The Great Dictator
The Great Dictator is a
film directed by and starring
Charlie Chaplin. First released on October 15, 1940, it is a satire of
Adolf Hitler and
Nazism. Chaplin's film is highly exceptional for this period (1940), when the U.S. was still at peace with
Nazi Germany, for its fearless
satire and condemnation of Hitler and Nazism, and for its vivid portrayal of the plight of
Jews in
Europe. It holds the distinction of being both Chaplin's first "
talkie," and his most commercially successful film.
|
Charlie Chaplin in character |
The film begins during
World War I. Chaplin, as an unnamed private in the army of the fictional nation of Tomania, valiantly attempts to rescue an officer named Schultz (
Reginald Gardiner), only to lose his memory when the plane the two had taken off in crashes into a tree. Schultz escapes from the wreckage, and Chaplin spends the next 20 years in the hospital, thoroughly oblivious to the changes that are taking place in Tomania: Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin in a double role), now the ruthless
dictator ("Phooey") of Tomania, has undertaken to persecute Jews throughout the land, aided by ministers Garbitsch (
Henry Daniell) and Herring (
Billy Gilbert).
The
amnesiac soldier returns to his barbershop in the Jewish
ghetto, still unaware of the political situation, and is shocked when
storm troopers smash the windows of his shop. Later, he finds a friend, and ultimately a love interest, in Hannah (
Paulette Goddard), a beautiful resident of the ghetto.
Meanwhile, Schultz, who has come up in the ranks in the intervening 20 years, recognizes the barber and, though surprised to find him a Jew, orders the storm troopers to leave him and Hannah alone. Hynkel, in addition, has relaxed his stance on Tomanian Jewry in an attempt to woo a Jewish financier into giving him a
loan. Egged on by Garbitsch, Hynkel has become obsessed with the idea of
world domination. (In one famous scene, he toys with a large, inflatable
globe to the tune of a theme from
Wagner's
Lohengrin.) On Garbitsch's advice, Hynkel has planned to invade the neighboring country of Osterlich and needs the loan to finance the invasion. Eventually, the financier refuses, and Hynkel reinstates his persecution of the Jews, this time to an even greater extent.
Schultz voices his objection to the invasion, and Hynkel orders him placed in a
concentration camp. Schultz flees to the ghetto and begins plans to overthrow the Hynkel regime. Eventually, both he and his barber friend are captured and condemned to the concentration camp.
Hynkel is initially opposed by Benzino Napaloni (
Jack Oakie), Diggaditchie of Bacteria, in his plans to invade Osterlich. After some friction (and a food fight) between the two leaders, a deal is made (which Hynkel immediately breaks), and the invasion proceeds successfully. Hannah, who has since emigrated to Osterlich, once again finds herself living under Hynkel's regime.
Schultz and the barber escape from the camp wearing Tomanian uniforms (featuring the double cross, analogous to the Nazi
swastika). Border guards mistake the barber for Hynkel (with whom he shares a remarkable resemblance). Conversely, Hynkel, on a hunting trip trying to make up his mind about the invasion, is mistaken for the barber and is arrested by his own soldiers.
The barber, who has assumed Hynkel's identity, is taken to the Tomanian capital to make a victory speech. Garbitsch, in introducing "Hynkel" to the throngs, decries
free speech and other supposedly traitorous and outdated ideas. In contrast, the barber then makes a rousing speech, reverting Hynkel's anti-Semitic policies and welcoming in a new era of democracy. (The
text of the speech is on
wikiquote.)
Hannah, despondent over the recent events, hears the barber's speech on the radio, and is amazed when "Hynkel" addresses her directly: "Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up! Look up, Hannah! The clouds are lifting, the sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness and into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their greed, their hate, and their brutality. Look up, Hannah!" The film concludes with Hannah indeed looking up, with a renewed sense of optimism.
The film stars Chaplin as Hynkel and the barber,
Paulette Goddard as Hannah,
Jack Oakie as Napaloni,
Reginald Gardiner as Schultz,
Henry Daniell as Garbitsch and
Billy Gilbert as Field Marshal Herring, an incompetent advisor to Hynkel. Chaplin stars in a double role as the Jewish barber (
the Tramp in all but name) and the fascist dictator, clearly modeled on
Adolf Hitler.
The film contains several of Chaplin's most famous sequences. The rally speech by Hynkel delivered in gibberish is a true-on caricature of Hitler's oratory style, which Chaplin studied carefully in newsreels. Chaplin, as the barber, shaves a customer in time to a radio broadcast of
Johannes Brahms's
Hungarian Dance No. 5, recorded in one continuous take. But the film's most celebrated sequence is the haunting ballet dance between the power-mad dictator and a balloon globe in his palatial office, set to
Richard Wagner's
Lohengrin Overture.
The film ends with the barber, having been mistaken for the dictator, delivering an address in front of great audience and over the radio to the nation, following the Tomanian take-over of Osterlich (an obvious reference to the German
Anschluss of
Austria on
March 12,
1938). The address is widely interpreted as an
out-of-character personal plea from Chaplin. Chaplin's controversial speech, seen as an overtly political speech, may have contributed to the litany of reasons he was ultimately denied reentry in the United States during the
McCarthy era. (See the article on
Charlie Chaplin for further detail).
In a more subtle political statement, the signs in the shop windows of the ghettoized Jewish population in the film are written in a language similar to
Esperanto, though many spelling mistakes were added on purpose (for instance
terpumoj instead of
terpomoj,
potatoes, or
vestajoj instead of
vestaĵoj, clothes).
The film was written and directed by Chaplin, and was shot largely at the Chaplin Studios and other locations around Los Angeles (such as Laurel Canyon). The germination of the idea undoubtedly came from the physical resemblance between Chaplin's Tramp character and Hitler (particularly the mustache). Chaplin was also motivated by the escalating violence and repression of Jews by the Nazis throughout the late
1930s, the magnitude of which was conveyed to him personally by his European Jewish friends and fellow artists. It has been suggested that a 1934 Nazi propaganda leaflet mistakenly denouncing Chaplin as Jewish encouraged him to start the film project. Chaplin prepared the story throughout 1938 and 1939, and began filming in September 1939, a week after the beginning of
World War II. By the time he finished filming almost 6 months later, France had fallen to the Nazis. The controversial final speech that ends the film was a late modification to the script, has been thought to have been motivated by the dire developments in Europe that occurred over the film's long production. The 2001
BBC documentary on the making of the film,
The Tramp and the Dictator claimed to have evidence (largely newly discovered footage of the film production shot by Chaplin's elder half-brother
Sydney) that the ending was only changed due to technical difficulties[
1].
It was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. Chaplin also received a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Actor, and Oakie for
Best Supporting Actor; the film has been selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry. The film was Chaplin's first true
talking picture and helped shake off accusations of
Luddism following his previous release (
Modern Times) released in
1936 when the silent era had all but ended in the late
1920s.
Several similarities between Hitler and Chaplin have been noted and may have been a pivotal factor in Chaplin's decision to make
The Great Dictator. Chaplin and Hitler had superficially similar looks, most famously their moustaches, and this similarity is most commented upon. (There was even a song about Hitler, entitled "Who is This Man Who Looks like Charlie Chaplin?"[
2] Furthermore, the men were born four days apart in April,
1889, and both grew up in relative poverty.
In addition, there were some rumors circulating that in the early days of Hitler's political career, he was aware of Charlie Chaplin's popularity in the motion picture business, and was told time and time again that he shared physical traits with Charlie, therefore he grew the same famous square shaped mustache like Charlie in order to boost his own popularity.
The making of the film coincided with rising tensions throughout the world. Speculation grew that this and other anti-fascist films such as
Mortal Storm and
Four Sons would remain unreleased given the United States's neutral relationship with Germany. The project continued largely because Chaplin was financially and artistically independent of other studios; also, failure to release the film would have bankrupted Chaplin, who had invested $1.5m of his own money in the project. The film eventually opened in New York City in September,
1940, to a wider American audience in October and the United Kingdom in December. The film was released in France in April 1945, shortly after the
liberation of Paris.
When interviewed about this film being on such a touchy subject, Charlie Chaplin had only this to say: "Half-way through making The Great Dictator I began receiving alarming messages from United Artists... but I was determined to go ahead for Hitler must be laughed at." There are also accounts by Chaplin's associates that President
Franklin D. Roosevelt sent his advisor
Harry Hopkins to personally meet with Chaplin and encourage him to move ahead with the satirical film.
The names of the aides of Adenoid Hynkel are similar to those of Hitler. Garbitsch (pronounced almost like "garbage"), the right hand man of Hynkel is very similar to that of
Joseph Goebbels and
Field Marshal Herring was clearly modelled after the
Luftwaffe chief,
Hermann Goering while beyond doubt Benzino Napaloni was modelled after
Benito Mussolini.
Chaplin originally intended to call the film
The Dictator, but received notice from Paramount Pictures that they would charge him $25,000 for use of the title—they owned the rights to an unrelated novel by
Richard Harding Davis. Chaplin balked at the conditions and inserted "Great" into the title. (In
France the film is known as
Le Dictateur.)
According to the
The Tramp and the Dictator, the film was not only sent to Hitler, but an eyewitness confirmed he did see it [
3]. According to the
Internet Movie Database, Chaplin, after being told Hitler saw the movie, replied: "I'd give anything to know what he thought of it" [
4].
The film was well received at the time of its release, and was popular with the American public. Critical opinion was mixed, with many reviewers critical of Chaplin's final speech, and some felt the slapstick portrayal of storm troopers was inappropriate (an opinion that magnified as the horrors of the Nazis were uncovered). But Jewish audiences were deeply moved by the portrayal of Jewish characters and their plight, which was still a taboo subject in Hollywood films of the time. It was shown in London during the
Battle of Britain, and was reportedly a great morale booster.
General Eisenhower personally requested French dubbed versions of the film from Chaplin for distribution in France after the Allied victory there.
In his
1964 autobiography, following the uncovering of the extent of
the Holocaust, Chaplin stated that he would not have been able to make such jokes about the Nazi regime had he known about the actual extent of the Nazi horrors. Indeed, it took over half a century before films were produced that took the artistic challenge to find any humour in that situation, such as
Roberto Benigni's
Life is Beautiful (
1997). It is somewhat notable, regardless, that the film was produced approximately one year before the construction of the true
death camps, such as
Auschwitz and
Bergen-Belsen.
*
Casablanca in WW II
*
You Nazty Spy and
I'll Never Heil Again, a pair of
Three Stooges shorts with a similar subject matter, released around the same time as
The Great Dictator.
#[
5] Who is that man that looks like Charlie Chaplin?#
Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image. Charles J. Maland. Princeton,
1989.#
National Film Theatre/
British Film Institute Notes on
The Great Dictator.#
The Tramp and the Dictator, directed by Kevin Brownlow
2001.#
MoreThings "Charlie Chaplin's Heroic Failure"
*
'Look up Hannah' Speech at End of Movie in Text, Audio and Video from AmericanRhetoric.com
*
Devil Ducky - Clip of the film's closing speech
