The Great Dictator (1940)

My Review

“The Great Dictator” is a political satire and black comedy about the regimes of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini, put together by director-screenwriter Charlie Chaplin. He managed to produce, direct, and write a film which contained many zingers against the two fascist-socialist dictators, and also a sub-plot about a Jewish barber. The film has good production values and marvelous writing with a 125 minute running time.

The cast includes Charlie Chaplin as tyrant Adenoid Hynkel and the Jewish barber, Jack Oakie as Benzino Napaloni (Mussolini), Paulette Goddard as the barber’s neighbor, Reginald Gardner as Commander Schultz, Henry Daniell as the Joseph Goebbels parody, and Carter DeHaven as Napaloni’s ambassador. “The Great Dictator” was the second highest grossing film of 1940 for producer Charlie Chaplin and United Artists. It received five Oscar nods for Best Picture, Best Actor (Chaplin), Best Supporting Actor (Oakie), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Musical Score (Meredith Wilson).