Excellent Work by Chaplin

Rating: Null/10 (27 January 2019)

The Great Dictator is a 1940 satirical comedy directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin actually plays two roles in the film: Adenoid Hynkel, the dictator of the fictional country of Tomania and the Jewish Barber, a WWI veteran returning from a years long convalescence to a Jewish ghetto in Tomania. Hynkel and the Dictator of Bacteria, Napaloni (played with great comic timing by Jack Oakie) haplessly try to one up each other and become the first to start WWII by invading another country. Meanwhile, the Jewish Barber wrestles with life in an increasingly authoritarian and anti-Semitic Tomania. The Jewish Barber also pursues the defiant Hannah (played by Paulette Goddard) who teaches him how to navigate through the chaotic ghetto.
Chaplin started shooting the film almost one week after Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939. When the film was released a year later, the US had still not entered the war and major studios were wary of running afoul of German sensibilities or being seen as advocating a side in the European wars. Chaplin, one of the most recognizable stars in the world at that time, took a daring risk to his personal career by releasing a film that not only parodied Hitler but brought attention to Jewish persecution under the Nazi regime.
In confronting a current day crisis, Chaplin's film was a prelude for another writer-director-star, Spike Lee, to take on the controversial topic of race relations and police brutality in 1989 with Do The Right Thing. Both filmmakers were criticized for inciting people to take up arms and fight for their freedoms. However, both the directors and their films have been vindicated by history as their films are largely seen as rousing viewers to think deeply about current events and as courageous predictions of future troubles.
The Great Dictator's closing scene is in stark contrast to the rest of the film and Chaplin's career to date. The final few minutes has the Jewish Barber (being mistaken for the dictator, Hynkel) giving a speech that implores the crowd (and the audience since Chaplin's character is facing the camera) to resist hate and fascism. This was Chaplin's first full picture with synchronized sound. For an audience in 1940 to hear one of the most popular humans on the planet give such a speech against tyranny must have been unexpected. Chaplin uses this technique to grab hold of the audience and step out of his normal comedic persona to focus the film on his words and not his antics.
Chaplin would later state that he never would have made The Great Dictator had he been aware of the full horrors of the Holocaust. There are certainly some odd scenes where the juxtaposition of Chaplin's slapstick comedy against the backdrop of Jewish persecution is unsettling. But, Chaplin could not have known the full extent of the Nazi's crimes. He used his resources and star power to sponsor a film that attempted through comedy to warn people of the horrors to come and make an appeal for universal humanity. Chaplin should be applauded for his sincere efforts.