The lovable Tramp that had made audiences laugh for over 30 years had finally spoken in The Great Dictator. Here, the Tramp has taken a 180 degree turn as he becomes a killer! Although funny, the movie is very disturbing. For 1947, the world was not ready to see Chaplin make such a daring movie. With help from friend and fellow film maker Orson Welles, Chaplin shocked the American audience with his most daring film yet. Much of the film is funny as Chaplin still shows his "tramp" like character inside. The money counting scene is straight out of Buster Keaton's comedy classic: The Haunted House. Still, with its comedic under-tones, the movie is still disturbing with its subject matter of murder. The ending with Chaplin's last walk to his death, you can't help but watched as "The Tramp" walks away from the camera / audience like he has in many of his classic films. Here, his feet remain pointing in front of him and not to his side like the Tramp we once knew. His second to last (true) film, his last before he would make Limelight, Chaplin pushed the envelop again with this "killer" movie.
Review of Monsieur Verdoux
