The Great Dictator (1940)

Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie

Top Rated Movies #57 | Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

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

Storyline

20 years after the end of WWI, in which the nation of Tomainia was on the losing side, Adenoid Hynkel has risen to power as the ruthless dictator of the country. He believes in a pure Aryan state and the decimation of the Jews. This situation is unknown to a simple Jewish Tomainian barber who has been hospitalized since a WWI battle. Upon his release the barber, who had been suffering from memory loss about the war, is shown the new persecuted life of the Jews by many living in the Jewish ghetto, including a washerwoman named Hannah with whom he begins a relationship. The barber is ultimately spared such persecution by Commander Schultz, whom he saved in that WWI battle. The lives of all Jews in Tomainia are eventually spared with a policy shift by Hynkel himself, who is doing so for ulterior motives. But those motives include a desire for world domination, starting with the invasion of neighboring Osterlich, which may be threatened by Benzino Napaloni, the dictator of neighboring ...

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Plot Keywords:

dictator | 1910s | invented language | slapstick comedy | barber | 

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Taglines:

Once again - the whole world laughs!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Esperanto

Release Date:

7 March 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Dictator

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$961,859

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles Chaplin Productions, One Production Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As the premiere approached, Charles Chaplin had good reason to be concerned about his gamble on political commentary. Gallup polls revealed that 96% of Americans opposed U.S. involvement in the war in Europe, and threatening letters from Nazi sympathizers poured into the studio. At one point, he even asked a friend with the Longshoreman's Union in New York if they could have some union members present at the opening, to prevent a pro-Nazi demonstration.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 27 mins) When Hynkel is tearing the medals off of Herring after learning that Napaloni has beaten him to Osterlich, a distant shot shows a remaining striped ribbon on the right side of Herring's jacket. In the subsequent close shot, that ribbon is gone.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Title Cards: Note, any resemblance between Hynkle the Dictator and the Jewish Barber is purely co-incidental.
Title Cards: This is a story of a period between two World Wars - an interim in which Insanity cut loose. Liberty took a nose dive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat.

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Crazy Credits

The film is obviously a satire on Adolf Hitler, represented by Adenoid Hynkel, and its story is based on Hynkel looking exactly like "a Jewish barber": both are played by Charles Chaplin. But it begins with a notice: "Any resemblance between Hynkel the dictator and the Jewish barber is purely co-incidental".

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Alternate Versions

Chaplin altered the credits of this film in order to remove all references to United Artists. The alteration features a new copyright notice that does not match the aspect of the original titles.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

String Quintet in E, Op. 13 No. 5: Minuet
(uncredited)
Music by Luigi Boccherini
Played on piano a bit by Charles Chaplin

User Reviews

Remember that......

..this movie has been done when Hitler ( and Mussolini who is as well in the movie) was at the top and many politics and even the Roman Church used to close eyes about brutality and evil of Nazism. Especially in USA there were many people who had not understood what was really going on in Germany and Europe ( Charles Lindenbergh for example ).It would be as today a big actor would made a parody of Berlusconi or Chirac. Chaplin maybe made a lot of mistakes in his life, but this is really a masterpiece of humanity and IMHO a great demonstration he was a courageous man. The movie is funny and deep, the final speech has a terrible strength and is still updated. I think this movie is one of the best ever done.