Charlie Chaplin╒s new film ╥Modern Times╙ has been prohibited in Germany. Reuter was informed at the Propaganda Ministry this afternoon that there was at present no prospect that the picture would be shown in this country. Another Nazi spokesman said that reports from abroad had indicated that the picture had a ╥Communist tendency╙ and that this was no doubt the reason why the picture was unacceptable.
This is the latest move in the Nazi drive to purge Germany of Chaplin. In recent months Charlie Chaplin╒s films, which used frequently to be revived in Germany, have vanished from the screen on account, it has been presumed, of doubts existing here as to the Aryan purity of the comedian╒s ancestry. Picture postcards of Chaplin, which used to be displayed in shop-windows all over Berlin, have now vanished, and it is understood that by official order no more are now being issued.
When the famous Rivels clowns recently came to a leading Berlin music-hall with their act, which used to include a parody of Charlie Chaplin, the clown who played the mock Charlie abandoned his little moustache and bowler and appeared in another disguise.
[It was suggested by Mr. A. E. Newbould, publicity director of the Gaumont British Film Company, last night that, though it might sound absurd, "Chaplin moustache is so like Hitler's that I am of the opinion it may have played some part in the prohibition of the film."]
