Back in the darkest days of World War II, when the Nazis were blitzkreiging unstoppably across Europe’s democracies, as millions of Jews, gypsies and uncooperative Christians were gassed at concentration camps, as America was gripped in fear that California and Oregon were next after Pearl Harbor, an eccentric movie was released.

In it the famed “little tramp” of silent pictures, Charlie Chaplin, played a mad tyrant. Many people misunderstood what Chaplin was attempting to say in “The Great Dictator.”

Here is a heart-felt speech that is perhaps the highest point. However, it never caught on, never became an oft-quoted classic and is not an icon of freedom speeches.

Why not?

More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad