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The Great Dictator Clippings 148/369

Julia McCarthy, Daily News, New York, October 15, 1940.

Laughs . . .

      that will be heard

      around the world!

„The best fun in many years!“

                         – Louis Sobol

Charlie Chaplin

in his new comedy

      The Great DICTATOR

Ad No. 74A – One col. x 111 lines (Mat .15; Cut .25)

(...) The Great Dictator Pressbook, 1940, United Artists collection

at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

„Ah, the vandals! All that beauty of London! That history!“

Editorial content. „UNLOVED – SO HITLER

      HATES, SAYS CHAPLIN

      By JULIA McCARTHY

      Only the unloved hate – and dictate policies of hate –

Charlie Chaplin said yesterday in The News One

and Three Color Studio on the eve of his The Great Dictator

opening on Broadway. This is the comedian‘s

long-awaited satire on the totalitarian rulers, two years

in the making, and wrapped in secrecy.

      Chaplin does not deny that the role he portrays is meant

to be Hitler, then adds . . . ,No, I don‘t hate the actual

man. I don‘t hate people, only conditions, and he must be

regarded as a product of the times he lives in.

      ,Hatred is unnatural. The civilization he is trying to tear

down was not built on hatred, but Christianity. Those

who do not love and are therefore unloved are the only ones

who can hate like that.‘

      Praise for Paulette.

      Nervously, he confessed to something like stage fright

over the impending debut, Chaplin discussed the film.

He gave great praise to Paulette Goddard, who plays with him

in the picture.

      ,She is magnificent,‘ said Chaplin with the same wistful

smile he began to wear when he acted with baggy

pants, cane and mustache in the far-off custard pie era. ,I‘m

a Jewish barber who gets hit in the war and develops

a case of amnesia. So I don‘t know that Hynkel (Hitler) has

become dictator.

      ,But about Paulette – she typifies the whole Jewish race,

their strength, their resentment against senseless persecution,

their hope for a better future.   

      ,Jack Oakie plays his role of Napaloni (Mussolini) like

Chevalier. He is wonderful. How do I play mine? Oh,

like Napoleon, combined with Nijinsky (no, leave him out,

poor fellow). All my repressed desires are fulfilled

in writing, directing and playing such a picture.

      ,With the Dictator and myself, one of us is a tragedian,

the other a comedian. I don‘t know which is which.‘

      ,The Vandals!‘

      Things you want to know: – what sort of speaking voice

has Charlie Chaplin? Low, gentle, with an English

accent. ,Oxford head-tones,‘ he says, jokingly, and asks

if you think he should lose this voice that came from

the old Cockney districts of London. No, indeed, Mr. Chaplin.

      How does an Englishman, a Cockney, feel about

the cruel bombing of London?

      ,Ah, the vandals! All that beauty of London! That history!

It‘s a tragedy because, while certain things can

be restored, not those in which time has played a part

in the making.

      Q. Can the Dictator invade England, do you think? A. I wish

to God he would. What a reception he‘d get!

      Both Hitler and Chaplin were born in April, 1889. Did you

know that.

      Q. Will this film be shown in England? A. Yes, soon.

In Canada, too, and in some part of South America.

Don‘t think me egotistical, please, but I think showing this film

would be a fine thing for humanity everywhere. I wish

the German people could see it.

      Q. How much have you spent on it? A. I think about

$2,300,000 – my own money, too. Keep your fingers crossed for

me, there‘s a girl, will you? (You betcha, Mr. Chaplin!)“

      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

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