Best of all, the film was a really excellent immersion into early film (Keystone Cops etc), how the early blockbusters were made on a shoe-string budget, how these simple films swept the world, what happened when talkies came in, and how Chaplin was able to survive all the changes and evolutions, always doing his own thing, always ahead of the pack, never comprising his vision or integrity. His 'Modern Times', made in the 30s, anticipates the 1960s, and of course, the Great Dictator - before many of his peers, Chaplin had Hitler's number and used entertainment, comedy and film to help expose to the world the totalitarian horror of the dictator.

They don't make them like this anymore. I wish Dickie Attenborough would go sit in the director's chair again ...