COMIC   March 27, 1931. Chaplin is in Paris as a guest of Aristide Briand, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is to be named a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. Following a sumptuous dinner of fresh salmon, foie gras from Strasbourg and ice cream from Ceylon, Chaplin couldn't resist the temptation to be the comic, even under such "serious" circumstances; he tickled Tristan Bernard's long beard, he danced on the Minister's desk and he dropped his vanilla ice cream down the back of the Countess of Nouailles' formal dress!   REBEL   There are many stories that illustrate Charlie's rebellious side. One of the most telling is his persistence in making silent films when the rest of the film industry was betting on the "talkies". He went against the grain for several years and was vindicated in a way, since the success of many of his films from this era eclipsed the best talkies of the time. The proof? In 1936, ten years after the introduction of talking films, Chaplin brought out a silent film which had more impact on audiences than any other film of that year. The film was MODERN TIMES. Deep in the Depression years, Chaplin was the only artist who had the courage to address the range of problems affecting America: unemployment, unchecked capitalism, automation, inhuman workplaces. Chaplin stood up for society's oppressed; they found a voice in the little tramp who never uttered a word on screen.   HUMANIST   What better illustrates Chaplin the humanist than the 6-minute speech he made during the final scene of THE GREAT DICTATOR. The subject was world peace and the words have the ring of truth, even today. They touched millions of people around the world and should be heard again and again – much the same way that John Lennon's Imagine should be played again and again. Want to know more about this famous speech? Go to the Did You Know section.