10 Directors Who Completely Ruined Their Careers With One Movie
3. Charlie Chaplin
The Killer Movie: The Great Dictator Charlie Chaplin was ahead of the curve when it came to criticising Adolf Hitler, and though his The Great Dictator is lauded as a work of genius today, the reaction at the time wasn't quite as positive. The audiences loved it - spending a fortune on seeing it, and it apparently helped sway public opinion in favour of war, and critics have showered it with praise for 70 years now. But the FBI weren't as impressed, and they labelled the moustachioed director a "premature anti-fascist," as if being anti-fascist was somehow to be frowned upon at any stage of its development, and berated him for trying to turn opinion against the Nazis. What a wonderful advertisement for the FBI that now looks like. Forced to testify to justify himself, Chaplin revealed his left-wing leanings, and was demonised by conservative media, and in stark contrast to The Great Dictator, his follow up, Monsieur Verdoux, was a commercial failure and was booed on first night. He was then rather unthinkably kicked out of the country after attending a premiere in London and sportingly seeing his passport revoked by the US government. America turned away from him, and though Europe still welcomed him, he didn't really get an American reprieve until the Academy gave him an Oscar in 1973 for Limelight, the premiere of which Chaplin had been at in London, and proved how much they loved him by giving him a standing ovation that went on for about a month (12 minutes.)
The Killer Movie: The Great Dictator Charlie Chaplin was ahead of the curve when it came to criticising Adolf Hitler, and though his The Great Dictator is lauded as a work of genius today, the reaction at the time wasn't quite as positive. The audiences loved it - spending a fortune on seeing it, and it apparently helped sway public opinion in favour of war, and critics have showered it with praise for 70 years now. But the FBI weren't as impressed, and they labelled the moustachioed director a "premature anti-fascist," as if being anti-fascist was somehow to be frowned upon at any stage of its development, and berated him for trying to turn opinion against the Nazis. What a wonderful advertisement for the FBI that now looks like. Forced to testify to justify himself, Chaplin revealed his left-wing leanings, and was demonised by conservative media, and in stark contrast to The Great Dictator, his follow up, Monsieur Verdoux, was a commercial failure and was booed on first night. He was then rather unthinkably kicked out of the country after attending a premiere in London and sportingly seeing his passport revoked by the US government. America turned away from him, and though Europe still welcomed him, he didn't really get an American reprieve until the Academy gave him an Oscar in 1973 for Limelight, the premiere of which Chaplin had been at in London, and proved how much they loved him by giving him a standing ovation that went on for about a month (12 minutes.)