Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Charlie Chaplin's 1940 portrayal of Hitler in "The Great Dictator" compared to 'The Interview'
Seth Rogen is far from the first filmmaker to take a pot shot at a notorious world leader. Charlie Chaplin’s famous portrayal of fictitious dictator Adenoid Hynkel, a thinly-veiled version of Hitler, made waves around the world when he premiered the 1940 comedy, "The Great Dictator."
“Initially, when he proposed the film, there were fears — in Britain, particularly, where appeasement was still very much in the air — and there was talk that the film would be dangerous," says film critic and historian David Thomson.
Chaplin’s film made huge cultural waves around the world — except in Germany. "The Great Dictator," along with many other films during that time, was banned in Germany. But "the story is that Hitler himself saw it," Thomson says. "Somehow a print was taken there and the story says that he saw it twice."
The media reaction at the time of the release was rather measured and calm, according to Thomson. “In 1940, the world was in great great peril, but it had a very, very stable media climate," he says. "The film was reviewed very favorably. It was a huge popular success. It was probably Chaplin’s most important feature film, and the one that did best at the box office. People loved it!”
Contrast that to the media frenzy that erupted over the Sony hack and the cancellation of "The Interview:" “Today we have less immediate physical peril [than World War II] but we have a chaotic, hysterical media scene," Thomson says. "Within a few days this can become almost a terrorist incident."
http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-12-19/what-we-can-learn-charlie-chaplin-and-great-dictator
29 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
with your very bizarre rant. 
Take that crap elsewhere.
Last edited Sat Dec 20, 2014, 03:06 PM - Edit history (1)
Your post prior to any editing:
12. The OP is about NK. If your comments have nothing to do with NK, as you claim, why inject them
View profile
into a thread about NK? My responses have centered on the fact the subject of the OP is NK and the follow-on fact there are no good reasons for not releasing a movie because some dough-faced boy tyrant threatens violence.
If your posts are not related to the OP then that is you inexplicably changing the subject, not my error. Or maybe terror-apolgia proves more embarrassing than it seems at first blush.
View profile
into a thread about NK? My responses have centered on the fact the subject of the OP is NK and the follow-on fact there are no good reasons for not releasing a movie because some dough-faced boy tyrant threatens violence.
If your posts are not related to the OP then that is you inexplicably changing the subject, not my error. Or maybe terror-apolgia proves more embarrassing than it seems at first blush.
Welcome to ignore on my (and I suspect many many other's lists)
shithole like North Korea determine what we show in our theaters.
People have every right to be disgusted by the torture, but using it to deflect from every other issue is going to get very old, very fucking fast.
"Obama said hello to someone today."
"Oh yeah, what did he say about torture?"
"There was a major disaster in Timbuktu."
"Oh yeah, didn't we have a torture prison there?"
"We can't say anything because we tortured people!!!!111oneone"
You are conflating two issues. But, maybe your head slap will help with that.
Here is an except from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Nazty_Spy! :
The title is supposedly a parody of comedian Joe Penner's catchphrase "You Nasty Man!"[1]
Moe Howard, as "Moe Hailstone", became the first American actor to portray/imitate Adolf Hitler in this film.
Both Moe Howard and Larry Fine cited You Nazty Spy! as their favorite Three Stooges short.[2]
You Nazty Spy! was followed by a sequel, I'll Never Heil Again, in 1941. Moronika would also appear in Dizzy Pilots.
There is a historical pun when Larry says, "If I take Mickey Finlen, I better be rushin'." Curly replies, "Then quit stallin'."
This is a reference to Finland, the Soviet Union, and Joseph Stalin, who was the leader of the Soviet Union.
Larry Fine injured his leg shortly before filming, and can be seen with a limp throughout the short. Fortunately, this was appropriate for his role as a parody of Joseph Goebbels, who walked with a limp due to a club foot.
The names of the munitions manufacturers are Pig Latin for "Nix" (a slang term of that era), "No", and "Scram", which in turn were known by the audience as slang in their Pig-Latin form.
The parody of the Nazi banner with two snakes in the form of a swastika says "Moronika for Morons" which is a play on the Nazi slogan "Deutschland den Deutschen" (Germany for Germans).
Moe Howard, as "Moe Hailstone", became the first American actor to portray/imitate Adolf Hitler in this film.
Both Moe Howard and Larry Fine cited You Nazty Spy! as their favorite Three Stooges short.[2]
You Nazty Spy! was followed by a sequel, I'll Never Heil Again, in 1941. Moronika would also appear in Dizzy Pilots.
There is a historical pun when Larry says, "If I take Mickey Finlen, I better be rushin'." Curly replies, "Then quit stallin'."
This is a reference to Finland, the Soviet Union, and Joseph Stalin, who was the leader of the Soviet Union.
Larry Fine injured his leg shortly before filming, and can be seen with a limp throughout the short. Fortunately, this was appropriate for his role as a parody of Joseph Goebbels, who walked with a limp due to a club foot.
The names of the munitions manufacturers are Pig Latin for "Nix" (a slang term of that era), "No", and "Scram", which in turn were known by the audience as slang in their Pig-Latin form.
The parody of the Nazi banner with two snakes in the form of a swastika says "Moronika for Morons" which is a play on the Nazi slogan "Deutschland den Deutschen" (Germany for Germans).
