A Scathing Attack on Nazi Germany

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2010)

This is the story of a Jewish barber and another Gentile man who happen to look alike (both played by Charlie Chaplin). One grows up to become a ruthless dictator, the other feels the wrath of said dictator for being Jewish, despite his military service.
Aside from being funny (which it is), the film really attacks Hitler and Nazi Germany in a very direct way -- there's no denying the target. And to do so in 1940 (or earlier, if you consider when filming started) was a bold move. America wasn't at war yet, and to my knowledge there wasn't a big outcry about the treatment of the Jews. So Chaplin was really ahead of his time here.
The film was robbed at the Academy Awards, but that's typical... there's always some scandal there. Looking back, I think Chaplin won in the long run... this film stands as one of the greatest of all time, and has easily eclipsed that year's winner, Hitchcock's "Rebecca" (which has failed to match the legacy of other films that year -- "Grapes of Wrath" and "Philadelphia Story").