The Great Dictator (1940)
Directed by Charles Chaplin

Film Review

It can be argued that one of the most important roles of the artist is to pick up on important social issues and world events, and to present these concerns in a way that is sincere, enlightening and untainted by political deceit.  As politicians have become more adept at manipulating public opinion and distorting truth for their own gain, so satire has grown to become an important mechanism by which freethinking individuals can help to elicit the truth and ensure that we have a reasonably fair society within an effective democratic system.  

In The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin's intention was to make the free world aware of what was happening in Europe (the growth of fascism, escalating militarism and attacks on vulnerable ethnic groups) and to appeal for a peaceful resolution to the situation.  This was to be Chaplin's riskiest venture, since, at the time, America was being scrupulously careful not to cause ructions with Germany (largely for reasons of economic self-interest) and many of his compatriots in the United States had very strong pro-Nazi sentiment.  Chaplin was only able to make the film with his own financial resources - no commercial film studio would have even considered the project.  And even when filming was well under way he was receiving frequent appeals (even from United Artists) to abandon the project.

The starting point for The Great Dictator was the remarkable physical similarity between Chaplin and Hitler.  Placed side by side, you could well imagine they were brothers.  But the two men had more in common than their appearance. They were born four days apart in 1889, both came from impoverished backgrounds, both had towering egos and, most significantly, they both ended up as the biggest icons of the Twentieth Century.   But whereas Hitler will from now on be reviled as one of the most evil men in history, Chaplin will be forever remembered with great affection, as one of the world's greatest clowns.  There is scarcely a better illustration of the fundamental good versus evil dichotomy of mankind than the stark comparison of Charlie Chaplin with Adolf Hitler.

Hence it is no surprise that Chaplin gets to play two characters in this, his first complete film (and the first time we hear his voice) - the dictator Hynkel and an unnamed Jewish barber.  The barber resembles Chaplin's Little Tramp (the character he played in his silent films); the dictator is a brilliant comic interpretation of Hitler.  Chaplin spent hours carefully studying newsreel footage of the German Chancellor so that he could imitate perfectly his distinctive oratory style - although when he is performing his hilarious Hitler-like rants he uses a nonsensical mix of English and German.

The Great Dictator may not have the slick cohesion and precision of Chaplin's previous great films, but it is nonetheless a hugely entertaining lampoon on fascism and political leaders in general who use power, not for the good of the many, but merely to serve their own childish egos.  The film's highpoint is the haunting dream-like sequence in which Hynkel gracefully performs a solo ballet (to Wagner's Lohengrin Overture), toying happily with a balloon globe - which he ends up exploding by accident (which is no doubt the ultimate fate of our planet).  Hitler isn't the only target of Chaplin's scurrilous mirth.  Mussolini is represented in no less favourable a light as the cowardly, slovenly Diggaditchie, Napaloni.

Knowing what we now know about the extent of the Nazis' crimes, some parts of the film do leave a nasty aftertaste.  It's hard to laugh at the comedic way in which the thuggish soldiers harass the Jews, even if, in any other context, the slapstick would be irresistibly funny.  Chaplin himself later admitted that he could never have made the film if he had known about the death camps and Hitler's intention to totally annihilate the Jews.

The film ends with an impassioned plea from Chaplin himself for mankind to give up selfishness, intolerance and warfare and work together to build a harmonious future.  Although poignant and sincere, this speech has more than a touch of mawkish sentimentality and is just too long.  It is believed that this was a last minute addition as a result of technical difficulties.  This sequence was immediately seized upon by Chaplin's opponents who used it to brand him as anti-American and a Communist, allegations that would stick for several years.

Despite some adverse reaction at the outset, The Great Dictator proved to be Chaplin's most successful film.  During the war, it was a hugely popular morale-booster in both America and Great Britain.  It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor (Chaplin).   Hitler himself is known to have watched the film, although history does not record what he made of it.

Film Synopsis

During World War I, a humble Jewish barber saves the life of an officer, but injures himself in an aeroplane crash.  Having spent 20 years in hospital recovering from memory loss, the barber returns to his home in the Jewish ghetto to find his people tormented by vicious soldiers.  To his surprise, the barber learns that his country, Tomania, has become a dictatorship and is now governed by the ruthless anti-Semite Adenoid Hynkel, who bears a striking resemblance to the barber...