footage shot by Chaplin's brother,
Sydney, during the making of the film,
are blended with archival footage of
Hitler and the Third Reich in a fasci-
nating new documentary titled. The
Tramp and the Dictator.
It makes its television premiere 8
p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, on Turner
Classic Movies.
Created by Kevin Brownlow and
Michael Kloft, and narrated by
Kenneth Branagh, the one:hour docti-
mentary compares and contrasts the
life of Chaplin, the world's most
beloved entertainer, with that of
Hitler, the world's most hated dictator.
It also includes live interviews with
-such luminaries — many of them
Jewish — as historian Arthur
Schlesinger Jr., director Sidney Lumet,
screenwriter Budd Schulberg and film
critic Stanley Kaufmann. Sydney
Chaplin, Charlie's eldest surviving son,
also appears.
Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler
had more in common than just a mus-
tache, begins Branagh, tracing the cir-
cumstances surrounding their birth
within four days of each other in April
1889.
Chaplin escaped his poverty-riddled
childhood into theater and, in 1910,
came to America. Six years later he
would become the world's most popu-
lar entertainer and the highest paid
actor in Hollywood.
In 1916, Hitler, a failed artist, was a
soldier in the Kaiser's army. After
Germany's defeat, Hitler remained in
the military and eventually found his
destiny in the nascent Nazi Party.
In 1918, Charlie Chaplin made
Shoulder Arms, which satirized the
German Kaiser. Twenty years later, he
would return to the same subject mat-
ter in The Great Dictator..
Hollywood directors and producers,
many of whom were Jewish, tried to
dissuade Chaplin from making the
movie (anti-Semitism was rife in
America), but he refused to back down.
To satirize Hitler, and make some-
thing so sad a comedy, was a great
risk, says legendary cartoonist Al
Hirschfeld, the publicity artist for the
film.
While some questioned the use of
comedy, others, like author Ray
Bradbury, applauded it. "Comedy is
the greatest way to attack a totalitarian
regime," he said.
Chaplin's imitations of Hitler
remain priceless. As Adenoid Hinkel
(Chaplin's alter ego as Hitler), the rub-
ber faced actor could made gibberish
sound real. In addition to impersonat-
ing Hitler, Chaplin also plays a Jewish
barber. Branagh notes that the Nazis
-
A Fine Romance?
"The Bachelor" returns for a second season.
ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER
Special to the Jewish News
r
or six weeks last spring, peo-
ple tuned in to see who
would win the heart of the
suave and eligible Alex on
ABC's The Bachelor. Now, viewers can
get ready for another round as 25
women vie to snag the latest heartthrob
in the second season of the show.
"I think this season is even better
than the last one," said Mike Fleiss,
the show's creator and executive pro-
ducer. "Although the format is similar,
we tried to slow down the process and
we have seven episodes instead of six.
This will give the bachelor more time
to get to know the women."
In the Sept. 25 premiere (after the
Jewish News went to press), viewers
learned about the selection process
and met this season's bachelor.
In the second episode, at 9 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 2, the bachelor will
narrow his selection
from 25 women to
10. Future episodes
have him choosing
between six, four,
then three, two, and
finally selecting the
one woman with
whom he hopes to
"Bachelor" creator
find true love.
Mike
Fleiss:
Again, he will go
"People
enjoy
on an individual
romance-
type
date with some of
reality TV"
the women, travel
with a few and meet
the parents of a few.
"The newest bachelor is an all-
American, down-to-earth guy's guy —
the kind you can play football with,"
said Fleiss, a week before the mystery
bachelor was revealed.
"He is super-honest, likable and
women love him. Although he is differ-
ent from Alex — who was a Harvard,
Kennedy type — this one is an equally
thought Chaplin was Jewish — he
wasn't, but he never denied it.
The Great Dictator became the
biggest moneymaker of the time,
though it was banned across Europe,
including Ireland and parts of South
America.
At the close of The Great Dictator,
Chaplin speaks not as Hitler, or the
Jewish barber, but as himself.
"Our way of life can be free and
beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men's souls ... and
barricaded the world with hate."
One year after 9-11, and 62 years
after the making of The Great
Dictator, Chaplin's prophetic words
take on an even greater urgency. ❑
.
The Tramp and the Dictator, pre-
sented by Turner Classic Movies,
premiers 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1,
and repeats at 11:30 p.m. A new
print of The Great Dictator fol-
lows the premiere at 9 p.m. A
28-film festival exploring
Hollywood's take on the Nazis in
movies from the late 1930s to
mid-1940s runs through
October. For information, check
your local 'TV listings or visit
vvwvv.turnerclassicmovies.corn.
great bachelor."
Reality-based matchmaking television
shows are not new to Fleiss, who is mar-
ried and a father. The native Californian
and UC-Berkeley graduate was the cre-
ator of Fox's controversial Who Wants to
Many A Multi-Millionaire.
"I got some flak about the show,"
said Fleiss, "but what I learned from
that experience was that people enjoy
romance-type reality TV"
In fact, Fleiss thinks it's_people's natural
curiosity that made The Bachelor such a
success. "People want to know what a guy
thinks when he is choosing a woman, and
how women compete for and try to win
the affection of a man," he says.
Fleiss, whose father is Jewish, says
while this season's bachelor is not
Jewish, he would definitely consider
having a Jewish bachelor in the future.
"Last time we had several Jewish
women, and this time we have some,"
says Fleiss, who works with executive
producer Lisa Levenson. "There will be
more Bachelor shows to come, and you
never know who we will choose." ❑
The Bachelor airs 9-10 p.m.
Wednesdays on ABC.
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9/27
2002