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Show -- , y-.s5W...- I Chaplin turns tables on Reicl Tl l A I. .L. A experience with the film itself. The effect is a very solid and satisfying . presentation. Like fireworks Jack Oakie is Mussolini, enters late but every scene he has goes off like fireworks. He produces classic poses of II Duce with an extended lower lip and his uncouth pomposity that is summed up by his national emblem on his hat, a pair of dice. The action is split between a Jewish barber.also by Chaplin, who turns the tables on the Third Reich and the machinations of maxi and mini dictators. The barber chair is a gold mine of comedy. These scenes are superbly orchestrated with music and movement. The Chanclery is a hotbed of intrigue 1 .viri(-i frr the a ft- by JOHN HOUSTON Chronicle Staff Charlie Chaplin is a universal genius. His creation of "The Great Dictator" is a no-holds barred assault on the perversions of power by Hitler. It is photographically a sophisticated production, where the comedy is as much visual as it is audible. Yet it transcends its own time and techniques to be a paradigm of political satire. As writer, director and star, Chaplin uses a whole bag of tricks to pop the bubble that the Third Reich had filled with bombastic rhetoric. The film was produced in response to the excesses of the Nazis that were common knowledge in the late 30's. Venus 'Seig Heir they took the Communists, a, cheered, then they took thfe and we didn't mind; when'? took the Catholic Priests we r chilled, and when they took us-one us-one could stop them." Political impact Political satire is entertaining: enlightening in a unique way. . Aristophenes "The Clue Chaplin's "Dictator" opera-wounds opera-wounds of society to the far i of public debate. Often only h.-: can pierce the stuffy arm" totalitarian states wrap theirs; in. No one in America took h seriously until Walt Disney 2 Donald Duck a to, mustache and a goose-steps Chaplin's film came too law Germany, but it must haws great impact on American p: opinion. This film may yet lisr 35 years of obscurity to Ir known as the classic thatitsr perhaps inspire new atteff that often neglected bills' portant genre of political h.- and military testing tor tne anticipated an-ticipated war. Emotional conclusion The conclusion is a highly emotional plea by the Jewish barber to the German Nation to resist the corruption of the Nazis. The Jewish barber had resisted the insults of storm troopers as he would respond to any attack upon his human dignity. The object of the film is to awaken the observer to the tragedy that apathy and corruption produced in Germany. A statement by a Protestant minister underlines what happened. "First The highpoint of satire comes in the "balloon ballet" that shows Hitler carressing an inflated globe and tossing it about like a Frisbee to a Viennese waltz. Chaplin's Hin-L Hin-L ckle, as he calls him, has given Venus De Milo one arm back so I that she too can give a "Sieg Heil", 5 as Hinckle drives past the adoring masses. Much of the humor is pure pantomine, that can be traced to Chaplin's background in silent films. There is biting dialogue throughout the film, and Chaplin as Hinckle is a giant success. But the story and humor are told by one's |