That night Harry told an interesting story of the San Francisco strike. At that time he had practically commanded the whole city, controlling all its supplies. But he never interfered with the necessary supplies for hospitals and for children. In telling me about the strike he said: ‘When the cause is justified, you don’t have to persuade people; all you do is to tell them the facts, they they decide for themselves. I told my men that if they decided to strike there’d be plenty of trouble; some might never know the results. But whatever they decided, I would abide by their decision. If it’s to strike, I’ll be there on the front line, I said – and the five thousand voted unanimously to strike.’
The Great Dictator was booked to play two theatres in New York, the Astor and the Capitol. At the Astor we previewed it for the Press. Harry Hopkins, Franklin Roosevelt’s chief adviser, dined with me that night. Afterwards we went to the Press showing and arrived half-way through the picture.
A Press preview of a comedy has a very definite characteristic – the laughter sounds in spite of itself. At that preview, what laughter there was sounded the same.
‘It’s a great picture,’ said Harry as we left the theatre, ‘a very worth-while thing to do, but it hasn’t a chance. It will lose money.’ Since $2,000,000 of my own money and two years’ work were involved, I was not frantically ebullient about his prognostications. However, I nodded soberly. Thank God Hopkins was wrong. The Great Dictator opened at the Capital to a glamorous audience who were elated and enthused. It stayed fifteen weeks in New York, playing two theatres, and turned out to be the biggest grosser of all my pictures up to that time.
But the reviews were mixed. Most of the critics objected to the last speech. The New York Daily News said I pointed a finger of Communism at the audience. Although the majority of the critics objected to the speech and said it was not in character, the public as a whole loved it, and I had many wonderful letters eulogizing it.
Archie L. Mayo, one of Hollywood’s important directors, asked permission to print the speech on his Christmas card. What follows is his introduction to it and the speech:
Had I lived at the time of Lincoln, I believe I would have sent you his Gettysburg speech, because it was the greatest inspirational message of his period. Today we face new crises, and another man has spoken from the depth of an earnest and sincere heart. Although I know him but slightly, what he says has moved me deeply… I am inspired to send you the full text of the speech written by Charles Chaplin that you, too, may share the expression of Hope.
The Concluding Speech of
THE DICTATOR
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone – if possible – Jew, Gentile – black men – white.
We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. 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.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these things cries out for the goodness in man – cries out for universal brotherhood – for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world – millions of despairing men, women, and little children – victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say: ‘Do not despair.’ The misery that has come 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.
Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to these brutes – who despise you – enslave you – who regiment your lives – tell you what to do – what to think and what to feel! Who drill you – diet you – treat you like cattle and use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men – machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are men! With the love of humanity in your hearts! Don’t hate! Only the unloved hate – the unloved and the unnatural!
Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man – not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power – the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful – to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then – in the name of democracy – let
