The Tramp and the Dictator
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The Tramp and the Dictator Review: No filmmaker of great stature has been better served than Charlie Chaplin with Kevin Brownlow's magnificent miniseries, Unknown Chaplin, the heart of which detailed the lengthy production of City Lights, arguably Chaplin's finest feature. This film, which offers the same kind of behind-the-scenes documentation of The Great Dictator (highlighted by color home movies shot on the set by Chaplin's brother Sydney), also ruminates on the twin lives of the 20th century's most beloved and most despised men, born four days apart. Brownlow doesn't push the analogy between Chaplin and Hitler's upbringings or subsequent obsessions with power (Chaplin's, of course, to generally laudable artistic ends). Most valuably, Brownlow shows what a great artistic and financial risk Chaplin undertook in making a film in 1939 about Hitler; imagine, say, Adam Sandler attempting the same kind of project about Saddam Hussein in 2002 Hollywood. The film is most moving in its interviews with film personages such as director Sidney Lumet and critic Stanley Kauffmann, both old enough to have seen The Great Dictator in its original release and recalling the profound effect it had on them as both Jews and filmgoers. One can only wish that there are more wonderful Chaplin stories for Brownlow to dig up for further elaboration on the career of this film genius. Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide |
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