The Great Dictator (1940)
- Directed by
- Charlie Chaplin
- Written by
- Charlie Chaplin
- Cast
- Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert, Emma Dunn, Chester Conklin
- Genre
- drama film, comedy film, war film, parody film, slapstick, comedy drama
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 2h 05m
- Rated
- NR
- Rating
- 8.3 of 10 from 3,734 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
Charlie Chaplin plays both a cruel dictator and a gentle Jewish barber who looks just like him. The film mocks fascism and Adolf Hitler while showing the barber's struggle to survive persecution.
satiricaldarkly comicprovocativeurgentwittyboldhumorouspointed
What happens
The Great Dictator is a 1940 American political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. Having been the only major Hollywood filmmaker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, Chaplin made this his first true sound film. Chaplin's film advanced a stirring condemnation of the German and Italian dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, as well as fascism, antisemitism, and Nazism. At the time of its first release, the United States was still at peace with Nazi Germany and neutral during what were the early days of World War II. Chaplin plays both leading roles: a ruthless fascist dictator and a persecuted Jewish barber. The Great Dictator was popular with audiences, becoming Chaplin's most commercially successful film. Modern critics have praised it as a historically significant film, one of the greatest comedy films ever made and an important work of satire. In 1997, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The Great Dictator was nominated for five Academy Awards—Outstanding Production, Best Actor, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Supporting Actor for Jack Oakie, and Best Music (Original Score). In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin stated that he could not have made the film had he known about the true extent of the Holocaust at that time. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
The Chaplin Cavalcade (1941)
Shoulder Arms (1918)
The Tramp and the Dictator (2002)
A Night in the Show (1915)
A Woman (1915)
City Lights (1931)
Pay Day (1922)
Laughing Gas (1914)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.