In 1940, with 88% of Americans opposed to getting involved in WWII, Charlie Chaplin embarked on his most ambitious, most controversial film. The result was The Great Dictator, a movie that wears its antifascist politics on its sleeve. In today's episode, we dive into the 4-minute speech that nudged the course of history.
Jonny Eberle is a writer, podcaster, filmmaker, and photographer. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his family, a dog, and three adorable typewriters. His fiction has appeared in Creative Colloquy, Grit City Magazine, All Worlds Wayfarer, Culturate Magazine, Borderline Tales, and elsewhere.
Dispatches with Jonny Eberle is a production of Obscure Studios with music by The Mountain via Pixabay. Find more shows at www.obscurestudios.net. Thanks for listening!
Transcript and more information about the film that I couldn't squeeze into the episode: https://jweberle.com/2025/04/23/the-barber-and-the-tyrant/
If you'd like to learn more, check out Danny Boyd's brilliant video essay on the filmmaking choices that make The Great Dictator resonate 85 years later: https://youtu.be/7HSIWfPTSMM?si=DmJklaHpykgVcZqF
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