seen them in the Berkeley Art Film Theatre, the Cinema Guild, in the mid-1950s. Of Leni, Hitlermay have been the one who said to Goebbels, the Gauleiter of Berlin and Reichstag deputy, “Attheir most original, the directors we grew up with, Fritz Lang and G.W. Pabst, and the currentRiefenstahl, resemble neither ‘filmmaker’ nor ‘painter’. In each of their own deep-dimensionedminds alive with black and white montages, they seem like sculptors who scrape their materialfrom the soil of their native Deutschland and give them a cast of permanence.”Every imaginable aspect of Charlie Chaplin’s life is examined by author Aping in argumentsagainst the Nazis – – so much so that the 7” x 10” softcover becomes a compendium of “all youever wanted to know of the Nazi war against America’s favorite “amusing person”, thelegendary Charlie Chaplin.” For example, the inevitable first question in the first chapter ofevery Chaplin biography: “Was Charlie Chaplin – a Jew?”, Norbert’s answer is then dissected inseveral subchapters: Chaplin’s ancestry, the Jewish characters in his first Hollywood features;later perspectives on Charlie’s origins; then the beginning of the first Nazi attacks in theVolkischer Beobachter in 1922 with Hitler as editor. Chapter 2 is entitled, “Chaplin Targeted –‘Shoulder Arms’ where Chaplin is humiliated because he continued his sentry duties for twoadditional years after the 1918 Armistice and Germany’s surrender. An analysis of “The GoldRush” is next, with Chaplin, in person, introducing and explaining the results. At the beginningof each Chapter is a summary via a dozen or more bullet-points describing what issues HerrAping will be discussing. Helpful, thought-provoking, and encouraging, it is the best book evercompiled and written about the “First-actor, No. 1 Superstar of the Silent Movies.” Add thenumber of b & w photos, drawings, and cartoons that Norbert has included in his brilliant textand you have an amazing story, including Charlie’s commitment, resoluteness, and old-
fashioned guts to openly and happily smile when telling it to anyone who would listen.
