at a press conference.
Guarded more closely than a state secret during its two years
in the making, the star of The Great Dictator, unburdened
himself today of everything except its exact cost, which is estimated
at $2,000,000.
,And all my money, too. Not the bankers!‘ Chaplin grinned
ruefully as he spoke with modesty, sincerity, charm and
wit of the picture which will open simultaneously at two Broadway
theaters Tuesday night.
NOT PROPAGANDA
,The Great Dictator is a comedy, not propaganda,‘ Chaplin
insisted earnestly, ,a comedy dealing with the struggle
of humanity versus barbarism.‘ He hopes audiences will roar with
laughter at his own impersonation of Fuehrer Adenoid
Hynkel, dictator of the mythical kingdom of Ptonamia, and at that
of Jack Oakie as Hynkel‘s side-kick, Benzina Napaloni
of the state of bacteria. But he is certain the laughter will often
be close to tears.
,This is a picture a picture bound to stir audiences. It has
a terrific emotional quality,‘ Chaplin said as he sat on the
edge of a straight-backed chair and held reporters enthralled as with
a quick gesture of a fleeting expression he unconsciously
brought to life scenes from The Great Dictator.
,The picture is not interested in the ideology of Fascism.
What is important at any moment in history is humanity, not the
political pros and cons of the times.‘
His script, which he began about the time of the Munich
crisis, was inspired by the fundamental personalities
and psychology of all dictators in any country and time, and not
just by those currently in the public eye.
HASN‘T APED HITLER
,I haven‘t aped Hitler,‘ Chaplin said. ,I have tried to act
a composite, an embodiment of all dictators.‘
Yet, if by coincidence, either Furher“ Fuehrer „Hynkel or Duce
Napaloni resemble any living characters, it won‘t be
purely acciply to a question, that he ply to a question, that
he believed the current crop of dictators would be
able to recognize themselves in The Great Dictator if they find
time to see the film.
,Would Hitler recognize himself?‘ a reporter insisted.
,He ought to!‘ Chaplin replied with the satisfied
smile associated with a canary-eating cat.
,If it mirrors the dictators,‘ he added hopefully, ,I want
them to see it.‘ But the possibility that he will present it at any
private showing in Berlin seemed remote, he added.
LEAVES SOME UNTOLD
,I don‘t want to appear highfalutin,‘ he added with
a deprecatory grin, ,but even if this picture flops,
I‘ve had my fun. And I shall still have enough income for bread
and cheese and someone to sort my laundry.‘
He said he had left untold ,the unspeakable suffering‘
resulting from dictatorship in Europe, and that the
picture at all times had been guided ,by discretion and good
taste.‘
The little tramp with the baggy trousers, the adagio
mustache and the jaunty cane hopes he has made a tramp
of dictators, once and for all.
,For if we in America can laugh at these dictators and not
be overawed by them, it is a sign of victory,‘ Chaplin
insisted. ,It is a sign of the heroic in man when he can laugh
at himself. The only salvation of our sanity at this time
is laughter, not loud but tonic laughter.‘“
INS, International News Service.
Also in Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Oct. 15, 1940.
Title: „Chaplin Hopes Audiences Will
Roar With Laughter At ,The Great Dictator.‘“
The Great Dictator world premiere is in New York Oct. 15, 1940
at the Capitol and Astor Theatres.
Capitol Theatre, 1645 Broadway (at 51st Street), New York.
Astor Theatre, 1531 Broadway (at 45th Street), New York.
Redaktioneller Inhalt
The Great Dictator 1939 1941 next previous
