The Great Dictator (1940)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (written by)

Release Date:

7 March 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

The Comedy Masterpiece!

Plot:

In Chaplin's satire on Nazi Germany, dictator Adenoid Hynkel has a double... a poor Jewish barber... who one day is mistaken for Hynkel.

Plot Keywords:

Barber | Dictator | Soldier | Amnesia | Satire

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

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

Also Known As:

The Dictator (USA) (working title)
El gran dictador (Argentina) (Chile) (Colombia) (Mexico) (Spain) (Uruguay) [es]
Le dictateur (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Büyük diktatör (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
De diktator (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Den store diktator (Denmark) [da]
Der große Diktator (Germany) [de]
Diktátor (Czechoslovakia) [cs]
Diktaattori (Finland) [fi]
Diktatoren (Denmark) [da]
Diktatorn (Sweden) [sv]
Dyktator (Poland) [pl]
Ha-Dictator Ha-Gadol (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Il dittatore (Italy) [it]
Il grande dittatore (Italy) [it]
O Grande Ditador (Portugal) [pt]
O diktator (Greece) [el]
O megalos diktator (Greece) (reissue title) [el]

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Esperanto

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Germany:6 (DVD rating) | South Korea:All | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Spain:18 (re-rating) (1976) | 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) | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG (re-rating) (2003) | USA:Approved (PCA #6611) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | West Germany:12 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

Charles Chaplin's biggest box-office hit.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the Jewish Barber cleans the word "Jew" off his shop window, a dotted line can be seen to mark where the W would be painted again for the next take.

Quotes:

Garbitsch: "Corona veniat electus." Victory shall come to the worthy. Today, democracy, liberty, and equality are words to fool the people. No nation can progress with such ideas. They stand in the way of action. Therefore, we frankly abolish them. In the future...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006)

Soundtrack:

Prelude to 'Lohengrin'

Masterpiece

The Great Dictator is a beyond-excellent film. Charlie Chaplin succeeds in being both extremely funny and witty and yet at the same time provides a strong statement in his satire against fascism. The anti-Nazi speech by Chaplin at the end, with its values, is one of filmdom's great moments. Throughout this movie, I sensed there was some higher form of intelligence, beyond genuinely intelligent filmmaking, at work.