The Great Dictator [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Overview

"This is the story of the period between two world wars--an interim during which insanity cut loose, liberty took a nose dive, and humanity was kicked around somewhat." With this pithy opening title, Charles Chaplin begins his first all-talking feature film, The Great Dictator. During World War I, a Jewish barber (Chaplin) in the army of Tomania saves the life of high-ranking officer Schultz (Reginald Gardiner). While Schultz survives the conflict unscathed, the barber is stricken with amnesia and bundled off to a hospital. Twenty years pass: Tomania has been taken over by dictator Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin again) and his stooges Garbitsch (Henry Daniell) and Herring (Billy Gilbert). Hynkel despises all Jews and regularly wreaks havoc on the Tomanian Jewish ghetto, where feisty Hannah (Paulette Goddard) lives. Meanwhile, the little barber escapes from the hospital and instinctively heads back to his cobweb-laden ghetto barber shop. Unaware of Hynkel's policy towards Jews (in fact, he's unaware of Hynkel), the barber gets into a slapstick confrontation with a gang of Aryan storm troopers. He is rescued by his old friend Schultz, now one of Hynkel's most loyal officers. Thanks to Schultz's protection, the ghetto receives a brief respite from Hynkel's persecution. The barber sets up shop again, developing a warm platonic relationship with the lovely Hannah. But things take a sorry turn when Hynkel, angered that a Jewish banker has refused to finance his impending war with Austerlitz, begins bearing down again on the Ghetto. Near the end of the film, when the dictator is expected to make another one of his hate-filled, war-mongering speeches, the barber steps up to the microphones...and Charles Chaplin drops character and becomes "himself," delivering an impassioned plea for peace, tolerance, and humanity.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/24/2011
UPC:	0715515080613
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	G
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[monaural]
Language:	English
Time:	2:05:00
Sales rank:	8,697

Special Features

New high-defintion digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; The Tramp and the Dictator (2001), Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft's documentary paralleling the lives of Chaplin and Hitler, including interviews with author Ray Bradbury, director Sidney Lumet, screenwriter Budd Schulberg and others; Two new visual essays, one by Chaplin archivist Cecilia Cenciarelli and one by Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance; Color production footage shot by Chaplin's half-brother Sydney; Barbershop sequence from Sydney Chaplin's 1921 film King, Queen, Joker; Deleted barbershop sequence from Chaplin's 1919 film Sunnyside; Rerelease trailer; Plus: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Wood, Chaplin's 1940 New York Times defense of his movie, a reprint from critic Jean Narboni on the flm's final speech, and Al Hirschfeld's original press book illustrations

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Paulette Goddard	Hannah
Jack Oakie	Napaloni
Reginald Gardiner	Schultz
Henry Daniell	Garbitsch
Billy Gilbert	Herring
Emma Dunn	Mrs. Jaeckel,Whitewashed Storm Trooper
Grace Hayle	Mme. Napaloni
Carter DeHaven Sr.	Bacterian Ambassador
Bernard Gorcey	Mr. Mann
Paul Weigel	Mr. Agar
Chester Conklin	Barber's Customer
Hank Mann	Storm Trooper Stealing Fruit
Esther Michelson	Jewish Woman
Florence Wright	Blonde Secretary
Eddie Gribbon	Tomanian Storm Trooper
Rudolph Anders	Tomanian Commandant at Osterlich
Nita Pike	Secretary
Peter Lynn	Commander of Storm Troopers
Charlie Chaplin	Hynkel/Barber
Maurice Moscovitch	Mr. Jaeckel
Carter De Haven	Bacterian Ambassador
William Arnold	Actor
Henry Bergman	Actor
Meredith Willson	Composer

Technical Credits

Charles Chaplin

Charles Chaplin	Screenwriter,Producer,Director
Ralph Hammeras	Special Effects
Buster Wiles	Stunts
Glenn Rominger	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

After a five-year absence from movies, Charles Chaplin took on a dual role in his first full-length talking feature, famous for its comic attack on Nazi Germany (and Adolf Hitler in particular). The script was written before Hitler's invasion of Poland, and Chaplin subsequently noted that, had he known the scope of the evil perpetrated on Europe by the Nazis, he would never have made them the subject of this lampoon. Not as maniacally funny as Chaplin's classic comedies of the 1920s, The Great Dictator has more in common with Chaplin's later films, which were more lyrical in approach and more overt in their socio-political messages. In this case, the proselytising turned out to be prescient, as Hitler would soon prove Chaplin's concerns well-founded. This was one of very few films made in the West before World War II that dared to take on Hitler and Mussolini. Still, many critics found fault with Chaplin's approach, claiming that, by portraying German Nazis and Italian Fascists as schoolyard bullies and buffoons, Chaplin was cheapening the impact of their evil actions on millions of Europeans. Despite these criticisms, Chaplin's lampooning of Hitler is a moment of comic genius, complemented by Jack Oakie's ridiculously exaggerated portrayal of the Mussolini-like Italian fascist (nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor). The Great Dictator is loosely structured, lacking the tight pace and sense of direction of Chaplin's best films: its long-winded concluding speech is the most egregious example. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Chaplin for Best Actor.

All Movie Guide - Dan Jardine