Great Dictator
There is no doubt that Charlie Chaplin was the first and arguably still the most beloved major movie star of all time. Spending the first decade of his career cranking out his silent short films with their impeccable comic timing before moving on to his features (most of which are usually considered as being among the best films of all time) all featuring his trademark Little Tramp character, a role that Chaplin loved playing so much in the silent comedy format that he continued to do so long after motion pictures had already started talking. Likewise, Adolf Hitler had always considered himself to be a huge fan of Chaplinâs work and consequently, had deliberately styled his trademark mustache after that of the one worn by The Tramp in order to help himself gain popularity amongst the masses of Nazi Germany. The similiarities didnât just end there, as Chaplin and Hitler had both literally been born within 4 days of each other, had just about the same height and weight, and were both born dirt poor before working their way up to the top of their chosen field. Chaplin had taken notice of both the copying of his mustache as well as the things that The Nazis were doing throughout Europe in the late 1930s, and had come to despise both the man and his cause. Having come under intense pressure after 1936âs Modern Times to finally switch over to the sound era, Chaplin had readily chosen to do so in such a way that his beloved Tramp would be embodied in that of A Jewish Barber living in a pseudo Nazi regime who when the time came for him to speak in his final screen appearance would say something so astoundingly moving that the world would never forget it, but the even bolder move was Chaplin also choosing (long before the era of Saturday Night Live performers good and bad routinely lampooning famous political figures) to pay Der Fuehrer back for the use of his mustache by relentlessly satirizing him on screen in the form of âAdenoid Hynkelâ, a power mad dictator bent on world conquest who also happens to be a complete bumbling idiot. This amazing audacity was met with much criticism at the time (and the unfounded claim that Chaplin was somehow a Communist for doing so, when in truth he was really a humane Anarchist) but it at least gave us the opportunity to watch Chaplin play an almost unrelentingly evil character in a movie for the very first time, albeit one who is seemingly always led around by the nose by his propaganda minister (Henry Daniell) and who gives his rousing speeches in some kind of a nonsense language that combines both German and English words but yet still comes frighteningly close to resembling the actual speechmaking style of Hitler himself, whose mannerisms Chaplin studied intently for months at a time. The story starts during World War I, where Chaplinâs kindly Jewish Barber (who happens to be an exact lookalike for the future dictator) is fighting for his country and is literally and hilariously quite inept at doing so even as he manages to save the life of a fellow soldier (Reginald Gardiner) before getting badly wounded and shipped off to a military hospital after the war stricken with amnesia, where he happens to stay locked up for approximately a 20 year period before escaping (and is considered by the doctors to be so mild mannered that no real manhunt is even necessary) and returning to the Jewish Ghetto where his barbershop is located at, reconnecting with old friends but finding himself so perplexed at the oppressive regime that has taken hold of the country that he has literally no idea of how to deal with the Stormtroopers patrolling the area or the howling madman giving his speeches over the public broadcast system, but at least his sweet and innocent nature allows him to connect with a beautiful local Jewish girl (Paulette Goddard) and a chance meeting with his old war buddy Gardiner (now a military commander) who declares that neither The Barber nor any of his friends are to be harassed which brings them all a temporary peace. A peace that would soon be shattered by Chaplinâs Hynkel, who despite all of his insecure bumblings would seem to be most defined by his hatred of The Jews to the point of being beyond all rational common sense (which is something that even his own underlings seem to sense as he dresses them down and slaps them around). Tensions rise when he enters into negotiations with a fellow dictator (Jack Oakie doing an obvious take on Benito Mussolini) over who gets to invade a peaceful country first, with Oakieâs hit or miss comedy theatrics putting him on an equal level with Chaplin in these scenes so much so that he scored an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. When Gardinerâs character is finally arrested for treason (merely for disagreeing with his oafish fearless leader), so is the protection that had been accorded to The Barberâs ghetto, leading to the two men becoming fugitives as the madman Hynkel prepares to take on the world. What is most eerily prescient about Chaplinâs writing here is in the way that he seems to foresee in 1940 certain real life historical events before they ever actually happened in real life as depicted in the films Schindlerâs List (with the Gardiner character being a high ranking, card carrying Nazi who nonetheless has the humanity to express sympathy for The Jews) and Valkyrie (the mostly implied notion that some of Hynkelâs top yes men see him as a threat to both themselves and their country and may possibly have conspired with the Gardiner character in order to remove him from power in a sort of peaceful coup dâetat in order to have The Barber assume his identity and take things in a different direction rather than off the cliff). As far as the comedic material goes, the scenes with Chaplinâs Hynkel are actually a wickedly funny hybrid of satire and slapstick even today, showing the legendary Chaplin going off in a new direction by playing a guy so consumed with hatred, greed, and power lust that it really makes perfect sense for him to come off like a complete moron as well, whether it be with his famous dance with a floating globe bit or in the way that he witnesses certain inventors presenting their military âweaponry of the futureâ only to watch them uproariously fail. In contrast, much of the Jewish Barber scenes in the ghetto come off as being borderline maudlin, with Chaplinâs Barber himself seeming like a soft spoken man of few words who nonetheless walks and moves around much like The Tramp did. That is, until we come to the ending of the movie where through a case of mistaken identity (although itâs curious how NONE of the characters EVER tells The Barber throughout the movie about his resemblance to the countryâs leader), Hynkel is arrested and sent to a concentration camp and (in what clearly appears to be a well thought out plan) The Barber is dressed in Hynkelâs uniform and thrust onto the podium in order to give a big speech about rallying the troops in order to conquer the world (provided of course that NOBODY had any way of knowing exactly what it was that The Barber was actually going to say) that we finally tear through the fourth wall to not only hear The Barber, not only The Tramp, but to hear Chaplin himself suddenly give an impassioned, emotional speech that (in its original context) was meant to make audiences second guess the impending Second World War, but even when listened to and analyzed today still remains so incredibly relevant as to where our society and mankind MUST head towards in order to make this a better world. The fact that the movie itself with its own story almost stops completely cold in order to make this moment possible is all part of Chaplinâs genius as we realize that what heâs saying is so unironically TRUE while the story itself (or what remains of it) ends on the supposed aftermath of hearing this truth from whom was thought to be one of the most evil individuals on Earth (and thus achieving world peace) and just knowing that this speech could still be applied to our world here today in 2016 fills one with complete awe as we realize that (solely this reviewerâs opinion) the legendary Little Tramp and original purveyor of screen comedy has created the most brilliant, audacious and greatest work of his storied careerâŚ
9/10