Hollywood as historian : American film in a cultural context

Hollywood as historian : American film in a cultural context / edited by Peter C. Rollins. 0813114861 : series Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, c1983.

The chapter entitled “Fighting Words” discusses Charlie Chaplin’s intentions for his film “The Great Dictator”. The film was Chaplin’s first sound film. Not wanting to alter his classic silent ‘tramp’ character, Charlie found the opportunity in this entry into sound to preserve his beloved character and talk to his audience for the first time. “As Hitler I could harangue the crowds in jargon and talk all I wanted to,” wrote Charlie in his autobiography. “A Hitler story was an opportunity for burlesque and pantomime.” Charlie exposed Hynkel (representing Hitler) in exactly this fashion. For most of the film, Hynkel’s words amount to nothing more than gibberish. When the dictator speaks intelligibly, the audience still senses malevolent babble.

The chapter supports the thesis as it illustrates Chaplin’s intentions to mock Hitler his film. It also demonstrates the striking contrast between the dictator and the barber. The dictator appears foolish as a result of Chaplin’s work while the barber remains relatively silent and pure (until the end). After developing these distinct characters for two hours, Charlie utilizes his first sound film to let out his own voice in the final speech, bashing hate and calling the soldiers to unite in the name of democracy and peace.

Indelible shadows : film and the Holocaust / Annette Insdorf.

Insdorf, Annette. Indelible shadows : film and the Holocaust 3rd ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 2003.

In the Chapter “Black Humor” Annette Insdorf discusses how the element of humor can be effectively utilized to bring illumination to the Holocaust that is not possible with a more serious approach. Insdorf analyses Hynkel’s grandiose speech scene in which he flails his arms about as he snarls wildly into the microphone. She notes the ubiquitous salutes that are reminiscent of the Nazi salutes. Hynkel seems to salute several times per minute, and the audience is equally as excessive with their salutes. Even the statues, including the conventionally armless Venus de Milo, salute. Insdorf points out that these basic sight gags not only amuse the audience but also serve a deeper purpose in suggesting that the art and culture in Germany has been polluted into the Nazi image. Insdorf also recognizes Chaplin’s clever use of the double cross to represent the swastika throughout the film. She comments that the double cross symbol is “an all-too-perfect mark for what Hitler was doing to Germany”.

This chapter directly supports the thesis as it demonstrates how Chaplin effectively uses humor to criticize the Nazi regime. The reshaped statues are an exceptional example of Chaplin’s skill in demonstrating the pollution of the Third Reich on all aspects of German life. Chaplin masterfully deforms the Nazi swastika into a double cross. This use of a switched object indicates Hitler’s betrayal of Germany.

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Hollywood as historian : American film in a cultural context

Indelible shadows : film and the Holocaust / Annette Insdorf.