The Great Dictator (1940)
95%RT Audience Score: 95%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Charlie Chaplin demonstrates that his comedic voice is undiminished by dialogue in this rousing satire of tyranny, which may be more distinguished by its uplifting humanism than its gags.
The Great Dictator is a classic film that still holds up today. Charlie Chaplin’s first talkie is a hilarious and poignant satire that delivers a powerful message about the dangers of fascism. The film’s cheesier jokes hit hard thanks to its purity of purpose, and Chaplin’s performance as both the Tramp and the Dictator is nothing short of genius. It’s a must-see for anyone who loves great comedy and wants to be reminded of the importance of standing up against tyranny. Plus, that mustache is iconic!
Production Company(ies)
Charles Chaplin Productions,
Distributor
United Artists
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Santa Monica Mountains, Los Angeles, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
G
Year of Release
1941
-
Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
-
Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
-
Runtime:2h 8m
-
Language(s):English, Esperanto, Latin
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 15, 1940 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 24, 2011
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert, directed by Charlie Chaplin, written by Charlie Chaplin, comedy, G rating, United Artists, box office performance, budget, reviewed by William Goss, Dave Kehr, Michael Atkinson, Variety Staff, David Parkinson, Roger Ebert, André Bazin, Brian Eggert, Fico Cangiano, Marion Aitchison, Mike Massie, Tim Dirks, critic reviews, producer Charlie Chaplin, MPAA rating, satire, anti-Semitic policies, fascist dictator, rebellion, Jewish barber, Adenoid Hynkel, Hannah, Napaloni, Garbitsch, Field Marshall Herring, Mono sound mix, Flat aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $970,135
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $23,648,481
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,653
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,578,896
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Paulette Goddard – Hannah
Jack Oakie – Napaloni
Reginald Gardiner – Schultz
Henry Daniell – Garbitsch
Billy Gilbert – Field Marshall Herring
Director(s)
Charlie Chaplin
Writer(s)
Charlie Chaplin
Producer(s)
Charlie Chaplin
Film Festivals
Cannes
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (47) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (3)
The first full-blown talkie from the biggest star of the silent era, complete with a message that Chaplin couldn’t have sent more loudly or clearly.
June 1, 2011
William Goss
Film.com
TOP CRITIC
Chaplin is at his most profound in suggesting that there is much of the Tramp in the Dictator, and much of the Dictator in the Tramp.
September 3, 2010
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Like all major Chaplin works, Dictator was a cheaply, but methodically, made film, a cardboard act of humanist defiance, and, thanks to its purity of purpose, the cheesier the jokes get, the harder they land.
December 23, 2009
Michael Atkinson
Village Voice
TOP CRITIC
It’s when he is playing the dictator that the comedian’s voice raises the value of the comedy content of the picture to great heights.
October 9, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Though the slapstick may seem tired now, there are moments of greatness.
December 30, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
It is a funny film, which we expect from Chaplin, and a brave one.
October 23, 2004 | Rating: 3.5/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
It is not… the genius of Chaplin that permitted him to create The Great Dictator. It was nothing but that moustache. The Tramp waited for the right moment, did what he had to do, then escaped for all eternity with his facial hair intact.
May 26, 2022
André Bazin
Esprit
Chaplin beckons the viewer to recognize and fight against tyrants, and every few years, as another despot comes along, The Great Dictator becomes achingly relevant again.
February 14, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Charlie Chaplin’s first talkie became an example of an effective satire. One that was way ahead of its time. [Full review Spanish]
March 11, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Fico Cangiano
CineXpress Podcast
Though The Great Dictator provides a good many laughs [it] merits serious consideration for the superior presentation of the message it is trying to put across to that part of the world where democracy is still a precious possession.
January 13, 2021
Marion Aitchison
Tampa Bay Times
More than the expected assemblage of skits, the film attempts to tell a grander, straightforward story, but utilizes too many subplots in the process.
August 5, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
The Great Dictator (1940) is director/actor Charlie Chaplin’s first full all-talking (“talkie” with dialogue) picture (in a film similar to the Marx Brothers’ anti-war comedy Duck Soup (1933)) in which he delivered spoken lines…
December 26, 2019 | Rating: A+
Tim Dirks
Filmsite…
Plot
20 years after the end of WWI, in which the nation of Tomainia was on the losing side, Adenoid Hynkel has risen to power as the ruthless dictator of the country. He believes in a pure Aryan state and the decimation of the Jews. This situation is unknown to a simple Jewish Tomainian barber who has been hospitalized since a WWI battle. Upon his release the barber, who had been suffering from memory loss about the war, is shown the new persecuted life of the Jews by many living in the Jewish ghetto, including a washerwoman named Hannah with whom he begins a relationship. The barber is ultimately spared such persecution by Commander Schultz, whom he saved in that WWI battle. The lives of all Jews in Tomainia are eventually spared with a policy shift by Hynkel himself, who is doing so for ulterior motives. But those motives include a desire for world domination, starting with the invasion of neighboring Osterlich, which may be threatened by Benzino Napaloni, the dictator of neighboring Bacteria. Ultimately Schultz, who has turned traitor against Hynkel’s regime, and the barber may be able to join forces to take control of the situation, using Schultz’s inside knowledge of the regime’s workings and the barber’s uncanny resemblance to one of those in power.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Great Dictator stars Charlie Chaplin in dual roles as a Jewish barber and fascist dictator Adenoid Hynkel.
Charlie-Chaplin.jpg
