The Great Dictator: The Joker and the Madman
By May 24, 2011
In 1938, Charles Chaplin deposited with the Library of Congress a script for a film to be called The Dictator, and told the press it was a project in which he would play a Read more »
- United States
- 1940
- 125 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- English
- Spine #565
SYNOPSIS: In his controversial masterpiece The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin offers both a cutting caricature of Adolf Hitler and a sly tweaking of his own comic persona. Chaplin, in his first pure talkie, brings his sublime physicality to two roles: the cruel yet clownish “Tomainian” dictator and the kindly Jewish barber who is mistaken for him. Featuring Jack Oakie and Paulette Goddard in stellar supporting turns, The Great Dictator, boldly going after the fascist leader before the U.S.’s official entry into World War II, is an audacious amalgam of politics and slapstick that culminates in Chaplin’s famously impassioned speech.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Adenoid Hynkel, dictator of Tomainia & a Jewish barber | Charles Chaplin |
| Benzino Napaloni, dictator of Bacteria | Jack Oakie |
| Schultz | Reginald Gardiner |
| Garbitsch | Henry Daniell |
| Herring | Billy Gilbert |
| Madame Napaloni | Grace Hayle |
| Bacterian ambassador | Carter De Haven |
| Schtick, Hynkel's ambassador | Wheeler Dryden |
| Hannah | Paulette Goddard |
| Mr. Jaeckel | Maurice Moscovich |
| Mrs. Jaeckel | Emma Dunn |
| Mr. Mann | Bernard Gorcey |
| Mr. Agar | Paul Weigel |
| Barbershop customer | Chester Conklin |
| Storm troopers | Eddie Dunn |
| Eddie Gribbon | |
| Hank Mann | |
| Peter Lynn | |
| Dick Alexander | |
| Leo White | |
| 1918 soldier | Stanley J. Sandford |
| Officer | Lucien Prival |
| Ghetto dwellers | Esther Michelson |
| Nellie V. Nichols | |
| Secretaries | Nita Pike |
| Florence Wright | |
| Vegetable cart owner | Harry Semels |
| Battery commander | Leland Hodgson |
| Captain | Bob Ryan |
Credits
| Director | Charles Chaplin |
| Screenplay | Charles Chaplin |
| Music | Charles Chaplin and Meredith Willson |
| Musical direction | Meredith Willson |
| Assistant directors | Dan James, Wheeler Dryden and Bob Meltzer |
| Directors of photography | Karl Struss, A.S.C. and Roland Totheroh |
| Art direction | J. Russell Spencer |
| Set decoration | Ed Boyle |
| Props | Clem Widrig |
| Special effects | Ralph Hammeras and Jack Cosgrove |
| Makeup | Ed Voight |
| Fim editor | Willard Nico |
| Sound | Percy Towsend and Glenn Rominger |
| Production manager | Alfred Reeves |
Disc Features
- New high-definition digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- New audio commentary by Charlie Chaplin experts Dan Kamin and Hooman Mehran
- The Tramp and the Dictator (2001), Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft’s documentary paralleling the lives of Chaplin and Hitler, including interviews with author Ray Bradbury, director Sidney Lumet, screenwriter Budd Schulberg, and others
- Two new visual essays, one by Chaplin archivist Cecilia Cenciarelli and one by Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance
- Color production footage shot by Chaplin’s half-brother Sydney
- Barbershop sequence from Sydney Chaplin’s 1921 film King, Queen, Joker
- Deleted barbershop sequence from Chaplin’s 1919 film Sunnyside
- Rerelease trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Wood, Chaplin’s 1940 New York Times defense of his movie, a reprint from critic Jean Narboni on the film’s final speech, and Al Hirschfeld’s original press book illustrations
From the CurrentView the Current »
Film Essays
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Clippings
Brody on The Great Dictator
April 26, 2011
In anticipation of Criterion’s release of Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator next month, and in honor of the one hundredth entry in his DVD of the Week column on his New Yorker blog, The Read more »
Press Notes
Press Notes: Best of 2011
January 13, 2012
It’s the time of year when the list makers do their heavy lifting, looking back over the preceding twelve months and deciding what was best and brightest. We’re happy to report that some of our Read more »
Press Notes: The Great Dictator
May 31, 2011
“An unqualified triumph” is how DVD Movie Central’s Michael Jacobson describes The Great Dictator, out now on Criterion DVD and Blu-ray. He goes on to explain, “The Great Dictator is a landmark Read more »
