Last night I watched a superb documentary about the making of the Charlie Chaplin film "The Great Dictator". I have to admit I had never seem the film despite always promising myself to do so but it was one of those documentaries that was a sheer pleasure to watch.
What was very interesting was the colour clips of the making of the movie. It was strange to say the least to see Chaplin dressed up in his Hitler mocking outfit in glorious colour.
And fair play to him for making the movie, from what I've read very few people had the bollocks in Hollywood to upset the applecart back in the mid to late 1930s. One little detail was fascinating. President Roosevelt told Chaplin that he would personally see to it that the Great Dictator would be released if people tried to block it. I wonder how many Presidents since the end of World War Two would have been willing to do that. Truman possibly maybe Eisenhower but the rest? Probably not.
What was very interesting was the colour clips of the making of the movie. It was strange to say the least to see Chaplin dressed up in his Hitler mocking outfit in glorious colour.
And fair play to him for making the movie, from what I've read very few people had the bollocks in Hollywood to upset the applecart back in the mid to late 1930s. One little detail was fascinating. President Roosevelt told Chaplin that he would personally see to it that the Great Dictator would be released if people tried to block it. I wonder how many Presidents since the end of World War Two would have been willing to do that. Truman possibly maybe Eisenhower but the rest? Probably not.