ABSTRACT
Hitler’s persecution of the Jews of Europe posed a profound problem for the Allied propagandists, whether they represented the official opinion of the governments of the United States and Great Britain or the private efforts of individuals of how to bring the appalling enormity of virulent anti-Semitism into focus for the citizens of the Western democracies. And despite Harry Hopkins's personal opinion that although a very worthwhile film, it would lose money, The Great Dictator ran for 15 weeks in New York alone and ended up as Chaplin's biggest grosser. Skeffington's characterization as a Jew is essential to the development of the story and it is recommended that the studios be urged to eliminate entirely any connotation of a minority question, which, unless presented as a social document, offers a problem from the standpoint of OWI. The assessment of Hollywood OWI was echoed by Ulrich Bell of the Overseas Branch and his boss, formerly Hollywood’s highest paid screenwriter, Robert Riskin.
