A visionary film that still has relevance

Rating: Null/10 (19 March 2014)

The film starts with a long title sequence typical of early films. Charlie Chaplin is a bumbling, albeit somewhat effective, Jewish soldier in WW1. He's in an air crash and awakens after the war without his memory. His town has been turned into a ghetto and the the anti-Semite Hynkel has seized power. He tries to return to normal life, but of course can't, as the anti- Jewish laws are far too powerful. He and a friend from WW1, who is now a pariah, try to stop the evil Hynkel and his ally Napoloni. Towards the end, the Jewish barber/soldier is mistaken for Hynkel and delivers a speech of brotherly love that appears to stop the coming war.
I now really know what a "gag" is after watching this. I had seen such things in "Airplane" but never known them by this name. As the barber tries to operate the AA gun, as he throws the grenade, and as he and Schulz are in the plane. It's really a collection of many funny sketches in the beginning. The airplane was particularly funny with the feigned exhaustion of Schulz. I couldn't stop laughing as Schulz tried to drink from the canteen.
The scenes in the ghetto are often gnashing, because, as we know now, the situation was much darker. However, even giving attention to these is something many didn't do at the time, so it looks more artistic than calloused.
This is still a pretty funny movie, although a modern movie would probably be quicker paced and have more recognizable actors. It has, after all, been about 74 years. It's still funny though - a big recommend.