Unique colour footage of Charlie Chaplin found

Colour footage showing how Charlie Chaplin planned a different ending to his masterpiece The Great Dictator has been unearthed.

It shows how the famed last reel - a heartfelt plea for peace - was an improvised solution to an overly difficult set piece.

Chaplin wanted his 1940 satire on Nazi Germany to end with two opposing armies coming together in a dance.

The newly-discovered film shows him struggling to get it right.

The 25-minute colour footage of Chaplin at work was found in a suitcase at his former Swiss home.

It was shot by Chaplin's elder brother Sydney and reveals his obsessive perfectionism, keeping crowds of extras standing around while he repeatedly practices his Nazi salute.

Chaplin historian Kevin Brownlow told a British broadsheet: "This is an amazing find. It includes shots of scenes which never made it into the final film, as well as footage of Chaplin at work."

"The fact that something like this can be found after remaining hidden for 60 years is amazing. It provides a unique insight into one of the world's greatest films and the man who made it".

The footage will be include in Brownlow's documentary The Tramp and the Dictator, to premiere at the Berlin Film Festival later this year.