Thread by @RealLoriSpencer

Although foreign movies were censored in the #USSR, Josef #Stalin was known to love American cinema — especially cowboy Westerns — which he screened in his private theatre.

His favorite actor? John Wayne.

Here’s Stalin’s Top 5 Hollywood films 🎥: rbth.com/history/329891…

Even more than westerns, #Stalin loved movies about #Tarzan, which came to #Russia after the war as part of the so-called “trophy movies” – copies of over 17,000 movies stored in the Third Reich’s vaults.

Stalin wrote that:

“Tarzan… is a movie about a man that escapes the horrors of the capitalist world by fleeing to the jungle, where he finds freedom and happiness.”

Ironically, #Stalin adored Stalin Charlie Chaplin movies, despite his foe #Hitler’s strong resemblance to Chaplin.

He ordered copies of the films to be brought to Sochi, when he was on vacation.

Stalin even cried at a screening of “City Lights”, during the movie’s last scene.

#Stalin thought Chaplin’s 1940 comedy “The Great Dictator” was a work of genius — and screened it often at home.

However, like #Hitler in Germany, he banned the movie from screening in the #USSR.

Strangely enough, Charlie Chaplin thought of #Stalin as the only man capable of defeating #Hitler. (And he was correct!)