The Great Dictator (1940)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (written by)

Release Date:

7 March 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Tagline:

The Comedy Masterpiece!

Plot:

In Chaplin's satire on Nazi Germany, dictator Adenoid Hynkel has a double... a poor Jewish barber... who one day is mistaken for Hynkel.

Plot Keywords:

Barber | Dictator | Soldier | Amnesia | Satire

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

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
Florence Wright	...	Blonde Secretary
Eddie Gribbon	...	Tomanian Storm Trooper
Rudolph Anders	...	Tomanian Commandant at Osterlich (as Robert O. Davis)
Eddie Dunn	...	Whitewashed Storm Trooper
Nita Pike	...	Secretary
George Lynn	...	Commander of Storm Troopers (as Peter Lynn)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wheeler Dryden	...	Heinrich Schtick - Translator (voice)
Fred Aldrich	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Richard Alexander	...	Tomainian Prison Guard in 1918 (uncredited)
William Arnold	...	Tomanian Officer (uncredited)
Sig Arno	...	Compact Parachute Inventor (uncredited)
Joe Bordeaux	...	Ghetto Extra (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Reporter from International Press (uncredited)
Hans Conried	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Sculptor (uncredited)
John Davidson	...	Hospital Superintendent (uncredited)
Max Davidson	...	Jewish Man (uncredited)
Lew Davis	...	Hospital Orderly (uncredited)
Francis Ernest Drake	...	Storm Ttrooper (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	Friendly Storm Trooper (uncredited)
Bud Geary	...	Storm Trooper (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Officer (uncredited)
Eddie Hart	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson	...	Big Bertha Gunnery Officer (uncredited)
William Irving	...	Man Seated on Bed (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Banquet Butler (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold	...	Blonde Secretary (uncredited)
Torben Meyer	...	Bald Barbershop Customer (uncredited)
Jules Michelson	...	Man in Ghetto (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	Hynkel's Staff Officer (uncredited)
Nellie V. Nichols	...	Jewish Woman (uncredited)
Manuel París	...	Dance Extra at Ball (uncredited)
Jack Perrin	...	Jewish Man (uncredited)
Lucien Prival	...	Storm Trooper Officer (uncredited)
Cyril Ring	...	Officer Extra (uncredited)
Henry Roquemore	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Tiny Sandford	...	Soldier in 1918 Tomainia (uncredited)
Hans Schumm	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Jewish Fruit Stand Proprietor (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Prison Guard (uncredited)
Carl Voss	...	Officer (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Hynkel's Barber (uncredited)
Harry Wilson	...	Soldier in Field (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Chaplin

Writing credits
Charles Chaplin		(written by)

Produced by
Charles Chaplin	....	producer (uncredited)
Carter DeHaven	....	associate producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Charles Chaplin		(uncredited)
Meredith Willson		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Karl Struss		(director of photography)
Roland Totheroh		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Willard Nico
Harold Rice		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
J. Russell Spencer

Set Decoration by
Edward G. Boyle		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Ed Voight	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Alfred Reeves	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Wheeler Dryden	....	assistant director
Dan James	....	assistant director
Bob Meltzer	....	assistant director
Alex Finlayson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
William Bogdanoff	....	construction foreman (uncredited)
Dick Fritsch	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Frank Veseley	....	painter (uncredited)
Clem Widrig	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Glenn Rominger	....	sound
Percy Townsend	....	sound

Special Effects by
Jack Cosgrove	....	special effects (uncredited)
Ralph Hammeras	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Buster Wiles	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Testera	....	chief electrician (uncredited)
William Wallace	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Wyn Ritchie	....	costumer (uncredited)
Ted Tetrick	....	costume supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
Meredith Willson	....	musical director
Al Kaye	....	music librarian (uncredited)
Max Terr	....	assistant musical director (uncredited)
Meredith Willson	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Henry Bergman	....	general assistant (uncredited)
Rollin Brown	....	laboratory contact (uncredited)
Kay Clement	....	secretary (uncredited)
Evelyn Earle	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Monroe Greenthal	....	press representative (uncredited)
Moody	....	dailies projectionist (uncredited)
Kathleen Pryor	....	secretary (uncredited)
Gene Testera	....	filing clerk (uncredited)
Carl Voss	....	military advisor (uncredited)
Oscar Wright	....	purchasing (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Charles Chaplin Productions (as Charles Chaplin Film Corporation)

Distributors

• United Artists (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Spectrum (1983) (West Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Playhouse Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Key Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MK2 Diffusion (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
• BFI (Collections) (2003) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Creative Design (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (????) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (re-release)
• BIM Distribuzione (????) (Italy) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Die Lupe (????) (Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1958) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Emerald (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• MK2 Diffusion (France)
• Piffl Medien (1999) (Germany) (DVD)
• Vivarto (2008) (Poland) (all media)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Western Costume Company  wardrobe (uncredited)

Also Known As:

The Dictator (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Esperanto

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Germany:6 (DVD rating) | South Korea:All | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Spain:18 (re-rating) (1976) | UK:U (original rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Denmark:7 (2003) | Finland:K-12 | Finland:S (re-release) | France:U | Germany:(Banned) (original rating) | Ireland:(Banned) (original rating) | Ireland:PG (re-rating) | Norway:7 | Spain:(Banned) (1940-1976) | Spain:T (re-rating) | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG (re-rating) (2003) | USA:Approved (PCA #6611) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | West Germany:12 (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

Shot for 539 days.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Jewish Barber has just returned to the Ghetto and is cleaning his windows, his white overcoat changes from being buttoned and unbuttoned throughout the fight scene.

Quotes:

Adenoid Hynkel: How wonderful! Tomania, a nation of blue-eyed blondes.
Garbitsch: Why not a blonde Europe, Asia, America?
Adenoid Hynkel: Blonde world...
Garbitsch: And a brunette dictator.
Adenoid Hynkel: Dictator of the world!

Movie Connections:

References The Champion (1915)

Soundtrack:

Prelude to 'Lohengrin'

We think too much and feel too little.

I was surprised and impressed to find out this movie was released in 1940, before the United States entered World War II. On the surface, satirizing something as solemn and horrible as Nazi Germany could be misconstrued as rash. But Chaplin's brilliance isn't limited to making a joke out of everything. In fact, the seriousness of his message wouldn't have been nearly as valid if not for the excellent use of humor in this movie along with the moments of stark drama blended in. Drama alone wouldn't have had the bite and resonance that this film did. Laughing at someone (Adenoid Hynkel) can be the best way to attack them, while laughing with someone (the Jewish Barber) can be the best way to love them. In the Jewish Barber's final speech, I forgot for a moment that the war he was talking about happened more than half a century ago. They are words that have meaning now, and in any time of war. For this reason I believe the film did far greater good than harm, as it still has the same profound effect today.