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The Great Dictator (1940)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
7 March 1941 (USA) moreTagline:
The Comedy Masterpiece! morePlot:
In Chaplin's satire on Nazi Germany, dictator Adenoid Hynkel has a double... a poor Jewish barber... who one day is mistaken for Hynkel. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination moreNewsDesk:
(9 articles)
Orange of the Week: Sacha Baron Cohen (From ioncinema. 5 April 2009)
I'm Not a Huge Charles Chaplin Fan but...
(From Rope Of Silicon. 2 February 2009, 12:41 AM, PST)
User Comments:
The "Pre-Mature" Anti-Fascist moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Charles Chaplin | ... | Hynkel - Dictator of Tomania / A Jewish Barber | |
| Jack Oakie | ... | Napaloni - Dictator of Bacteria | |
| Reginald Gardiner | ... | Schultz | |
| Henry Daniell | ... | Garbitsch | |
| Billy Gilbert | ... | Herring | |
| Grace Hayle | ... | Madame Napaloni | |
| Carter DeHaven | ... | Bacterian Ambassador (as Carter De Haven) | |
| Paulette Goddard | ... | Hannah | |
| Maurice Moscovitch | ... | Mr. Jaeckel (as Maurice Moscovich) | |
| 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 Stealing Fruit |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
125 minCountry:
USAColour:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)Certification:
Brazil:Livre | Germany:6 (DVD rating) | South Korea:All | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | UK:U (original rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Denmark:7 (2003) | Finland:K-12 | Finland:S (re-release) | France:U | Germany:(Banned) (original rating) | Ireland:(Banned) (original rating) | Ireland:PG (re-rating) | Norway:7 | Spain:(Banned) (1940-1976) | Spain:T (re-rating) (1976) | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG (re-rating) (2003) | USA:Approved (PCA #6611) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | West Germany:12 (original rating)Fun Stuff
Trivia:
When this film was released, Adolf Hitler banned it in Germany and in all countries occupied by the Nazis. Curiosity eventually got the best of him and he had a print brought in through Portugal. He screened it not once but twice. Unfortunately, history did not record his reaction to the film. When told of this, Charles Chaplin said, "I'd give anything to know what he thought of it." moreGoofs:
Continuity: When the Barber first returns to his barber shop, he hangs his hat and coat on a coat-rack that has a hand-broom hanging on it. After his fight with the Storm-Troopers, he re-enters his shop but his coat and hat are no longer on the rack, and the broom has changed location on the rack. moreSoundtrack:
String Quintet in E, Op. 13 No. 5: Minuet moreFAQ
What is the name of the country that Hynkel ruled?How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
How did Chaplin accomplish the upside down plane stunt?
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Released in 1940, "The Great Dictator" was the first Hollywood film that denounced Hitler directly (albeit in the guise of Adenoid Hynkel), took a virulent stand against fascism, and directly addressed Anti-Semitism.
Over-long, at times heavy-handed, it still has many wonderful sequences, including the famous dance with the globe, and all the scenes of Chaplin with Jack Oakie, each trying to out-do the other and prove his superiority.
One criticism that seems to occasionally rear its head is the implication that Chaplin's pre-World War II anti-fascism was somehow wrong-headed. The atrocities of the Holocaust weren't fully known to the world yet, so Chaplin's anti-Hitler diatribe is, in the minds of some, misguided. After the war this mindset would result in the debacle of the blacklist, when Chaplin, among others, were branded "pre-mature anti-fascists." In other words, it wasn't politically acceptable to be against Nazism until war broke out with the U.S. Hard to believe anyone could still see things that way now, but some do.
The film industry of the 1930s wanted no part of international politics, no matter how blatant the brutality of a given regime. Profits were at stake. It was little goyisha Charley Chaplin, playing a Jewish barber, who took a public stand.
While "The Great Dictator" may not among Chaplin's finest films, it may, historically, be his finest hour.