Talk:The Great Dictator

message: :help his people, his country, and his world
Is that overstating the case a bit?  Granted, I saw the film over Christmas 2001 and should have remembered the plot a bit more, but--I don't remember anything so grandiose?  Could someone clarify and/or expand?  --KQ 14:49 Aug 2, 2002 (PDT)
:As I recall, at the end of the movie, the barber -- now in the position of dictator -- makes a radio address in which he puts a stop to the anschlus (my appologies to German-speakers, I am sure I have misspelled it) AND makes a general appeal to world peace (with I think some pretty sappy cuts to Paulette Goddard listening intently).  I always took it as Chaplin himself speaking to the world -- with mixed feelings, because filmicly I find it sappy yet given the specific context of the film (and the content of Chaplin's words) it really is hard to fault him.  But given that it was in the context of a World War, I think that although it sounds hyperbolic, it is fair to say Chaplin wanted his barber ultimately to save the world from war. Slrubenstein
::See, I had forgotten that part entirely.  Thanks.  We should probably add that into the article proper.  --KQ
:::Well, it is the most dated part of the film.  I wish I knew more about it -- I wonder if he tacked it on because he was afraid people would accuse him of taking Hitler too lightly in his satire; maybe he felt he needed to add something truly serious.  I just do not know.  Personally I think it is agreat film and the more developed the article, the better -- but aside from hazy memories of the film, I do not know anything about its making or reception and don't feel comfortable adding to the article myself.  If you or anyone else knows more about this aspect, I do hope you or they will add it! Slrubenstein
It's been a long time, but I seem to remember that ironically, that speech at the end was part of the evidence cited against Chaplin in an attempt to prove he was a communist. I could be wrong, but I will try and check it this afternoon. Danny
::::The "sappy cuts" to Goddard are her beaten unconscious by Tomanian (ptomaine-ian...get it?) stormtroopers. I can never tell if her eardrums or inner ear structures are undamaged by the rifle butts smashed against her head, so I don't know if she's "listening intently" down there on the ground.Coloneldoctor (talk) 03:40, 23 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: help his people, his country, and his world

message: I believe the plot summary is a bit muddled; here and there characters are brought up abruptly in a way that's confusing to the reader.  I'd edit it, but I really don't know the film well enough. Dyfsunctional 20:07, 27 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I re-wrote the synopsis, kind of combining what was there with other sources on the web. The original article contradicted some other versions as far as the order of the scenes, but I smooshed it all together best I could. 161.11.130.249 15:35, 29 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Plot summary

message: Why is this listed under :Category:Esperanto films? The Esperanto is limited to a few signs and is not spoken at all in the movie. Heck, there's more German than Esperanto.  --dm (talk) 01:51, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The category is very inclusive: "This category contains films that were written in Esperanto, have spoken or written dialogue in Esperanto prominent or not, or were translated into Esperanto." But even with all that, just having signs in Esperanto arguably doesn't count. I've removed the category. 82.92.119.11 17:13, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Esperanto film?

message: Shouldn't it be the latter, as a takeoff on ptomaine? Dpbsmith (talk) 18:52, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Never mind, Ebert spells it "Tomania" and so does Bosley Crowther's original 1940 review in The New York Times. Dpbsmith (talk) 19:01, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: All the text in the movie seems to indicate it's Tomainia, though, just take a closer look at the newspaper closeups. 惑乱 分からん 14:09, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: OK, by pausing the movie on my DVD, I find Hynkel's referred to as the "dictator of Tomania" in the opening credits, but otherwise, "Tomainia" seems to be the most common spelling throughout the movie, when Chaplin's character is going with Schultz in the airplane early in the movie, you could make out the letters "TOMAINIA AIRUM" at the side of the aircraft, and during the amnesia scene, all the newspapers (with names like "Tomainia Mail", "Tomainia Gazette", "Tomainia Post" and "Tomainia review") use "Tomainia" unconditionally. I'd say that makes a fair point in favor of the "in" spelling. 惑乱 分からん 14:44, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: My own viewing of the Region 1 DVD from m2k confirms 惑乱 分からん's observations. Robert Happelberg 19:03, 17 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: ''Tomania'' or ''Tomainia?''

message: For being in :Category:Articles with unsourced statements and having images without fair use rationale. --SeizureDog 18:14, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Failed GA

message: The scene where he dances with a large, inflatable globe to the tune of a theme from Wagner's Lohengrin was claimed to also be a parody of the overstated and heavy Wagner music Hitler liked (Chaplin liked simpler music, like a single chello). Should this go into the article? // Liftarn
:I think so. Using music to express something is a tradition of Chaplin's film.
:"While Bayreuth presented a useful front for Nazi culture, and Wagner's music was used at many Nazi events,[244] the Nazi hierarchy as a whole did not share Hitler's enthusiasm for Wagner's operas and resented attending these lengthy epics at Hitler's insistence.[245]"(from Richard Wagner)  --Apemiro(Talk) 12:26, 24 May 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Musical parody?

message: The "balloon globe ballet" is parodied a few times in pop culture:
-G.W. Bush - The Great Dictator.
-In one episode of Pinky and the Brain.
Maybe find more and add a section. --Ollj 11:55, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: In Pop culture

message: Given that it opened in Britain in December, and that Battle of Britain gives 31st October 1940 as a "generally accepted" date for the end of the BoB, how can this be possible? Could it be that what is actually meant is "...during the Blitz"? I'm British (though too young to remember WW2) and would find "Blitz" a much more appropriate term to use to relate to the very end of 1940 and early 1941 than "Battle of Britain". 86.146.232.189 02:38, 31 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: "It was shown in London during the Battle of Britain"???

message: I heard that the movie was banned in a couple of countries even after WWII, e.g. in Spain under Franco. Does anyone have any further Information on this?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.101.244.117 (talk) 22:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: In what countries was  The Great Dictator banned?

message: As mentioned in a section further up this Talk page, there is a serious date-related contradiction in the "Reception" section. We are told both that the film was "shown in London during the Battle of Britain" and that the Prince of Wales Theatre in, um, London screened its UK premiere "in 1941" and that the theatre's owner was fined for showing it. At least one of these two assertions must be incorrect. This contradiction has now been in the article for many months, and it needs sorting out. Loganberry (Talk) 02:00, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Dating problem - contradiction

message: ;Note to 128.95.104.109 
The Citations in Great Dictator should stay exactly as they have been. The revised URLs which briefly appeared early on July 1, 2010 are the ones that would be used if a student at the University of Washington was on a university computer network that required a University ID to view specific blocked websites on a University computer (very common in University libraries- this prevents members of the general public who walk into the library from using library computers for personal business, but students with a proper ID can do so). These URLs are however useless for anyone checking citations on any and every computer that does NOT belong to the University of Washington. Please don't revise URLs according to what appears on your computer if you are a University student on such a network. Inserting "offcampus.lib.washington.edu" into every URL on the page just makes them impossible to find for every Earthling NOT using a UofWash computer.--WickerGuy (talk) 17:04, 1 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Note on URLs as accessed from college campuses

message: What Cliff's Notes or similar did you crib to include a section called "Analysis"?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.5.182.62 (talk) 07:23, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Analysis? 

message: * It eventually became Chaplin's highest grossing film with a total of 11 million worldwide.
11 million whats? Dollars? Pounds? Viewers? — 66.92.0.62 (talk) 03:35, 5 January 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  RE: Reception 

message: 'In 1941, London's Prince of Wales Theatre screened its UK premiere. The film had been banned in many parts of Europe, and the theatre's owner, Alfred Esdaile, was apparently fined for showing it.'
:But the film was no longer banned in the UK after September 1939. Had Esdaile managed to get it shown in other countries? Valetude (talk) 18:22, 29 April 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fined for showing it where? 

message: The article states that the film was popular with American audiences. The Attenborough Chaplin film, however, depicts the movie as generating an angry response from some moviegoers, in particular the barber's speech. Is there any indication of the film being controversial in this manner, or was this just done for dramatic effect in the movie? 68.146.52.234 (talk) 18:52, 20 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Controversy in the US

message: In the lead, there's a source for the "Prince of Wales" theatre cited for the claim that the film was controversial in its day. However, the source in question dates to 2007, and although I'm not sure of the contents of the source, the title "Theatre Programme, Mama Mia!" doesn't exactly inspire much confidence that it's at least solid enough for the lead. Does anybody object if I remove this source and replace it with a more reliable one for this claim? Luthien22 (talk) 22:30, 28 March 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Prince of Wales" Theatre as a source for political controversy in lead? 

message: "...both Chaplin and French film-maker René Clair viewed Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will together at a showing..."
Did they both see it, or did they watch it together? DBautell (talk) 01:58, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Redundancy 

message: I am no Chaplin scholar, but I had thought that the "globe scene" was one of the most celebrated moments in film comedy, if not film period. I thought it might merit a little more than what's here. PurpleChez (talk) 21:45, 30 July 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Globe 

message: Why isn't there a section on the many puns and hints made by Chaplin to the characterization and ridicule of both Hitler and Mussolini and their ideologies? For example, the swastika is replaced with the double cross, as in "double-crossed". Also the way the Hynkel character speaks when excited is one of the perhaps funniest and most original creations of the film. 2A02:AA1:1629:2676:6910:B247:914B:56A5 (talk) 22:15, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Puns and hints