The Great Dictator 1939 1940 next previous
The Great Dictator Clippings 298/369
Frank P. Gill, Free Press, Detroit, Michigan, March 15, 1941.
The early career of Adenoid Hynkel, Charlie Chaplin‘s
satirical characterization of Adolf Hitler, was spent
in the army. Here is a scene from „The Great Dictator,“ which
comes Friday to the MICHIGAN.
(...) Photo, Detroit Free Press, March 9, 1941
& CHARLIE CHAPLIN
Preparing for the delivery of one of his hot orations
as „The Great Dictator,“ Adenoid Hynkel sprays his throat
in one of the scenes fromChaplin‘s much publicized
lampoon on the Axis chiefs, which opens Friday at the
Michigan.
(...) Photo, Detroit Free Press, March 14, 1941
& MICHIGAN (...)
The Rest of America
Paid $1.10 to see this rollicking
Comedy... But
it starts here TODAY....
At Popular Prices! (...)
CHARLIE CHAPLIN as „The GREAT DICTATOR“
(...) Ad, Detroit Free Press, March 14, 1941
„Chaplin has shown surprising lack of judgment“
Editorial content. „New, Satirical Chaplin
Savagely Mocks Hitler
BY FRANK P. GILL
Free Press Motion Picture Editor
A new Charlie Chaplin, whom Hitler and history have
transformed from a laughable and lovable clown
into a self-conscious satirist, has arrived on the screen of the
Michigan this week in his latest production The
Great Dictator.
The new Chaplin, like the old, can still send an audience
into shrieks of laughter, but his humor, hitherto sly and
subtle, is now barbed and his pantomime is tinged with acid.
International events are in the director‘s chair and
Chaplin is the star performer.
The old Chaplin besides being a master comedian, was
also a shrewd judge of pacing and tempo in all his
productions which had a smoothness and completeness
of detail that made them outstanding among film
laugh creations.
The new Chaplin, however, has lost some of this adroitness,
and the resultant production is uneven and patchy.
There are moments of high humor, comparable in many ways
to the best this little comedian has ever produced.“ (...)
„Lack of Judgment Shown in Some Scenes
In between these comic highspots, are whole sequences
that seem out of place and ill presented. The events
they typify are far too tragic and too near to many who see
them to be injected into a comedy script as release
from laughter. In some of these scenes, notably in the comic presentation of storm troopers acting as Keystone
cops of old, Chaplin has shown surprising lack of judgment,
and the cast he has gathered around him do little
to raise the standard of the scenes.“ (...)
Michigan Theatre, 238 Bagley Street, Detroit.
Redaktioneller Inhalt
The Great Dictator 1939 1940 next previous