Hello Charlie

The other afternoon I found myself with a rare bit of free time, as in time that I should spend doing pertinent yet not required activities, and I decided to use that time to watch the last hour or so of Charlie Chaplin's classic Little Dictator. I think it holds up to its reputation. Ok, so it had its corny moments, and yeah the train moving through the station is a cardboeard cut-out and yes the ending, as inspirational as it is, was a bit heavy-handed. But I was amazed notwithstanding, by the cleverness of the movie, the genius of the comedy. It's a comdey that isn't low-brow. Imagine such a thing today. A comdey with intelligence. There was a part of me that didn't want to laugh at some of the 3 Stooges like slapstick, but I am willing to recognize the brilliance behind physical comedy; it's much easier to crack an audience up with sarcasm and lewd situations and who knows, pie fights, then it is to get them laughing over the way you move your body. Couldn't you just watch Charlie walk all day long? Or balance on a beam from the roof of a house? Or slather mustard all over bread? He has such a way about him on film.