[guybrushT]

I had the good fortune of reading his autobiography. I highly recommend it. It explains the events described in this article (eg the ostracization; allegations of being a communist; attacks on his character; the affairs; seizure of his wealth by the government and the fact that he had to stay away from the country that he loved and called his home for majority of his life). I truly walked away feeling deeply pained and felt sorry for him -- here was a man born into extreme poverty (the scene in one of his movies where the tramp eats a shoe due to extreme hunger, was a part of Chaplin's childhood). His mother went insane (became catatonic) due to hunger. As a small boy he saw his mother being taken away by the police and put into an asylum. And this person, spent his entire life making people laugh.

He was born to make us laugh. I think instead of focussing on his shortcomings and marriages, it is far more important to focus and discuss his craft.

The lookup Hanna speech [1] at the end of the great dictator is must read / listen. One of the best monologues in movie history. Tell me if this speech doesn't move you!

[1] http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechthe... (added link)

[dopeboy]

That Hanna speech is amazingly moving. To add to the dramatic effect, watch it with the 'Time' track from Inception overlaid. You will get goosebumps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXsoakk3GRk

[TeMPOraL]

Thanks for the link. I only new the speech from this mix, which while different in style, also gave me goosebumps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe5wW-g6FgU.