Charlie Chaplin: Being a True Tramp

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Charlie Chaplin: Being a True Tramp

The film “the great dictator” was created during the era of World War 2. It was created in the year 1940 after the Munich Agreement was signed in 1938. The agreement was a settlement allowing the Nazi Germany’s appropriation of segments of Czechoslovakia along the borders of the country mainly occupied by German speakers whereby, a new regional specification “Sudetenland” was created. During this era, German was headed by Adolf Hitler. He was well known for his dictatorship. He was known for his ruthless character. The Nazi greatly oppressed the Jews. The United States of America were in a peaceful association with the Nazi government when Chaplin created this film (Cole 67).

It is believed that the origin of the idea of the dictator came in 1934. This was when the popularity of both the Nazi party and Chaplin was at a high peak. In the year 1931, Chaplin fans mobbed him while he was on a trip to Berlin. This in turn annoyed the Nazis triggering them to publish a book titled “The Jews Are Looking at You” in 1934. In this book, Chaplin is described as “a disgusting Jewish acrobat” despite him not being Jewish. Chaplin started preparing for the film throughout 1938 and 1939. He commenced filming in September 1939 just a week after the World War II started. It took him six months to complete the film (Klocke 98).

There were other films that were like the great dictator. These included films like “To Be or Not to Be” and “Triumph of The Will”. Also there were films like “I Will Never Heil again” and “you Nazty Spy” These helped Chaplin in developing the character of Adenoid Hynkel which is a parody of Adolf Hitler and Germany. For instance, the rally speech which Hynkel gives sounds just like German gibberish (Klocke 84). This is a mimic of Hitler’s own style which Chaplin had studied keenly in newsreels.

The tramp has played several silent movies. Chaplin had said that The Tramp would not feature in a sound film. The Dictator is a sound film. The tramp is a silent character whereas the dictator rants all he wants. In her book, Annette Insdorf argues that it was curiously appropriate for the little tramp to impersonate the dictator. She argues so because back in 1939, Chaplin and Hitler were the two most prominent people in the world. The Tramp and the tyrant switch roles in the film allowing an eternal outsider lecture the people (Insdorf 65).

The film warmly accepted once it was released. It became famous among the Americans. Similarly, it drew millions to cinemas in the United Kingdom.  Shockingly, in the 1941 it was one of the most popular films. It was during the production of the film when the British government proclaimed the prohibition of the film’s exhibition in honor of the appeasement policy with the Nazi Germany. By the time it was released, the UK and German were at war. These lead to the film being received partially due to its propaganda value. The theatres were fined for showing the film (Stokes 102). Despite all these, the film recorded high profits for Chaplin and even became one of his most known films. It was also awarded several nominations.