The Great Dictator
(film)
The Great Dictator is a film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. First released in October, 1940, it bitterly satirizes Nazism and Adolf Hitler, culminating in an overt political plea to defy fascism.
The film is exceptional in its period, in the days prior to American entry into World War II, as the United States was still formally at peace with Nazi Germany. Well before the full extent of the horrors of Nazism had been uncovered, Chaplin's film advanced a stirring, controversial condemnation of Hitler, fascism, antisemitism, and the Nazis, the latter of whom he excoriates in the film as "machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts".
Plot
The film was Chaplin's
first "talkie", as well his most commercially successful film.
The film begins during World War I. Chaplin, as an unnamed Jewish private in the army of the fictional nation of Tomainia, valiantly attempts to rescue an officer named Schultz (Reginald Gardiner), only to lose his memory when the plane the two had taken off in crashes into a tree. Schultz escapes from the wreckage, and Chaplin spends the next 20 years in the hospital, thoroughly oblivious to the changes that are taking place in Tomainia: Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin in a double role), now the ruthless dictator of Tomainia, has undertaken to persecute Jews throughout the land, aided by ministers Garbitsch (cf. Joseph Goebbels) (played by Henry Daniell) and Herring (cf. Hermann Göring) (played by Billy Gilbert).
The amnesiac soldier returns to his barbershop in the Jewish ghetto, still unaware of the political situation, and is shocked when storm troopers paint "Jew" on the windows of his shop. In the ensuing scuffle with the stormtroopers, he finds a friend, and ultimately a love interest, in Hannah (Paulette Goddard), a beautiful resident of the ghetto.
Charlie Chaplin in characterMeanwhile,
Schultz, who has come up in the ranks in the intervening 20 years, recognizes
the barber and, though surprised to find him a Jew, orders the storm troopers
to leave him and Hannah alone. Hynkel (cf. Adolf Hitler), in addition, has relaxed
his stance on Tomainian Jewry in an attempt to woo a Jewish financier into giving
him a loan. Egged on by Garbitsch, Hynkel has become obsessed with the idea of
world domination. (In one famous scene, he dances with a large, inflatable globe
to the tune of a theme from Wagner's Lohengrin.) On Garbitsch's advice, Hynkel
has planned to invade the neighboring country of Osterlich (cf Österreich,
the German name for Austria) and needs the loan to finance the invasion. Eventually,
the financier refuses, and Hynkel reinstates his persecution of the Jews, this
time to an even greater extent.
Schultz voices his objection to the pogrom, and Hynkel orders him placed in a concentration camp. Schultz flees to the ghetto and begins planning to overthrow the Hynkel regime. To decide who will carry out this plot, a coin is placed in one of five puddings, and the person who receives the one with the coin in it is to carry out the mission to blow up the palace, considered a suicide mission. However, Hannah has placed a coin in every dessert, leading to one of Chaplin's most comical scenes. Eventually, both he and his barber friend are captured and condemned to the concentration camp.
Hynkel
is initially opposed by Benzino Napaloni (cf. Benito Mussolini and indirectly
Napoleon Bonaparte) (played by Jack Oakie), dictator of Bacteria, in his plans
to invade Osterlich. After some friction (and a comedic food fight) between the
two leaders, a deal is made (which Hynkel immediately breaks) and the invasion
proceeds successfully. Hannah, who has since emigrated to Osterlich, once again
finds herself living under Hynkel's regime.
Schultz and the barber escape from the camp wearing Tomainian uniforms (featuring the double cross in parody of the Nazi swastika). Border guards mistake the barber for Hynkel (with whom he shares a remarkable resemblance, to the point that, if not for his clothes, he would be an absolute duplicate). Conversely, Hynkel, on a duck-hunting trip so that people will not expect an invasion, is mistaken for the barber and is arrested by his own soldiers. The barber, who has assumed Hynkel's identity, is taken to the Tomainian capital to make a victory speech. Garbitsch, in introducing "Hynkel" to the throngs, decries free speech and other supposedly traitorous and outdated ideas. In contrast, the barber then makes a rousing speech, reverting Hynkel's anti-Semitic policies and welcoming in a new era of democracy. The text of the speech can be read at Wikiquote.
Hannah, despondent over the recent events, hears the barber's speech on the radio, and is amazed when "Hynkel" addresses her directly: "Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up! Look up, Hannah! The clouds are lifting, the sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness and into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their greed, their hate, and their brutality. Look up, Hannah!" The film concludes with Hannah indeed looking up, with a renewed sense of optimism.
Tagline : The Comedy Masterpiece!
Cast
Charles Chaplin - Adenoid
Hynkel (Dictator of Tomania) / A Jewish Barber
Paulette Goddard - Hannah
Jack Oakie - Benzini Napaloni (Dictator of Bacteria)
Reginald Gardiner
- Commander Schultz
Henry Daniell - Garbitsch
Billy Gilbert -
Field Marshal Herring
Grace Hayle - Madame Napaloni
Carter DeHaven
- Spook (Bacterian ambassador) (as Carter De Haven)
Maurice Moscovitch
- Mr. Jaeckel
Emma Dunn - Mrs. Jaeckel
Bernard Gorcey - Mr. Mann
Paul Weigel - Mr. Agar
Chester Conklin - Barber's Customer
Esther Michelson - Jewish Woman
Hank Mann - Storm Trooper
Animation
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Language - Historical
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