In “The Great Dictator” Chaplin cast himself in two roles: the fascist dictator (“Adenoid Hynkel”) and a Jewish barber. In the final scene, the Jewish barber, dressed as the fascist dictator, addresses his audience directly with a speech.

Chaplin worked for two years on the script of the film, including several weeks on the speech. The latter received mixed responses. Some didn’t think it added to the movie whereas others found it inspiring.

Winston Churchill as well as Franklin Delano Roosevelt liked it. Roosevelt even invited Chaplin to read the film’s final speech during his January 1941 inauguration.

J. Edgar Hoover, at the time FBI director, less so. Suspicious of Chaplin’s political leanings, he had the FBI proceeded to hound Chaplin for various reasons, accusing him of being a communist. In 1952, when Chaplin traveled to the UK his re-entry permit to the US was revoked.

The speech continues to be worth reading and listening to.

In the beginning, he shares an idea many seem to have forgotten or to have lost faith in:

“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.”

Later he highlights a dynamic that continues to unfold:

“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…”