World War II as portrayed by cinema of the early 40s. Describing the Marx Brothers and A Night in Casablanca. Groucho, Harpo, and Chico. Harpo and Teller (of Penn and Teller). Musical entertainment. The role of women in Marx Brothers films. Making fun of Nazis! Why is A Night in Casablanca too easy on the Nazis? The Great Dictator: written, produced, staring, directed, and music by Charlie Chaplin. The haunted mustache. Talkies and sound! New technology. Chaplin’s depiction of Hitler. Interpreting the final speech.
Trailers
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A Night in Casablanca
Released: May 10, 1946
IMDB | Wikipedia
Director: Archie Mayo
Writer: Joseph Fields, Roland Kibbee
Starring: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Charles Drake
The Marx Brothers are employed at a hotel in postwar Casablanca, where a ring of Nazis is trying to recover a cache of stolen treasure.
The Great Dictator
Released: March 7, 1941
IMDB | Wikipedia
Director: Charles Chaplin
Writer: Charles Chaplin
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner
In Chaplin's satire on Nazi Germany, dictator Adenoid Hynkel has a double... a poor Jewish barber... who one day is mistaken for Hynkel.
