Political Comedy on Film

"In politics, an absurdity is not a handicap"

~Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)

Tuesday Afternons in May (all films start at 2:00 pm)

Tuesday, May 2
2:00 pm

The Great Dictator

In Charlie Chaplin's classic satire on Nazi Germany, dictator Adenoid Hynkel of Tomaina has a double -- a poor Jewish barber -- who is one day mistaken for Hynkel. Paulette Goddard, Chaplin's wife at the time, plays the barber's beloved, and the comedian Jack Oakie turns in a weirdly accurate burlesque of Mussolini, as a bellowing fellow dictator named Benzino Napaloni, Dictator of Bacteria. 1940, B&W, 2 hrs. 10 min.

Tuesday, May 9
2:00 pm

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb

Stanley Kubrick's cold-war black comedy about an "accidental" nuclear attack stars Peter Sellers in three hilarious roles: the U.S. President; a British military attaché; and the mad bomb-maker Dr. Strangelove. George C. Scott co-stars as General Buck Turgidson, whose frantic presidential advice consists mainly of panic and statistics about "acceptable losses." 1964, B&W, 1 hr. 30 min.

Tuesday, May 16
2:00 pm

Wag the Dog

When the President is caught in a sex scandal less than 2 weeks before the election, the White House sends for "Mr. Fix-it." Washington spinmaster Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro) needs a war to distract the public's attention, and he calls on Hollywood's top producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman) to create it. 1998, Color, 1 hr. 40 min.

Tuesday, May 23
2:00 pm

Election

Reese Witherspoon stars as Tracy Flick, a straight-A go-getter determined to be president of Carver High's student body. Popular teacher Jim McAllister (Matthew Broderick) decides to derail Tracy's obsessive overachieving by recruiting an opposition candidate in this complex and scathing comedy of ambition, corruption, and desire. 1999, Color, 1 hr. 45 min.