Quote:
In his controversial masterpiece The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin offers both a cutting caricature of Adolf Hitler and a sly tweaking of his own comic persona. Chaplin, in his first pure talkie, brings his sublime physicality to two roles: the cruel yet clownish “Tomainian” dictator and the kindly Jewish barber who is mistaken for him. Featuring Jack Oakie and Paulette Goddard in stellar supporting turns, The Great Dictator, boldly going after the fascist leader before the U.S.’s official entry into World War II, is an audacious amalgam of politics and slapstick that culminates in Chaplin’s famously impassioned speech.Read More »
Jack Oakie
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Charles Chaplin – The Great Dictator (1940)
1931-1940Charles ChaplinComedyUSAWar -
René Clair – It Happened Tomorrow (1944)
1941-1950ComedyFantasyRené ClairUSAQuote:
A newspaper obit writer, impatient to move ahead at his job, wishes he could know the news before it happens. One night, Old Pop Benson grants him that power, in the form of the next day’s newspaper. At first it only gets him in trouble, but also brings him closer to the pretty girl in a fortune-telling routine. By the third tomorrow’s paper, he’s sure he’s got this whole future business in the bag — reporting advance scoops, picking sure winners at the race track — when he reads a very final headline: the news of his own death.Read More » -
Mitchell Leisen – Murder at the Vanities (1934)
1931-1940ClassicsDramaMitchell LeisenUSAQuote:
While musical revue “The Vanities” captivates audience on its opening night, a murder investigation secretly takes place backstage. a lavish backstage extravaganza that’s half musical and half who-dunnit. As the mystery is downright silly, the appeal is all in the attempts at comedy and the staging of a half-dozen song and dance numbers.Read More » -
Allan Dwan – Young People (1940)
1931-1940Allan DwanDramaUSABrief Synopsis:
Shirley’s last film on her 20th Century Fox contract (aged 12). Her parents (Oakie, Greenwood) decide to retire from show biz so she can have a normal life. They are unwelcome in the small town until a storm lets the family show their stuff. Clips from earlier films fill in Shirley’s background.Read More »