Renowned for his use of visual humor, Charlie Chaplin was slow to embrace sound in motion pictures. His early forays into sound like City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936) continued to be mostly devoid of dialogue. Instead, he relied on his expert abilities as a mime to carry the load. It wasn’t until 1940, well over a decade after sound was introduced, that Chaplin finally produced his first genuine talkie. While Chaplin embraced dialogue for The Great Dictator, he also stayed true to his roots by sprinkling plenty of physical comedy throughout.
Since Adolf Hitler had begun his rise to power, many couldn’t help but notice his small moustache gave him a passing resemblance to Charlie Chaplin. Editorial cartoonists had parodied the dictator’s attempt to siphon some of the public’s goodwill towards the comic, though Nazi propaganda attacked Chaplin as a “Jewish acrobat” (he wasn’t Jewish, but did not go out of his way to dismiss the charge). With The Great Dictator, Chaplin rails against the tyranny and racial persecution in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
Chaplin plays two parts in the film, which alternates sequences between the characters. The first is the dictator of Tomania, Adenoid Hynkel, an ill-tempered, mad, buffoon of a dictator whose emblem for his country is not the twisted cross but the double cross. Chaplin’s not so subtle Hitler caricature is complete, with nonsense German, and the real Hitler’s mannerisms down to a tee.
Chaplin’s second character, a Jewish barber-soldier in World War I (in the person of Chaplin’s most famous character the Little Tramp), saves the life of a German pilot named Schultz (Reginald Gardiner) and flies him to safety, never knowing he was the enemy. Their crash-landing gives the barber amnesia, and for 20 years he doesn’t know who he is. Now, having returned to the Tomanian ghetto, the barber is unaware of Hynkel’s rise to power, and the changes in Tomanian society. Though storm troopers are moving through the ghetto, smashing windows and rounding up Jews, the barber and his shop are spared; Schultz recognizes him as the man who once saved his life.
Hynkel dreams of exterminating the Jews and conquering the world. Helped by Herring (Billy Gilbert), Minister of War, and Garbitsch (Henry Daniell), Minister of Propaganda, Hynkel is certain it’s only a matter of time before his dream becomes a reality. However, a visit from Napaloni (Jack Oakie), leader of Bacteria (a caricature of Mussolini), who opposes Hynkel’s plan to invade Osterlich, a neighboring state, changes his plans. During a military parade, the two openly oppose each other—Hynkel realizes he’s not the only one dreaming of taking over the world.
The barber is in love with a local laundress named Hannah (Paulette Goddard, Chaplin’s wife at the time), and accepted by his neighbors. However, he and the disloyal Schultz are eventually put in a concentration camp. Then Hynkel has a boating disaster, is mistaken for the barber, and locked into the camp just as the barber and Schultz escape—with Hynkel’s uniform. Now, everyone thinks the barber is the crazy dictator.
When Chaplin began production on The Great Dictator, he was unaware of the extent of the persecution facing Jews in Europe. He later admitted that he would never have made The Great Dictator and portrayed Hitler as such a buffoon, if he had known the full extent of his atrocities. There are some things, he said, that are simply not the subjects of humor. There’s a prophetic moment in the film when Hynkel proclaims he wants to wipe out the Jews, and then the brunettes.
One of the few films to take a stand against Nazism and Fascism, The Great Dictator should be commended for that. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the film has moments of great fun and humor. There’s the famous globe juggling scene, which has Hynkel dreaming of world domination by bouncing a balloon of the world around the room. There’s the barber the barber shaving a customer to the tune of Brahms’ Fifth Hungarian Dance. There’s Hynkel and Napaloni raising themselves higher and higher in barber chairs, each trying to look down on the other, and many more.
The big speech in the film’s final sequence, mostly directly right at the camera, is heart-felt and pointed. One gets the sense that Chaplin himself is speaking here—he’s stopped telling a story and is now sermonizing to the audience. While I’m sure Chaplin meant well, the speech is over-the-top, and likely altered the perception of the film for many viewers.
The black & white 1080p MPEG-4 transfer is absolutely beautiful. Contrast is is sharp, black levels are rich and full, and detail work is top-notch—during the closing speech, you can see beads of sweat on his face and perspiration stains on his shirt. It’s another home run from Criterion.
The English mono LPCM audio track is also top-notch; there’s not a crackle or snap to be heard. Dialogue is crystal clear, while music is audible but never overpowering. It’s a simple, but outstanding mix.
We get the following special features:
- Trailer – the original theatrical trailer for The Great Dictator. (2 min, 1080p).
- The Tramp and the Dictator (2001) – a fascinating documentary by Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft focusing on the lives of Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler. Narrated by filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, it features interviews with the actor’s son, Sydney Chaplin, director Sydney Lumet, screenwriter Budd Schulberg, author Ray Bradbury, film critic Stanley Kauffmann, politician and historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., director Bernard Vorhaus, historian Brigitte Hamann, former Nazi operative Reinhard Spitzy, and others. In English and German, with imposed English subtitles where necessary. (55 min, 1080i).
- Chaplin’s Napoleon – a visual essay by Cecilia Cenciarelli, archivist and head of the Cineteca di Bologna’s Progetto Chaplin, who discusses the actor’s fascination with Napoleon and his desire to make a film about him. (20 min, 1080p).
- The Clown Turns Prophet – Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance discusses the making of The Great Dictator. (21 min, 1080p).
- Sydney Chaplin’s Footage – Charlie Chaplin’s half-brother, Sydney, was present during the shooting of The Great Dictator. He documented it on a 16mm Kodachrome film, which Criterion has provided here in its entirety. Silent/color. (27 min, 1080i).
- King, Queen, Joker (1921) – Charlie Chaplin’s half-brother, Sydney, directed and played the two leading roles in this short film, elements of which were found at the BFI National Archive in 1999. Portions of the film influenced Charlie Chaplin in his approach to The Great Dictator. Music only. (5 min, 1080i).– Two Shaves – clips of Sydney from King, Queen, Joker intercut with clips of Charlie Chaplin from The Great Dictator. Based on an idea by Christopher Bird. Music only. (3 min, 1080p).
- Charlie the Barber – a deleted scenes from Charlie Chaplin’s 1919 film Sunnyside. Silent. (8 min, 1080i).
- Commentary – new audio commentary by performer and author Dan Kamin and silent-film historian Hooman Mehran. Recorded for Criterion in 2011.
- Booklet – an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Wood and a 1940 article by Charlie Chaplin on The Great Dictator.
