Out Caeser, Out Who?

Here's something that's been bugging me for a while, and I bet the Chaplin news group has the answer. In the film 'The Great Dictator,' right before the wonderful ballet with the globe sequence, Chaplin utters the following, 'Out Caesar, out (sounds like 'Nooris', emperor of the world!'

Who or what is the word that sounds like Nooris, and what is he referring

: right before the wonderful ballet with the globe sequence, Chaplin : utters the following, 'Out Caesar, out (sounds like 'Nooris', emperor : of the world!' : : Who or what is the word that sounds like Nooris, and what is he referring : to?

I've always heard it as 'out Nolis', but don't know what it refers to.

Phil

'These are the pitfalls to becoming an actor...Ninety-nine percent sweat and one percent talent...Oh, and that one percent better be good.' Charlie Chaplin

Good question. According to THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS, the phrase is probably 'Aut Caesar, aut nihil.' It was a phrase-turned-motto coined by Cesare Borgia (1476-1507). Meaning: Caesar or nothing. When used in the Chaplin context it probably means Hynkel's fervent desire to become Caesar or nothing

My copy is inacessable, but ... Was it Norris, who was Emperor of San Francisco in the 1910s? Let me check this..

Ah, could he be saying Norton I, Emperor of the United States? He was Emperor from 1860-1880; with his palace in San Francisco; he issued scrip, and inspected building sites. When he died, 10,000 folks paid their respects.

Steven Rowe

It's Latin.

Tom Moran

Great! I was thinking the 'Out' must be 'Aut . . . aut,' i.e. 'either . . . or.' Doesn't sound like 'nihil,' though. Maybe they paraphrased the motto as 'Aut Caesar, aut nullius,' which would mean pretty much the same thing