The Great Dictator (1940)
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- G
- 2h 5min
- Comedy, Drama
- 07 Mar 1941 (USA)
- Movie
- Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 1 nomination.
- See more »
Photos and Videos
Cast verified as complete
Charles Chaplin | ... |
Hynkel - Dictator of Tomania / A Jewish Barber
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Jack Oakie | ... |
Napaloni - Dictator of Bacteria
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Reginald Gardiner | ... |
Schultz
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Henry Daniell | ... |
Garbitsch
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Billy Gilbert | ... |
Herring
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Grace Hayle | ... |
Madame Napaloni
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Carter DeHaven | ... |
Bacterian Ambassador
(as Carter De Haven)
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Paulette Goddard | ... |
Hannah
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Maurice Moscovitch | ... |
Mr. Jaeckel
(as Maurice Moscovich)
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Emma Dunn | ... |
Mrs. Jaeckel
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Bernard Gorcey | ... |
Mr. Mann
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Paul Weigel | ... |
Mr. Agar
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Chester Conklin | ... |
Barber's Customer
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Esther Michelson | ... |
Jewish Woman
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Hank Mann | ... |
Storm Trooper Stealing Fruit
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Florence Wright | ... |
Blonde Secretary
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Eddie Gribbon | ... |
Tomanian Storm Trooper
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Rudolph Anders | ... |
Tomanian Commandant at Osterlich
(as Robert O. Davis)
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Eddie Dunn | ... |
Whitewashed Storm Trooper
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Nita Pike | ... |
Secretary
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George Lynn | ... |
Commander of Storm Troopers
(as Peter Lynn)
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Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Wheeler Dryden | ... |
Heinrich Schtick - Translator (voice)
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John Alban | ... |
Ball Guest (uncredited)
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Fred Aldrich | ... |
Soldier (uncredited)
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Richard Alexander | ... |
Tomainian Prison Guard in 1918 (uncredited)
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Sig Arno | ... |
Compact Parachute Inventor (uncredited)
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William Arnold | ... |
Tomanian Officer (uncredited)
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Walter Bacon | ... |
Storm Trooper (uncredited)
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Brandon Beach | ... |
Doctor (uncredited)
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Joe Bordeaux | ... |
Ghetto Extra (uncredited)
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Chet Brandenburg | ... |
Soldier (uncredited)
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Don Brodie | ... |
Reporter from International Press (uncredited)
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James Carlisle | ... |
Ball Guest (uncredited)
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Tom Coleman | ... |
Guard (uncredited)
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Hans Conried | ... |
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
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Gino Corrado | ... |
Sculptor (uncredited)
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Oliver Cross | ... |
Ball Guest (uncredited)
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John Davidson | ... |
Hospital Superintendent (uncredited)
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Max Davidson | ... |
Jewish Man (uncredited)
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Lew Davis | ... |
Hospital Orderly (uncredited)
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Francis Ernest Drake | ... |
Storm Trooper (uncredited)
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Pat Flaherty | ... |
Friendly Storm Trooper (uncredited)
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Bud Geary | ... |
Storm Trooper (uncredited)
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Jack Gordon | ... |
Soldier (uncredited)
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Herschel Graham | ... |
Soldier (uncredited)
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Sam Harris | ... |
Officer (uncredited)
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Eddie Hart | ... |
Policeman (uncredited)
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Leyland Hodgson | ... |
Big Bertha Gunnery Officer (uncredited)
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William Irving | ... |
Man Seated on Bed (uncredited)
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Charles Irwin | ... |
Banquet Butler (uncredited)
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Ethelreda Leopold | ... |
Blonde Secretary (uncredited)
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Clyde McLeod | ... |
Soldier (uncredited)
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Russell Meeker | ... |
Ball Guest (uncredited)
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Torben Meyer | ... |
Bald Barbershop Customer (uncredited)
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Jules Michelson | ... |
Man in Ghetto (uncredited)
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Bert Moorhouse | ... |
Hynkel's Staff Officer (uncredited)
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George Nardelli | ... |
Soldier (uncredited)
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Nellie V. Nichols | ... |
Jewish Woman (uncredited)
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Manuel París | ... |
Ball Guest (uncredited)
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Jack Perrin | ... |
Jewish Man (uncredited)
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Alexander Pollard | ... |
Servant (uncredited)
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Lucien Prival | ... |
Storm Trooper Officer (uncredited)
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John Rice | ... |
Storm Trooper (uncredited)
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Cyril Ring | ... |
Officer Extra (uncredited)
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Wyn Ritchie Evans | ... |
Woman in Crowd (uncredited)
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Henry Roquemore | ... |
Soldier (uncredited)
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Tiny Sandford | ... |
Soldier in 1918 Tomainia (uncredited)
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Francesca Santoro | ... |
Aggie (uncredited)
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Hans Schumm | ... |
Soldier (uncredited)
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Harry Semels | ... |
Jewish Fruit Stand Proprietor (uncredited)
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Count Stefenelli | ... |
Ball Guest (uncredited)
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Bert Stevens | ... |
Guard (uncredited)
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Charles Sullivan | ... |
Prison Guard (uncredited)
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Carl Voss | ... |
Officer (uncredited)
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Leonard Walker | ... |
Conductor (uncredited)
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Leo White | ... |
Hynkel's Barber (uncredited)
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Harry Wilson | ... |
Soldier in Field (uncredited)
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Directed by
Charles Chaplin |
Written by
Charles Chaplin | ... | (written by) |
Produced by
Charles Chaplin | ... | producer (uncredited) |
Carter DeHaven | ... | associate producer (uncredited) |
Music by
Charles Chaplin | ... | (uncredited) |
Meredith Willson | ... | (uncredited) |
Cinematography by
Karl Struss | ... | director of photography |
Roland Totheroh | ... | director of photography |
Editing by
Willard Nico | ... | film editor |
Harold Rice | ... | (uncredited) |
Art Direction by
J. Russell Spencer |
Set Decoration by
Edward G. Boyle | ... | (uncredited) |
Makeup Department
Ed Voight | ... | makeup artist (uncredited) |
Production Management
Alfred Reeves | ... | production manager (uncredited) |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wheeler Dryden | ... | assistant director |
Dan James | ... | assistant director |
Daniel James | ... | assistant director |
Robert Meltzer | ... | assistant director (as Bob Meltzer) |
Alex Finlayson | ... | assistant director (uncredited) |
Art Department
William Bogdanoff | ... | construction foreman (uncredited) |
Dick Fritsch | ... | assistant art director (uncredited) |
Frank Veseley | ... | painter (uncredited) |
Clem Widrig | ... | props (uncredited) |
Sound Department
Glenn Rominger | ... | sound |
Percy Townsend | ... | sound |
Special Effects by
Ralph Hammeras | ... | special effects (uncredited) |
Visual Effects by
Jack Cosgrove | ... | special photographic effects (uncredited) |
Stunts
Buster Wiles | ... | stunts (uncredited) |
Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Testera | ... | chief electrician (uncredited) |
William Wallace | ... | still photographer (uncredited) |
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Eugene Joseff | ... | costume jeweller (uncredited) |
Winifred Ritchie | ... | costumer (uncredited) |
Ted Tetrick | ... | costume supervisor (uncredited) |
Music Department
Meredith Willson | ... | musical director |
Carmen Dragon | ... | orchestrator (uncredited) |
Louis Kaufman | ... | musician: violin (uncredited) |
Al Kaye | ... | music librarian (uncredited) |
Max Terr | ... | assistant musical director (uncredited) / orchestrator (uncredited) |
Meredith Willson | ... | conductor (uncredited) / music arranger (uncredited) |
Script and Continuity Department
Evelyn Earle | ... | script clerk (uncredited) |
Additional Crew
Henry Bergman | ... | general assistant (uncredited) |
Rollin Brown | ... | laboratory contact (uncredited) |
Kay Clement | ... | secretary (uncredited) |
Monroe Greenthal | ... | press representative (uncredited) |
Moody | ... | dailies projectionist (uncredited) |
Kathleen Pryor | ... | secretary (uncredited) |
Eugene Testera | ... | filing clerk (uncredited) |
Carl Voss | ... | military advisor (uncredited) |
Oscar Wright | ... | purchasing (uncredited) |
Production Companies
Distributors
- United Artists (1940) (United States) (theatrical)
- United Artists (1940) (Canada) (theatrical) (as United Artists Corporation, Ltd.)
- United Artists (1940) (United Kingdom) (theatrical) (as United Artists Corporation, Ltd.)
- United Artists (Australasia) (1940) (Australia) (theatrical)
- Los Artistas Unidos de América del Sur (1945) (Argentina) (theatrical)
- Les Artistes Associés (1945) (France) (theatrical)
- Les Artistes Associés S.A.B. (1945) (Belgium) (theatrical)
- United Artists (1945) (Sweden) (theatrical) (as United Artists A/B)
- Sonoro Filme (1945) (Portugal) (theatrical)
- Nederland NV (1947) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
- Triangel Produksjon A/S (1948) (Norway) (theatrical)
- Roy Export Company (1958) (United States) (theatrical)
- United Artists (1958) (West Germany) (theatrical)
- Dear Film (1961) (Italy) (theatrical) (reissue)
- Columbia Pictures (1972) (United States) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Dear International (1972) (Italy) (theatrical) (reissue)
- Actueel Film (1973) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Sofilmes (1974) (Portugal) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Roadshow Films (1976) (Australia) (theatrical)
- TF1 (1977) (France) (tv)
- Spectrum (1983) (West Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
- Palace Home Video (1984) (Australia) (video)
- CBS/Fox (1985) (United States) (VHS)
- Atnine Film (1988) (South Korea)
- Key Video (1989) (United States) (VHS)
- RBC Film Group (1991) (United States) (16mm rental)
- CBS/Fox (1993) (United States) (video) (laserdisc)
- Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
- Piffl Medien (1999) (Germany) (DVD)
- Image Entertainment (2000) (United States) (DVD)
- MK2 Diffusion (2001) (World-wide)
- BFI (Collections) (2003) (United Kingdom) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Warner Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
- Warner Home Video (2003) (United States) (DVD)
- Atalanta Filmes (2004) (Portugal) (DVD)
- Kinowelt Home Entertainment (Germany) (DVD)
- Warner Home Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
- Warner Home Video (2005) (United States) (DVD)
- Warner Home Video (2006) (United States) (DVD)
- Süddeutsche Zeitung (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
- Emerald (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
- Vivarto (2008) (Poland)
- Arthaus (2010) (Germany) (Blu-ray)
- Arthaus (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
- Park Circus (2010) (United Kingdom) (DVD)
- Soul media (2011) (Denmark)
- The Criterion Collection (2011) (United States) (DVD)
- Zweitausendeins (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
- New Star (2012) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Midas Filmes (2015) (Portugal)
- Inoekino (2019) (Russia) (theatrical)
- Théâtre du Temple (2019) (France) (theatrical) (re-release) (restored version)
- HBO Max (2020) (United States) (video) (VOD)
- The Criterion Channel (2020) (United States) (tv) (digital)
- Piece of Magic Entertainment (2021) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release) (restored version)
- Summer Classics (2021) (Greece) (theatrical) (re-release)
- ARTE (2021) (Germany) (tv)
- ARTE (2021) (France) (tv)
- Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (Czechia) (theatrical) (re-release)
- BIM Distribuzione (Italy) (theatrical) (re-release)
- Die Lupe (Germany) (theatrical)
Special Effects
Other Companies
- Western Costume Company (wardrobe)
Storyline
Plot Summary |
20 years after the end of WWI, in which the nation of Tomainia was on the losing side, Adenoid Hynkel has risen to power as the ruthless dictator of the country. He believes in a pure Aryan state and the decimation of the Jews. This situation is unknown to a simple Jewish Tomainian barber who has been hospitalized since a WWI battle. Upon his release the barber, who had been suffering from memory loss about the war, is shown the new persecuted life of the Jews by many living in the Jewish ghetto, including a washerwoman named Hannah with whom he begins a relationship. The barber is ultimately spared such persecution by Commander Schultz, whom he saved in that WWI battle. The lives of all Jews in Tomainia are eventually spared with a policy shift by Hynkel himself, who is doing so for ulterior motives. But those motives include a desire for world domination, starting with the invasion of neighboring Osterlich, which may be threatened by Benzino Napaloni, the dictator of neighboring Bacteria. Ultimately Schultz, who has turned traitor against Hynkel's regime, and the barber may be able to join forces to take control of the situation, using Schultz's inside knowledge of the regime's workings and the barber's uncanny resemblance to one of those in power. Written by Huggo |
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Taglines | The Comedy Masterpiece! See more » |
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Parents Guide | View content advisory » |
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Box Office
Budget | $2,000,000 (estimated) |
Did You Know?
Trivia | Adolf Hitler banned the film in Germany and in all countries occupied by the Nazis. Curiosity however got the best of him and he had a print brought in through Portugal. History records that he screened it twice, in private, but not his reaction to the film. Sir Charles Chaplin said, "I'd give anything to know what he thought of it." For political reasons in Germany, the ban stayed after the end of WWII until 1958. See more » |
Goofs | (at around 35 mins) When the Barber is chased in the Ghetto streets by Stormtroopers, one California studio building can be seen in the upper right corner of the frame. See more » |
Movie Connections | Edited into Amérique, notre histoire (2006). See more » |
Soundtracks | Hungarian Dance No. 5 See more » |
Crazy Credits | The film is obviously a satire on Adolf Hitler, represented by Adenoid Hynkel, and its story is based on Hynkel looking exactly like "a Jewish barber": both are played by Charles Chaplin. But it begins with a notice: "Any resemblance between Hynkel the dictator and the Jewish barber is purely co-incidental". See more » |
Quotes |
[last lines]
A Jewish Barber: I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite! Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up Hannah! The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed, and brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope, into the future! The glorious future, that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up! Mr. Jaeckel: Hannah, did you hear that? Hannah: Listen... See more » |