The Great Dictator Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: The Great Dictator

Year: 1940
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Country: US
Language: English

When sound was on the brink of destroying the world, the most famous silent movie star decided to speak for the first time- against the injustice that seemed to be around every corner. In  1938, Charlie Chaplin decided  to put his career on the line and prepare a film about one of the most powerful monsters mankind has ever seen, Adolph Hitler.

Hitler has been a fan of Chaplin’s for many years, bearing Chaplin’s toothbrush moustache because of how well loved Chaplin was in Europe at that time. Hitler said himself that he would love it if Chaplin would play him in a film. Chaplin was not flattered by this comment, as he despised everything the nazi regime stood for.  However, this resemblance gave Chaplin a grand opportunity to make fun of the Fuhrer. The Great Dictator is a satire in which the dictator and a Jewish barber from the ghetto would be mistaken for each other. Chaplin’s first talkie spoke volumes to the people who were inspired by it as it was the highest-grossing of his career. However, as a consequence for speaking the truth, it would cause him great difficulties and indirectly lead to his long exile from the United States.

Piss on Wizard of Oz!

A lot of people did not want Chaplin to make this film. In 1938 Hitler wasn’t recognized as the essence of evil like he is known today. Anti-Semitism in America was rampant, some welcomed Hitler’s policy of exterminating the Jews. The famous, rich and powerful Henry Ford was a well known Nazi sympathizer and would often send Hitler gifts. America also preached a policy of non-intervention in the already war-torn Europe. The people who had a strong dislike for Hitler before America entered the war were considered “communists”. Film industries would attempt to avoid the nazi topic alltogether by making feel good fantasies like 1939's Wizard of Oz.  Even the speech at the end of The Great Dictator was controversial for pre-World War II America. Though many people at the time felt this film was un-welcomed, today we receive it with open arms. However, if Chaplin knew what we know now about the horrible persecution of the Jewish people in the Holocaust, Chaplin would have not have made the film. Thus it would’ve been much harder for Americans to rid their selfish & often anti-semetic ways.

Oddly a lot of Chaplin’s well known films are comedies based of unfortunate events. The Gold Rush is based on the Donner party, a bunch of people who got trapped in the snow and had to eat each other. Modern Times was about how industrialization was turning men into machines. The Great Dictator is about one of the most evil villains in history. The film's mockery of Hitler got it banned in Spain, Italy and neutral Ireland, but in America and elsewhere, it played with an impact that, today, may be hard to imagine. The universally loved “Tramp” had transformed into a courageous satire of the devil himself.

The plot of this film is quite simple. The hero, a barber-soldier in World War I, saves the life of a German pilot named Schultz and flies him to safety, not knowing the person he saved was the enemy. Their crash-landing gives the barber amnesia, and for 20 years he doesn't know who he is. Then he recovers and returns to his barber shop in the country of Tomania only to discover that the dictator Hynkel has come to power under the double cross instead of the swastika. Hynkel’s storm troopers are at full throttle, terrorizing jews and smashing up windows. The barber is in love with a woman named Hanna, played by Chaplin’s then wife Paulette Godard, but unfortunately love doesn’t save them from the tragedies of a concentration camp.  As luck would have it Hynkel ‘s boat doesn’t float, he then is mistaken for the barber, and locked into the camp just as the barber and his friend escape with Hynkel’s uniform. With uniform on the barber is identical to the dictator.

What would a Chaplin film be without the ingenious gags? “Ah the big booben!” Chaplin obviously did a lot of study and preparation for this film as he gets Hitler’s actions and movements down to a tee. He speaks gibberish, but in the same tone as hitler, and mixes up a few non-sensical English words. “Cheeze n daz crackers!”. Interestingly enough his mockery doesn’t just include Hitler, there is also a bumbling and stumbling resemblance of Italian dictator Mussolini in the mix. There is a funny narration, confusing saluting and many other hilarious jokes mixed in to this film.

All this in the 1940’s would’ve come off as incredibly controversial and, dare I say it, ballsy. Few people in America would dare insult the Nazi regime. Chaplin launched his own comedic torpedo at Hitler and it proved to be a critical hit. It received Oscar nominations, for picture, actor, supporting actor screenplay and music. Interestingly enough, today the film is not as well known as the ending speech of the film which now has a separate Youtube video complete with the soundtrack from 2010’s Inception.

This speech both hurts and helps the film. It is incredibly powerful  but out of the blue and doesn’t fit with the comedic aspect of the film at all. However, at the time somebody needed to say the words Chaplin did in  

The Great Dictator. It was a necessity that could not wait, his goal was not only to bring hope and joy to people but to help bring action against Hitler. Though the speech doesn’t really fit, it has done wonders for generations and generations of people. He made his statement and it found a large audience.

In conclusion, The Great Dictator is a funny and incredibly brave film by one of the world’s greatest actor directors.  When the world was being consumed by a great voice of evil, Chaplin knew silence wouldn’t suffice. He used his money, influence and genius to speak volumes. This film was essential  in reducing American anti-semitism and increasing funding to Jewish refugee centers. It was also essential in helping America see the light through the thick veil of darkness. Chaplin is the embodiment love, and this film proves it. Praise it! 5/5