The Great Dictator (film)

• Release Date: 1940
• Director(s): Charlie Chaplin
• Writer(s): Charlie Chaplin
• Principal Actors and Roles: Charlie Chaplin (Adenoid Hynkel (Dictator of Tomania) / A Jewish Barber); Henry Daniell (Garbitsch); Reginald Gardiner (Schultz); Paulette Goddard (Hannah); Jack Oakie (Benzino Napaloni (Dictator of Bacteria))

The Great Dictator is a political satire released in 1940 starring Charlie Chaplin, who also wrote the film, some of the score, and served as its director and producer. The film satirizes fascist dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and tells the story of a Jewish barber who bares a striking resemblance to Adenoid Hynkel, the dictator of Tomainia. Chaplin stars as both the Jewish barber and Hynkel.

Chaplin was reportedly inspired to make a film satirizing Hitler and the Nazi Party after attending a screening of the Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will. Chaplin found the film funny, and would use it as a tool to study Hitler’s physical and oratory mannerisms for his film. Chaplin began attaining international levels of stardom around the same time that Hitler was rising in the political scene. The Nazi Party did not view Chaplin favorably even before the idea for The Great Dictator was conceived, and even released The Jews Are Looking at You in 1934, a book criticizing Chaplin’s comedic style and condemning him for being Jewish (he was not). Many similarities between both Chaplin and Hitler had been noted in the 1930s—from their close birthdays (they were born four days apart) to their moustaches. Chaplin, who had many Jewish friends, wanted to draw attention to the repression of the Jews by the Nazis, and used similarities between himself and Hitler to his advantage.

Chaplin began crafting the script for the film (with the working title The Dictator) in 1938 and 1939, and began production on the film in September of 1939, just one week after the beginning of World War II.

Plot

The Great Dictator begins in 1918, at the end of World War I, where the Tomainian army (symbolizing the German army) is facing defeat. A Jewish Tomainian solider, who is a barber as a civilian, saves Schultz, a wounded pilot. Soon thereafter, as the two make their escape, the plane crashes and leaves the barber with a concussion and amnesia.

Flashing forward twenty years, the Jewish barber has been living in a medical facility, while the fascist dictator, Adenoid Hynkel (who looks identical to the barber), has risen to power in Tomainia. Schultz has been working under Hynkel and oversees the soldiers who now preside over the Jewish neighborhoods. The Jewish barber escapes from the hospital, returning to his old neighborhood in the Jewish ghetto. Hynkel’s orders soon intensify and he orders a purge of the country’s Jews. Schultz, who is supposed to be carrying out these orders in the ghetto, resists his orders and is sent to jail. He soon breaks out of prison and goes to hide out in the Jewish ghetto with the barber and Hannah, the barber’s girlfriend. Troops invade the ghetto, and Schultz and the barber are taken in, but Hannah and her family manage to escape to the unoccupied Osterlich (Austria).

Meanwhile, Hynkel begins attempts to create an alliance with Bacteria and its fascist dictator, Benzino Napaloni (Italy’s Mussolini) to no success. Resorting to his next plan, Hynkel decides to invade Osterlich, which is then placed under the regime. The Jewish barber and Schultz manage to escape prison, donning military uniforms, and head for Osterlich. There, the country is awaiting Hynkel, who is set to give an important speech. Hynkel, who is on a hunting trip and dressed in normal clothing is mistaken for the Jewish barber and taken into custody. The barber, in his military clothing, looks exactly like Hynkel, prompting Schultz to suggest the barber go up on the stage and pretend to be the dictator. The barber does so, revealing that he (as Hynkel) has changed his mind, and gives an impassioned speech, advocating for peace and companionship.

Significance

The Great Dictator was Chaplin’s first talking picture, as he had continued to make silent films even after the advent of sound films. Throughout the six-month shooting period of the film, Chaplin desired intense secrecy, in hopes of dissuading anyone who wished to steal his idea. When Life magazine published unauthorized behind the scenes photos from the set, Chaplin sued and won, causing the publication to withdraw the copies of the printed issue. In order to mimic Hitler’s characteristic speaking-style, Chaplin listed to many of the dictator’s speeches. For the film’s finale speech given by the barber pretending to be Hynkel, Chaplin spoke in nonsense that sounded like German, sporadically including various real German words such as wiener schnitzel and sauerkraut.

Before the film was released, it had already been banned in several countries around the world, including Latin America and other countries where Nazi sympathizers existed. In Britain, while the film was still in production, the government released a statement saying they would not show the film in the United Kingdom, as at the time it conflicted with their policy of appeasement. However, when the film was released in 1940, Britain was at war with Germany and welcomed the film as effective propaganda. A copy of the finished film was sent to Hitler himself, although there are conflicting stories as to whether or not he ever actually saw the film.

Much to Chaplin’s dismay, the Three Stooges released a Nazi satire, You Nazty Spy! just nine months before The Great Dictator was complete. Still, Chaplin’s film opened to huge success in the United States and abroad. The film became Chaplin’s most commercially successful film ever, earning $11 million at box offices around the world. The Great Dictator was the second most popular movie in the United States in 1941, and the most popular film in France when it was released there in 1945. In addition to being a popular success, the film also achieved critical success and was nominated for five Academy Awards, including awards for outstanding production, best actor (Charlie Chaplin), best writing, best supporting actor (Jack Oakie), and best original score, but lost out in all five categories.

In 1997, the Library of Congress selected The Great Dictator for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Modern views of the film herald it as a classic, and one of the first relevant satires in cinematic history.

Awards and nominations

Nominated

• Academy Award (1940) Best Picture
• Academy Award (1940) Best Actor: Charlie Chaplin
• Academy Award (1940) Best Supporting Actor: Jack Oakie
• Academy Award (1940) Best Screenplay (Original): Charlie Chaplin
• Academy Award (1940) Best Score: Meredith Willson

Bibliography

Chaplin, Charlie. My Autobiography. New York: Melville, 1964. Print.

Flom, Eric L. Chaplin in the Sound Era: An Analysis of the Seven Talkies. Jefferson: McFarland, 1997. Print.

Maland, Charles J. Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1991. Print.

Scheide, Frank M., and Hooman Mehran. Chaplin: The Dictator and The Tramp. London: British Film Insititute, 2004. Print.

"The Great Dictator (1941)." Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Turner Entertainment Networks, 2015. Web. 25 Aug. 2015. <http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76858/The-Great-Dictator/>.