In modern life there is nothing quite so annoying as a revolution. This is the opening cords as Estrovia is altered forever. When he is deposed from his beloved Estrovia, King Igor Shahdov has to flee to America. Landing in the capital of money New York he has to take to the high life but has no money since he was swindled by his ambassador. So now he looks to make money anyway he can and during a dinner party tells the world he has some acting experience. He gets offers for TV commercials but only after things hit rock bottom does he have to take the offer up. His new found success mean that he is approached by a progressive school to arrive and listen to a lecture. Rupert Macabee is the voice to the lecture and he is a real problem for the king. His parents are communists and have been imprisioned because of a Joseph McCarthy-type hearing where he is the guest. With just being in the vacinity of the lecture and Rupert, the King is suspected of being a communist and a trouble maker. With all this after the revolution, what else could go wrong for our King while he is in the fair state and country?

The harsh criticism of US global and internal policy is not the only point to watch this hilariously enduring satire.Yes many love Limelight but this is his comedy and satire at its best. Limelight is harder and darker, it wants to explore pain and personal experience Chaplins best modern film is so because he was sending a message to a land he loved and a land that had failed him. He knew and had commented on the American consumer but still had time for them. He knew of the American political landscape and had commented on that. Here he attacks the  American legal system, which he had suffered deeply under and hated. This is the comedy of place that feels like the Frank Tashlan comedies around the same time and the later Sirk melodramas. It sees the reasons for the American dream to turn sour and Chaplin never backwards about coming forward, hits at it like a boxer. Do not under estimate him, as many did. This film was unreleased in America until 1973 and that is telling. The running away from the problems was key to American misplacement of issues. This film is so on the money as to be a problem even to see some of it now.

So now to the disc…. It is great looking and the transfer has corrected a slight water line on the prior copy I had. The sound however is the same and that works ok with me. The cinema scene is a delight because of this and it makes the laugh work. Then the extras…Well the documentary is a great resource and worth going back to. The introduction is nice but I feel a little harsh on the subject.