The physical resemblance between the Tramp and another famous man with a
little black mustache was not lost on Chaplin. In his first all-talking
picture, he plays both a Jewish barber and his double, Adenoid Hynkel,
the absolute ruler of Tomainia. As Hynkel and his henchmen Herring and
Garbitsch engineer the persecution of Jews and the invasion of
neighboring Osterlich, the amnesiac barber may be the only person
innocent enough to stop them. Throughout the film Chaplin powerfully
exploits the deflating power of parody, while in the finale he abandons
both character and comedy to deliver one of the most inspirational speeches in recorded history with an impassioned plea for human
tolerance.This was not just a film, this was a message from Charlie Chaplin's deep humanity. The world still needs to stand still and listen and stand against the forces of fascism.
An earlier tribute of mine to this great man can be found here :-
http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/charlie-chaplin-b1641889-251277-citizen.html
