Charlie Chaplain--so much more than silent screen superstar!

Charlie Chaplain.  The image those two words conjured up in my mind was always that of the funny mini-mustached “Little Tramp" who waddled with a cane in a bowler’s hat.  It was not until I saw The Great Dictator on Turner Classic Movies that I learned how supremely talented, and more importantly how supremely PRINCIPLED Mr. Chaplain was. 

Charlie Chaplain stood tall for peace in the face of war.  He wrote, directed, scored and starred in The Great Dictator, which parodied Hitler and the Nazi’s in 1940.  This was at a time when Britain and the U.S. were reluctant to become involved.  They tried to discourage Chaplain from releasing this controversial movie, which in reality was a soaring political, moral and philosophical statement.  

By standing up for what he KNEW to be right Charlie Chaplain bucked power, he bucked public opinion, he bucked governments.  He was the FIRST entertainer, if not the first major public figure, to stand up to Hitler, fascism, injustice and the inhumanity of greed, human exploitation and war.

Below appears his rousing final speech, one of the best you will ever see.  Mr. Chaplain essentially states his purpose for making this movie in his plea for love, charity, compassion and justice, which will create peace and happiness for all. 

Charlie Chaplain is in fact a prophet, proclaiming human morality as the one and only sure path to peace and prosperity.  His speech applies as much today as then, and will tomorrow, too. 

To be sure, his is not the only voice for truth.  But I guess my discovery that such an intergalactic vocal statement came from the superstar of silent film made it all the more impactful.    

To actually see this incredible speech please go here Charlie Chaplain final speech in The Great Dictator.

HERE'S THE SPEECH:

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor.  That’s not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone.  I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white.  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....

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together.  The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all.  Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair.  The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.  The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people.  And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. .....

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!

In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: "the Kingdom of God is within man-- not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! 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.

Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite.  Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security.  By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!

Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!  Now let us fight to fulfil that promise!  Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance.  Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness. Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite!"