Inspirational speech by ....Charlie Chaplin

[Noilly Pratt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WibmcsEGLKo

[JoeyB]

Well, that's really out of context...it's the speech he delivers at the end of The Great Dictator...a movie that was made to slam Hitler...he speaks to the assembled soldiers (and the country at large), basically the Nazis, and is telling them to change their course from evil. This is actually the little Jewish barber character, dressed as the Hitler type character, using his resemblance to the evil leader to try and avert war and misfortune. He wants to subvert the rising hatred of the military into something more passive and loving. It's the sort of message you'd really have wanted the actual Nazis to have heard.

Chaplin was planning to scrap making this movie when FDR himself phoned him and asked that he continue to film it. People had mixed reactions to the film and many hated that he dared to question Hitler. This was in 1940 and America was not in the war yet.

The Three Stooges had a couple of short films where they also slammed Hitler, the first released in 1940 just prior to The Great Dictator. Moe Howard always claimed it was his favorite of their shorts.

Moe never questioned his decision to do those shorts, but Chaplin later said he would not have made his film had the true horrors of the concentration camps been known to him. Nonetheless, I've always thought it good he did.

[Noilly Pratt]

It is out of context, I'll grant you. I've seen the film myself.

I liked the speech all the same and I liked the words in the speech. Strive for the goodness and humanity...why not?

As a senior British officer, my uncle just shortly after the war was sent to inspect the gas chambers and was one of the first to report what actually went on in there. I won't go into detail, but he had to have psychological counselling afterwards, and this was 8 months after the camp had been freed.

He said that in no way could they have "staged" this as others have reported. It really happened.

[JoeyB]

He said that in no way could they have "staged" this as others have reported. It really happened.

You don't have to sell me, I'm not a denier or anything.

[Noilly Pratt]

You don't have to sell me, I'm not a denier or anything.

:-s:mrgreen: No prob Joey...wasn't thinking that for a second. Just got off on a tangent there.

Actually that could be the theme of my life...I try and concentrate on something then...oohh look something Shiny!!! :mrgreen: