list http://www.spout.com/ Recent community activity around The Great Dictator on Spout Copyright 2005-9 Spout, LLC Spout RSS http://www.spout.com/images/SpoutLogoRSS.jpg http://www.spout.com/ 136 30 http://www.spout.com/films/The_Great_Dictator/14066/default.aspx Title: The Great Dictator
Year: 1940
Director: Charles Chaplin
Plot: "This is the story of the period between two world wars--an interim during which insanity cut loose, liberty took a nose dive, and humanity was kicked around somewhat." With this pithy opening title, Charles Chaplin begins his first all-talking feature film, The Great Dictator. During World War I, a Jewish barber (Chaplin) in the army of Tomania saves the life of high-ranking officer Schultz (Reginald Gardiner). While Schultz survives the conflict unscathed, the barber is stricken with amnesia and bundled off to a hospital. Twenty years pass: Tomania has been taken over by dictator Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin again) and his stooges Garbitsch (Henry Daniell) and Herring (Billy Gilbert). Hynkel despises all Jews and regularly wreaks havoc on the Tomanian Jewish ghetto, where feisty Hannah (Paulette Goddard) lives. Meanwhile, the little barber escapes from the hospital and instinctively heads back to his cobweb-laden ghetto barber shop. Unaware of Hynkel's policy towards Jews (in fact, he's unaware of Hynkel), the barber gets into a slapstick confrontation with a gang of Aryan storm troopers. He is rescued by his old friend Schultz, now one of Hynkel's most loyal officers. Thanks to Schultz's protection, the ghetto receives a brief respite from Hynkel's persecution. The barber sets up shop again, developing a warm platonic relationship with the lovely Hannah. But things take a sorry turn when Hynkel, angered that a Jewish banker has refused to finance his impending war with Austerlitz, begins bearing down again on the Ghetto. Near the end of the film, when the dictator is expected to make another one of his hate-filled, war-mongering speeches, the barber steps up to the microphones...and Charles Chaplin drops character and becomes "himself," delivering an impassioned plea for peace, tolerance, and humanity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 18
Number of Lists: 27
Number of blog posts: 3
Number of discussion threads: 3
SpoutRating: 4
]]>Tue, 12 May 2009 02:40:04 GMTThe Great Dictator1940Charles Chaplin"This is the story of the period between two world wars--an interim during which insanity cut loose, liberty took a nose dive, and humanity was kicked around somewhat." With this pithy opening title, <a href="/players/P____12334/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Charles Chaplin</a> begins his first all-talking feature film, The Great Dictator. During World War I, a Jewish barber (Chaplin) in the army of Tomania saves the life of high-ranking officer Schultz (<a href="/players/P____25888/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Reginald Gardiner</a>). While Schultz survives the conflict unscathed, the barber is stricken with amnesia and bundled off to a hospital. Twenty years pass: Tomania has been taken over by dictator Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin again) and his stooges Garbitsch (<a href="/players/P____16850/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Henry Daniell</a>) and Herring (<a href="/players/P____26840/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Billy Gilbert</a>). Hynkel despises all Jews and regularly wreaks havoc on the Tomanian Jewish ghetto, where feisty Hannah (<a href="/players/P____27336/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Paulette Goddard</a>) lives. Meanwhile, the little barber escapes from the hospital and instinctively heads back to his cobweb-laden ghetto barber shop. Unaware of Hynkel's policy towards Jews (in fact, he's unaware of Hynkel), the barber gets into a slapstick confrontation with a gang of Aryan storm troopers. He is rescued by his old friend Schultz, now one of Hynkel's most loyal officers. Thanks to Schultz's protection, the ghetto receives a brief respite from Hynkel's persecution. The barber sets up shop again, developing a warm platonic relationship with the lovely Hannah. But things take a sorry turn when Hynkel, angered that a Jewish banker has refused to finance his impending war with Austerlitz, begins bearing down again on the Ghetto. Near the end of the film, when the dictator is expected to make another one of his hate-filled, war-mongering speeches, the barber steps up to the microphones...and Charles Chaplin drops character and becomes "himself," delivering an impassioned plea for peace, tolerance, and humanity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide18Tag Target (>10)27334http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t32658nx0id.jpghttp://www.spout.com/films/The_Great_Dictator/14066/default.aspxFilm http://www.spout.com/groups/Top_5/Best_Political_Passion_Projects/190/36347/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: SkyPilot
Post To: Top 5
Post Date: 10/15/2008 9:25:26 AM
Body: Chris posted the Best Political Passion Projects on SpoutBlog. ____________________________________________________ I was happy to see Good Night, and Good Luck there. I was just thinking last night how I'd like to see more contemporary black and white movies. I dismissed that possibility with the thought, "Nobody has the guts." I forgot George Clooney has the guts. I need to see The Great Dictator. It's too bad W. is sounding less than great, I wanted it to be great. To be honest though, Oliver Stone has never inspired me to have confidence in his sense of humor. Incidentally, Josh Brolin was really funny and charming on Letterman last night. Letterman said, "You're father is James Brolin--" and Josh interrupted, "No, Charles Bronson. I don't know how this mix-up got started."
]]>Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:25:26 GMTSkyPilotTop 510/15/2008 9:25:26 AM Chris posted the Best Political Passion Projects on SpoutBlog. ____________________________________________________ I was happy to see Good Night, and Good Luck there. I was just thinking last night how I'd like to see more contemporary black and white movies. I dismissed that possibility with the thought, "Nobody has the guts." I forgot George Clooney has the guts. I need to see The Great Dictator. It's too bad W. is sounding less than great, I wanted it to be great. To be honest though, Oliver Stone has never inspired me to have confidence in his sense of humor. Incidentally, Josh Brolin was really funny and charming on Letterman last night. Letterman said, "You're father is James Brolin--" and Josh interrupted, "No, Charles Bronson. I don't know how this mix-up got started." http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/10/14/36308.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/14/2008 5:01:12 PM
Body: Oliver Stone has long been synonymous with political passion projects, but his latest film, W., may be his most ambitious effort yet, if only because of how quickly the thing came together and got made. Now the serio-comic biopic about our sitting president is about to hit theaters, less than ten months after anyone had heard of its inception, and it’s getting a number of favorable reviews, will possibly rule the box office this weekend, and could even garner an Oscar nomination for Josh Brolin, who portrays the man with the titular initial, George W. Bush. But not all political passion projects are quite as successful as W. is expected to be. Some such films have been banned, while some have simply failed to acquire an audience on more democratic grounds, whether in terms of box office, critical or awards recognition. Yet regardless of the reception of a political passion project, either at the time of release (or intended release) or decades later, it may be regarded as an achievement merely for being made, because it can be a difficult task for a filmmaker, no matter how famous or powerful, to completely, without compromise, express his or her politics using such a collaborative and populist form of art as cinema. We’ve put together a list of 10 political passion projects that were (and are) successful on both levels. They’ve been embraced by a wide audience, a majority of critics and/or the Academy, and they also manage to be as uncompromising in their political passion as is possible in Hollywood. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin, 1940) For his first “talkie”, Chaplin took on Hitler and the Nazis when it was still taboo for American media to do so. And it became his biggest hit ever in spite of its controversial subject matter. Considering one of the major problems with W. is reportedly Oliver Stone’s inability to mix the serious scenes with the comic, he might have benefitted from looking again at this film, one of the greatest political satires of all time. Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941) Capra had already made a number of greater films with political subject matter, but this was pretty much his ultimate passion project, a culmination of themes he’d worked with on similar films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But as successful as those films were in terms of Capra’s political expression, and as free as the filmmaker seemed to be throughout his illustrious career at Columbia Pictures, he always felt at least a little stifled by studio head Harry Cohn, and so with this, his first semi-independent project (co-produced and distributed by Warner Bros.), he had the most creative control yet. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t nearly as popular as his past films and the film is also not nearly as tight a work. However, more than 65 years later, it’s still one of the best displays of a filmmaker attempting to work out and express his political ideals in a mainstream film. Wilson (Henry King, 1944) Long before Oliver Stone and political documentarians made it more common and acceptable to make a movie about disliked politicians, producer and 20th Century Fox founder Darryl F. Zanuck developed this passion project about his favorite president, Woodrow Wilson. And the result would seem to have been a great success based on its reception by critics and the Academy Awards (nominated for 10, it won 5 Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay), yet it was a terrible, terrible flop at the box office, apparently because the public didn’t like or care about Wilson as much as Zanuck did. And legend has it that Zanuck was so embarrassed by the failure that he forbade his staff to ever mention its title again. Despite it’s Oscar success, it is unfortunately unavailable on DVD. The Green Berets (Ray Kellogg, John Wayne, John Gaddis and Mervyn LeRoy, 1968) Regardless of whether or not you agree with John Wayne’s politics, you have to give the guy some respect for making a stand with this film, which displays his support for the Vietnam War. It was a bold move for anybody, even one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, to dare go up against the zeitgeist of the times. And of course it was and is very much hated because of its heavy handed pro-war message. Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981) Beatty had already shown himself to be something of a politically minded celebrity, and he would go on to a greater reputation for being a liberal actor/filmmaker, but here with his first solo directing effort, he made an ambitious epic about the American communist John Reed and released it in a year that ushered in the most conservatively materialistic decade of the 20th century. Despite the political climate of the country, though, it was relatively successful at the box office, and it went on to recieve 12 Oscar nominations, of which it won 3, including a Best Director trophy for Beatty. Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992) Whether or not you believe it should have been nominated for more Oscars or if it was politically and racially ignored, the success of Malcolm X, both financially and culturally, was a terrific achievement for Spike Lee, who had made and has made less ambitious political passion projects before and since, some even arguably better than this one. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995) Robbins had already begun making political statement films a few years earlier with Bob Roberts, but this film, which he also produced, is the greater passion project. It may occasionally put off supporters of the death penalty, but those performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon (who won an Oscar) simply can not be ignored. The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) You can’t think about passion projects without this film immediately coming to mind –– and not just because it has the word passion right there in the title. As for the political part, as much as some of us would prefer not to think of religion as being a part of politics, it certainly is, and both the marketing and reception of Gibson’s film were very much from political perspectives, possibly even more so than from straight religious perspectives. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005) Perhaps the best cinematic celebration of journalism since All the President’s Men, Clooney’s film is also possibly the classiest political passion project since guys like Beatty, Robbins and Clooney decided to go behind the camera and express their ideals. Darfur Now (Ted Braun, 2007) At a time when famous people like George Clooney and the double duty of “Brangelina” get equal respect and flak for being so political, it’s refreshing to see this documentary defend celebrity action while also examining the film’s specific cause. Produced by and featuring Don Cheadle (and also featuring Clooney), the doc is not technically the actor’s project as much as it is Braun’s, yet due to Cheadle’s passionate interest in the Darfur issue and his involvement with and in the film, and because he’s the biggest name on the production, it can certainly be accepted as equally his political effort. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:01:12 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com10/14/2008 5:01:12 PMOliver Stone has long been synonymous with political passion projects, but his latest film, W., may be his most ambitious effort yet, if only because of how quickly the thing came together and got made. Now the serio-comic biopic about our sitting president is about to hit theaters, less than ten months after anyone had heard of its inception, and it’s getting a number of favorable reviews, will possibly rule the box office this weekend, and could even garner an Oscar nomination for Josh Brolin, who portrays the man with the titular initial, George W. Bush. But not all political passion projects are quite as successful as W. is expected to be. Some such films have been banned, while some have simply failed to acquire an audience on more democratic grounds, whether in terms of box office, critical or awards recognition. Yet regardless of the reception of a political passion project, either at the time of release (or intended release) or decades later, it may be regarded as an achievement merely for being made, because it can be a difficult task for a filmmaker, no matter how famous or powerful, to completely, without compromise, express his or her politics using such a collaborative and populist form of art as cinema. We’ve put together a list of 10 political passion projects that were (and are) successful on both levels. They’ve been embraced by a wide audience, a majority of critics and/or the Academy, and they also manage to be as uncompromising in their political passion as is possible in Hollywood. The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin, 1940) For his first “talkie”, Chaplin took on Hitler and the Nazis when it was still taboo for American media to do so. And it became his biggest hit ever in spite of its controversial subject matter. Considering one of the major problems with W. is reportedly Oliver Stone’s inability to mix the serious scenes with the comic, he might have benefitted from looking again at this film, one of the greatest political satires of all time. Meet John Doe (Frank Capra, 1941) Capra had already made a number of greater films with political subject matter, but this was pretty much his ultimate passion project, a culmination of themes he’d worked with on similar films like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But as successful as those films were in terms of Capra’s political expression, and as free as the filmmaker seemed to be throughout his illustrious career at Columbia Pictures, he always felt at least a little stifled by studio head Harry Cohn, and so with this, his first semi-independent project (co-produced and distributed by Warner Bros.), he had the most creative control yet. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t nearly as popular as his past films and the film is also not nearly as tight a work. However, more than 65 years later, it’s still one of the best displays of a filmmaker attempting to work out and express his political ideals in a mainstream film. Wilson (Henry King, 1944) Long before Oliver Stone and political documentarians made it more common and acceptable to make a movie about disliked politicians, producer and 20th Century Fox founder Darryl F. Zanuck developed this passion project about his favorite president, Woodrow Wilson. And the result would seem to have been a great success based on its reception by critics and the Academy Awards (nominated for 10, it won 5 Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay), yet it was a terrible, terrible flop at the box office, apparently because the public didn’t like or care about Wilson as much as Zanuck did. And legend has it that Zanuck was so embarrassed by the failure that he forbade his staff to ever mention its title again. Despite it’s Oscar success, it is unfortunately unavailable on DVD. The Green Berets (Ray Kellogg, John Wayne, John Gaddis and Mervyn LeRoy, 1968) Regardless of whether or not you agree with John Wayne’s politics, you have to give the guy some respect for making a stand with this film, which displays his support for the Vietnam War. It was a bold move for anybody, even one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, to dare go up against the zeitgeist of the times. And of course it was and is very much hated because of its heavy handed pro-war message. Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981) Beatty had already shown himself to be something of a politically minded celebrity, and he would go on to a greater reputation for being a liberal actor/filmmaker, but here with his first solo directing effort, he made an ambitious epic about the American communist John Reed and released it in a year that ushered in the most conservatively materialistic decade of the 20th century. Despite the political climate of the country, though, it was relatively successful at the box office, and it went on to recieve 12 Oscar nominations, of which it won 3, including a Best Director trophy for Beatty. Malcolm X (Spike Lee, 1992) Whether or not you believe it should have been nominated for more Oscars or if it was politically and racially ignored, the success of Malcolm X, both financially and culturally, was a terrific achievement for Spike Lee, who had made and has made less ambitious political passion projects before and since, some even arguably better than this one. Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins, 1995) Robbins had already begun making political statement films a few years earlier with Bob Roberts, but this film, which he also produced, is the greater passion project. It may occasionally put off supporters of the death penalty, but those performances by Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon (who won an Oscar) simply can not be ignored. The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004) You can’t think about passion projects without this film immediately coming to mind –– and not just because it has the word passion right there in the title. As for the political part, as much as some of us would prefer not to think of religion as being a part of politics, it certainly is, and both the marketing and reception of Gibson’s film were very much from political perspectives, possibly even more so than from straight religious perspectives. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney, 2005) Perhaps the best cinematic celebration of journalism since All the President’s Men, Clooney’s film is also possibly the classiest political passion project since guys like Beatty, Robbins and Clooney decided to go behind the camera and express their ideals. Darfur Now (Ted Braun, 2007) At a time when famous people like George Clooney and the double duty of “Brangelina” get equal respect and flak for being so political, it’s refreshing to see this documentary defend celebrity action while also examining the film’s specific cause. Produced by and featuring Don Cheadle (and also featuring Clooney), the doc is not technically the actor’s project as much as it is Braun’s, yet due to Cheadle’s passionate interest in the Darfur issue and his involvement with and in the film, and because he’s the biggest name on the production, it can certainly be accepted as equally his political effort. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Games/Re_Pick_a_Pair/598/32739/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: unclefestering
Post To: Movie Games
Post Date: 7/18/2008 3:45:47 PM
Body: [quote user="Diedo"] Hi guys, I just joined the group. I'd watch The Great Dictator (1940) and Starship Troopers (1997). Why? Because The Great Dictator satirized Nazi Germany and fascism prior to World War II and because Starship Troopers satirizes American society and the American military-industrial complex using Nazi and fascist imagery prior to 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan. Paul Verhoeven himself acknowledges the uncanny parallels between the events in Starship Troopers and what happened between 2001-2003. Also, on the surface it's an unlikely pair. [/quote] Wow. This is a great pair.
]]>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:45:47 GMTunclefesteringMovie Games7/18/2008 3:45:47 PM[quote user="Diedo"] Hi guys, I just joined the group. I'd watch The Great Dictator (1940) and Starship Troopers (1997). Why? Because The Great Dictator satirized Nazi Germany and fascism prior to World War II and because Starship Troopers satirizes American society and the American military-industrial complex using Nazi and fascist imagery prior to 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan. Paul Verhoeven himself acknowledges the uncanny parallels between the events in Starship Troopers and what happened between 2001-2003. Also, on the surface it's an unlikely pair. [/quote] Wow. This is a great pair. http://www.spout.com/groups/Movie_Games/Re_Pick_a_Pair/598/32737/1/ShowPost.aspx Post By: Diedo
Post To: Movie Games
Post Date: 7/18/2008 3:37:08 PM
Body: Hi guys, I just joined the group. I'd watch The Great Dictator (1940) and Starship Troopers (1997). Why? Because The Great Dictator satirized Nazi Germany and fascism prior to World War II and because Starship Troopers satirizes American society and the American military-industrial complex using Nazi and fascist imagery prior to 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan. Paul Verhoeven himself acknowledges the uncanny parallels between the events in Starship Troopers and what happened between 2001-2003. Also, on the surface it's an unlikely pair.
]]>Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:37:08 GMTDiedoMovie Games7/18/2008 3:37:08 PMHi guys, I just joined the group. I'd watch The Great Dictator (1940) and Starship Troopers (1997). Why? Because The Great Dictator satirized Nazi Germany and fascism prior to World War II and because Starship Troopers satirizes American society and the American military-industrial complex using Nazi and fascist imagery prior to 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan. Paul Verhoeven himself acknowledges the uncanny parallels between the events in Starship Troopers and what happened between 2001-2003. Also, on the surface it's an unlikely pair. http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/5/7/28293.aspx Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 5/7/2008 11:01:04 AM
Body: Upset that the Third Reich doesn’t appear in either this summer’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or Hellboy II: The Golden Army? Of course you are. Nazis have featured in many great Hollywood films, from Casablanca to Schindler’s List. They’ve been the focus of one of the best documentaries of all time (Triumph of the Will). They show up in the best musicals (The Sound of Music), the best action films (Raiders of the Lost Ark), the best science fiction films (Star Wars, sort of), the best comedies (The Great Dictator, sort of), the best dramas (Judgment at Nuremburg), the best foreign films (Rome, Open City) and even the best animated shorts (Der Fueher’s Face). In fact, without the Nazis, cinema might not have had so many great war films, POW films or other kinds of films necessitating a personification of evil. Of course, like many others I would wish for them to have never existed, because millions of lives are more important than any number of classic movies. But the Nazis did happen, and they continue to populate cinema for better or worse. We all know about the latest product of Hollywood’s Nazi fetish, Valkyrie, and we’ve seen a ridiculous trailer for a new Russian Hitler farce titled Hitler Kaput!, which shouldn’t be confused with Germany’s recently announced Hitler comedy Mein Kampf, based on a play by George Tabori (I Confess). And now, because we still need Nazi sci-fi, there’s Iron Sky, for which a teaser trailer (see above) has just been released. The movie, which would be better off titled Nazis in Space (or Space Nazis), is an old-fashioned sci-fi film scripted by popular Finnish author Johanna Sinisalo. Its premise involves a secret history in which the Nazis escaped to the dark side of The Moon in 1945. Now it is 2018 and time for the Nazis to return to Earth, Independence Day stylee. Iron Sky comes to us from the makers of the internet-released Finnish feature Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (the seventh in a series), yet it will be distributed to theaters, perhaps because cinema loves Nazis. Still in the works and without an expected date of completion, Iron Sky will be looking for financing at Cannes this month (the film’s budget = $5 million). Meanwhile, the filmmakers are also looking to involve thousands of internerd helpers through some kind of social networking-type of web community called Wreck A Movie, where apparently they’re accepting suggestions and ideas for the movie. For more info check out the film’s website. [via Aint It Cool News] Originally posted on:SpoutBlog
]]>Wed, 07 May 2008 15:01:04 GMTSpoutBlogSpoutBlog on spout.com5/7/2008 11:01:04 AM Upset that the Third Reich doesn’t appear in either this summer’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull or Hellboy II: The Golden Army? Of course you are. Nazis have featured in many great Hollywood films, from Casablanca to Schindler’s List. They’ve been the focus of one of the best documentaries of all time (Triumph of the Will). They show up in the best musicals (The Sound of Music), the best action films (Raiders of the Lost Ark), the best science fiction films (Star Wars, sort of), the best comedies (The Great Dictator, sort of), the best dramas (Judgment at Nuremburg), the best foreign films (Rome, Open City) and even the best animated shorts (Der Fueher’s Face). In fact, without the Nazis, cinema might not have had so many great war films, POW films or other kinds of films necessitating a personification of evil. Of course, like many others I would wish for them to have never existed, because millions of lives are more important than any number of classic movies. But the Nazis did happen, and they continue to populate cinema for better or worse. We all know about the latest product of Hollywood’s Nazi fetish, Valkyrie, and we’ve seen a ridiculous trailer for a new Russian Hitler farce titled Hitler Kaput!, which shouldn’t be confused with Germany’s recently announced Hitler comedy Mein Kampf, based on a play by George Tabori (I Confess). And now, because we still need Nazi sci-fi, there’s Iron Sky, for which a teaser trailer (see above) has just been released. The movie, which would be better off titled Nazis in Space (or Space Nazis), is an old-fashioned sci-fi film scripted by popular Finnish author Johanna Sinisalo. Its premise involves a secret history in which the Nazis escaped to the dark side of The Moon in 1945. Now it is 2018 and time for the Nazis to return to Earth, Independence Day stylee. Iron Sky comes to us from the makers of the internet-released Finnish feature Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning (the seventh in a series), yet it will be distributed to theaters, perhaps because cinema loves Nazis. Still in the works and without an expected date of completion, Iron Sky will be looking for financing at Cannes this month (the film’s budget = $5 million). Meanwhile, the filmmakers are also looking to involve thousands of internerd helpers through some kind of social networking-type of web community called Wreck A Movie, where apparently they’re accepting suggestions and ideas for the movie. For more info check out the film’s website. [via Aint It Cool News] Originally posted on:SpoutBlog http://www.spout.com/blogs/jscott/archive/2007/6/30/12725.aspx Post By: JScott
Post To: JScott Blog
Post Date: 6/30/2007 9:39:00 PM
Body: City Lights is a light hearted comedy on the surface and a much more subtle melodrama at it's core. His pioneering social commentary is common place in all Chaplin films, especially The Great Dictator and The Kid. This film is so obviously a political movie that it opens on a statue representing justice outside of the local courthouse as it is being revealed for the first time.The message of the lower class being forgettable and disposable is repeateded throughout the film but most powerfully at the very end of the film. The Blind Girl is back from Brazil for her surgery and the Tramp is out of prison, but ultimately she is unable to accept him and only placate him with a smile as he eagerly collects any attention she is willing to pay him.Chaplin the first champion of the downtrodden and he inspired Pasolini, DaSica, Almodovar and countless others. Overall the film is impecably put together - everything works. The quirky coincedences lead our hero into situations which are funny, entertaining and yet still put forth a much more sophisticated tale. If you haven't yet done yourself the service of watching a Chaplin film this one would be a great one to start on. Infact I am a believer that all Chaplin films are worthy of starting on as The Gold Rush and Modern Times are just as good (if not better) as any of the other ones I have listed already.He truly is a genius and this is one of his best films, which is tough because they are all really good. 75 years later and he is still timeless and as good as anyone else.
]]>Sun, 01 Jul 2007 01:39:00 GMTJScottJScott Blog6/30/2007 9:39:00 PMCity Lights is a light hearted comedy on the surface and a much more subtle melodrama at it's core. His pioneering social commentary is common place in all Chaplin films, especially The Great Dictator and The Kid. This film is so obviously a political movie that it opens on a statue representing justice outside of the local courthouse as it is being revealed for the first time.The message of the lower class being forgettable and disposable is repeateded throughout the film but most powerfully at the very end of the film. The Blind Girl is back from Brazil for her surgery and the Tramp is out of prison, but ultimately she is unable to accept him and only placate him with a smile as he eagerly collects any attention she is willing to pay him.Chaplin the first champion of the downtrodden and he inspired Pasolini, DaSica, Almodovar and countless others. Overall the film is impecably put together - everything works. The quirky coincedences lead our hero into situations which are funny, entertaining and yet still put forth a much more sophisticated tale. If you haven't yet done yourself the service of watching a Chaplin film this one would be a great one to start on. Infact I am a believer that all Chaplin films are worthy of starting on as The Gold Rush and Modern Times are just as good (if not better) as any of the other ones I have listed already.He truly is a genius and this is one of his best films, which is tough because they are all really good. 75 years later and he is still timeless and as good as anyone else. http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/funny/MemberTagFilms.aspxfunny
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]]>Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:10:58 GMT609317942Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/comedy/MemberTagFilms.aspxcomedy
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]]>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:38:30 GMT10872531342Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/hilarious/MemberTagFilms.aspxhilarious
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]]>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:49:02 GMT584175Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/hope/MemberTagFilms.aspxhope
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]]>Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:03:04 GMT2783578Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/germany/MemberTagFilms.aspxgermany
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]]>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:51:45 GMT4522860Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/mistakenidentity/MemberTagFilms.aspxmistakenidentity
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]]>Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:02:45 GMT6832035Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/blackandwhite/MemberTagFilms.aspxblackandwhite
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]]>Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:23:37 GMT201626Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/hitler/MemberTagFilms.aspxhitler
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]]>Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:58:04 GMT161420Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/superb/MemberTagFilms.aspxsuperb
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Number of people who tagged: 10

Number of times used: 14

]]>Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:28:47 GMT131014Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/badguy/MemberTagFilms.aspxbadguy
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Number of people who tagged: 9

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]]>Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:02:42 GMT4622919Tag http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/dictator/MemberTagFilms.aspxdictator
Number of films tagged: 204

Number of people who tagged: 8

Number of times used: 12

]]>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:38:22 GMT204812Tag