A brave and essential movie

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2007)

I watched this movie the other night and was surprised at just how effective it still is today.While it might not be Chaplins' finest hour,it underlines what a brilliant film maker he was.
The first thing that struck me was just how quick he must have been to spot the dangerous undercurrent's of the Nazi regime and although some of the humour might not seem to be that daring by todays standards,in 1940 this film must have ruffled many feathers.Chaplin was under a lot of pressure not to make this and we should be grateful that he did.He stuck to his guns and delivers a movie of some power.
The story involves a Jewish barber and a tyrant Hynkel who is obviously Hitler in disguise.Both roles are played by Chaplin and he is superb in each guise.To cut a long story short,the barber is mistaken for the dictator and this gives Chaplin the chance to deliver his plea for world peace.Make no mistake,it is definitely Chaplin speaking and not the barber.This speech has come in for much criticism over the years.It has been called naive and mawkish but I think that is a direct plea from the heart and you can't disagree with what Chaplin asks for.I personally thought that the moment that Paulette Goddards' character Hannah talks to herself hoping for an end to the suffering in the ghetto was more soppy and unconvincing.She is fine in the role although she is so obviously gorgeous before she is cleaned up by the barber.
The acting in general is first rate and special mention must go to Jack Oakie as Napaloni.His portrayal is funny and hits the mark every time.There is good chemistry between Chaplin and Oakie and they looked as though they really enjoyed their scenes together.
There are many scenes of brilliance on show here.Of course there is the globe segment,the final speech and Hynkel's opening speech of gibberish.One scene that impressed me especially was when the barber and Hannah escape to the rooftops and his shop is destroyed.He simply says 'There goes the barber's shop' with his back to camera.While Hannah tries to offer him words of comfort and encouragement,he stays silent and you can just sense the fight escaping from him.He looks desolate just by his body language,very impressive acting in my opinion.While many scenes may seem pretty tame,Chaplin shows a Jew getting shot in the ghetto,Hannah getting smacked in the face by a storm trooper and a public lynching.This was very daring for it's day and a credit to the sensor's for leaving these scenes in.
Charlie Chaplin deserves his place in cinema history and this movie shows that he was a true master of his craft.He is up there with the greats and rightly so.