Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
Charlie Chaplin from the Great Dictator
The Great Dictator
| The Great Dictator | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Charlie Chaplin |
| Produced by | Charlie Chaplin |
| Written by | Charlie Chaplin |
| Starring | Charlie Chaplin Paulette Goddard Jack Oakie Henry Daniell Reginald Gardiner Billy Gilbert Maurice Moscovich |
| Music by | Charlie Chaplin Meredith Willson |
| Cinematography | Karl Struss Roland Totheroh |
| Edited by | Willard Nico Harold Rice |
Production
company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date
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Running time
| 124 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2 million (US$36,023,923 in 2018 dollars[2]) |
| Box office | $5 million (US$89,418,052 in 2018 dollars[2])[3] |
The Great Dictator is a 1940 American political satire comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, scored by, and starring British comedian Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the only Hollywood filmmaker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, this was Chaplin's first true sound film.
Chaplin's film advanced a stirring, controversial[4] condemnation of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, fascism, antisemiti
The Great Dictator was popular with audiences, becoming Chaplin's most commercially successful film.[5] Modern critics have also praised it as a historically significant film and an important work of satire, and in 1997, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[6] The Great Dictator was nominated for five Academy Awards – Outstanding Production, Best Actor, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Supporting Actor for Jack Oakie, and Best Music (Original Score).
In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin stated that he would not have made the film if he had known about the true extent of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps at the time.[7]
and from:
IS
Undeniably one of the most powerful speeches in recorded history. What’s most remarkable about the above is that Chaplin’s speech about fascism in The Great Dictator nearly 75 years ago is as, if not more, relevant today then it was back then. In addition, as Chaplin was demonized for telling the truth back then, administrations worldwide today, like the current White House administration, persecuting truth tellers after pledging to protect them. It is for these reasons, in an ever nearing Orwellian type age when telling the truth is a revolutionary act, that we must spread “The Greatest Speech Ever” far and wide. The humanity speech.
THE GREAT DICTATOR’S SPEECH TRANSCRIPT:
“We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…. Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes – men who despise you – enslave you – who regiment your lives – tell you what to do – what to think and what to feel! Who drill you – diet you – treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men – machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate – the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! You, the people have the power – the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure."
*I looked up several definitions of cynicism because it seems to be a interesting subject these days... and found myself going down a rabbit hole. Its meaning has changed greatly from the original ...
Cynicism is a term which originally referred to the ancient Greek philosophy of the Cynics, often considered to have been founded by Antisthenes. Currently, the word "cynicism" generally refers to the opinions of those who are inclined to reject appearances of sincerit
anomie
noun
variants: or less commonly anomy
Definition of anomie
: social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and valuesThe reforms of a ruined economy, under these conditions, brought about social anomie, desperation and poverty rather than relief and prosperity.— T. Mastnakalso : personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or idealsIn the face of these prevailing values, many workers experience a kind of anomie. Their jobs become empty, meaningless, and intrinsically unsatisfying.— Robert Straus
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