Every now and then, it is good to refresh knowledge of what is truly important in life. So it’s time to post
“The Greatest Speech Ever” by
Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin was known as the greatest silent actor
ever. The most powerful excerpts from his speech, still very relevant
today, in my opinion, are below:
“And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way
of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has
poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has
goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but
we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us
in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and
unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than
machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and
gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will
be lost.“
“To those who can hear me, I say – do not despair. The
misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed – the bitterness
of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass,
and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return
to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”
And particularly relevant, is the following, as it applies to nearly
all world leaders today and it should serve to awaken us to the
knowledge that divided we will fall to the brutal immorality of today’s
banking/government/military complex, but united, we have the power to
change our futures for the better:
“You the people have the power, the power to create
machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power
to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let’s use that power – let
us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will
give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and
security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfill their promise, they never will. “
Here is more about Charlie Chaplin, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Chaplin arrived in Los Angeles, home of the Keystone studio, in
early December 1913. The 1940s saw Chaplin face a series of
controversies, both in his work and his personal life, which changed his
fortunes and severely affected his popularity in America. The first of
these was a new boldness in expressing his political beliefs. Deeply
disturbed by the surge of militaristic nationalism in 1930s world
politics, Chaplin found that he could not keep these issues out of his
work: “How could I throw myself into feminine whimsy or think of romance
or the problems of love when madness was being stirred up by a hideous
grotesque, Adolf Hitler?”
He chose to make The Great Dictator – a “satirical attack on
fascism” and his “most overtly political film”. There were strong
parallels between Chaplin and the German dictator, having been born four
days apart and raised in similar circumstances. It was widely noted
that Hitler wore the same toothbrush moustache as the Tramp, and it was
this physical resemblance that formed the basis of Chaplin’s story.
Chaplin spent two years developing the script and began filming in
September 1939. He had submitted to using spoken dialogue, partly out of
acceptance that he had no other choice but also because he recognised
it as a better method for delivering a political message. Making a
comedy about Hitler was seen as highly controversial, but Chaplin’s
financial independence allowed him to take the risk. “I was determined
to go ahead,” he later wrote, “for Hitler must be laughed at.” Chaplin
replaced the Tramp (while wearing similar attire) with “A Jewish
Barber”, a reference to the Nazi party’s belief that the star was a Jew.
In a dual performance he also plays the dictator “Adenoid Hynkel”, a
parody of Hitler which Maland sees as revealing the “megalomania,
narcissism, compulsion to dominate, and disregard for human life” of the
German dictator.
The Great Dictator spent a year in production, and was released
in October 1940. There was a vast amount of publicity around the film,
with a critic for the New York Times calling it “the most eagerly
awaited picture of the year”, and it was one of the biggest money-makers
of the era. The response from critics was less enthusiastic. Although
most agreed that it was a brave and worthy film, many considered the
ending inappropriate. Chaplin concluded the film with a six-minute
speech in which he looked straight at the camera and professed his
personal beliefs. The monologue drew significant debate for its overt
preaching and continues to attract attention to this day. Maland has
identified it as triggering Chaplin’s decline in popularity, and writes,
“Henceforth, no movie fan would ever be able to separate the dimension
of politics from the star image of Charles Spencer Chaplin.” The Great
Dictator received five Academy Award nominations, including Best
Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor.
Chaplin decided to hold the world premiere of his film Limelight in
London, since it was the setting of the film. As he left Los Angeles,
Chaplin expressed a premonition that he would not be returning. At New
York, he boarded the RMS Queen Elizabeth with his family on 18 September
1952. The next day, Attorney General James P. McGranery revoked
Chaplin’s re-entry permit and stated that he would have to submit to an
interview concerning his political views and moral behaviour in order to
re-enter the US. US Congressman John E. Rankin of Mississippi told the
House in June 1947:
“[Chaplin] has refused to become an American citizen. His very life
in Hollywood is detrimental to the moral fabric of America. [If he is
deported] … his loathsome pictures can be kept from before the eyes of
the American youth. He should be deported and gotten rid of at once.”
What is remarkable about the above is that Chaplin’s speech about fascism in
The Great Dictator nearly
75 years ago is as relevant today, if not more relevant, as it was back
then. In addition, as Chaplin was demonized for telling the truth back
then, administrations worldwide today, like the
current
White House administration, are relentlessly demonizing and persecuting
truth tellers as well, after deceitfully pledging to protect them.
It is for these reasons, in an Orwellian age when telling the truth is a
revolutionary act, that we must spread “The Greatest Speech Ever” far
and wide.
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