The Great Dictator (1940)

Director: Charlie Chaplin
Story: Charlie Chaplin
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie
Music: Charlie Chaplin, Meredith Willson
Time: 120 minutes
Bottom-line: A terrific entertainer as always, but this film does not contain the charm of the silent films

   Many films have been made based on the Second World War, but this Chaplin classic takes place in between the two World Wars: a time where “insanity cut loose and humanity was kicked around somewhat,” as the opening lines say. Though basically a comedy, The Great Dictator also parodies the reign of Hitler and Mussolini. Chaplin plays a double role in this film. The most important feature of this film is that it is Chaplin’s first full-length talking picture.

Chaplin as Adenoid Hynkel. This speech
is one of the funniest scenes in the film.

A Jewish barber (Chaplin) is fighting for Central Powers during WWI. He rescues an exhausted officer, Commander Schultz. They both escape in a plane, which crashes. The barber suffers from memory loss, while the commander is injured. He is told that the war is over and Tomania lost. Many years later, the barber is released. At the same time, thousands of miles away, Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin), the dictator of Tomania has decided to persecute Jews all over the country.
   The barber returns to his profession, and also falls in love with the neighbour Hannah (Goddard). As the story progresses, the barber’s and Hynkel’s tracks are shown alternately, until they both meet towards the end of the film.

Goddard as Hannah, with Chaplin as
the barber (double role).

After seeing City Lights and Modern Times, seeing a talkie from Chaplin was a new experience. This is why I felt that the sound reduced the charm of the silent films I had seen before. Chaplin had so beautifully delivered a very moving love story with absolutely no words at all, and that is how great his direction is (even though the actual story may be boring and simple). When a man can do so much without any dialogues, that is, with just pure acting talent, seeing a talkie was not that impressive in my opinion.

Yet, on the other hand, the fact that it was a sound film gave other benefits to The Great Dictator. While his two previous films had only slapstick comedy, it was refreshing to see some different type of comedy, even more so because now I know for sure that Chaplin had the caliber for making the audience laugh without getting himself hurt or making a fool of himself.

Jack Oakie as Napaloni

The comedy in the film is perhaps better than that of his silent films, mainly because seeing slapstick comedy does not work in the long run, especially if you keep doing the same stuff again and again. The comedy created by the fights between Napaloni (played by Oakie; a parody on Mussolini) and Hynkel covers most of the second half of the film, and you cannot stop laughing during theses scenes. Both the dialogues and the actions are very funny. The comic parts in the barber’s part of the story are also funny, but not as much as the comedy that comes in the second part of the film.

The film has several notable scenes. There is the scene where Hynkel plays around with a toy globe, which in a way shows his tremendous power. The war scenes shown in the beginning are hilarious. Another memorable scene is the one where one of the five members is chosen for sacrificing himself to the Germans so that the others can escape. Whoever has a coin in his pudding is the chosen one. This scene how the human mind works: no one wants to die; everyone wants the other person to do it. What follows is a series of ridiculous actions, which will make you laugh heartily. Of course, all the scenes in the entire second half, after the entry of Jack Oakie, are the best parts of the film.

The famous 'globe scene'. Hynkel shows
that he can 'kick the world with his butt', indicating
his power. This is perhaps the most famous sequence
among all Chaplin films.

The acting, as always, is top notch. Chaplin plays two contrasting characters equally well. On one hand he plays a calm barber, who protests against the Germans. On the other hand he plays a ruthless dictator. His expressions, his dialogues are all excellent, and his acting when he tries to win over Napaloni is terrific. Chaplin’s speech towards the close of the film contains a deep meaning, and the way he says it reinforces why he is one of the greatest actors ever known.

To sum up, Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator ranks with Chaplin’s best films including City Lights and Modern Times. Though this film heated up the enmity between US and Germany, the film was a commercial success. Chaplin’s splendid acting, supported by an equally funny performance by Jack Oakie, tons of memorable dialogues and as many famous scenes and a good story make this film a great entertainer, but as I said before, though it does not have the same class as the silent films, it is as good as any of them.

My Rating: 4.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 92%