
Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the film in dual roles: a Hitler-esque dictator and a Jewish barber. Chaplin had a strange fascination with Hitler and the film is further enhanced by the peculiar parallels in their respective biographies. It is rumored that Hitler was sent and watched the film (twice), but his response is unrecorded. Unlike films and propaganda at the time, THE GREAT DICTATOR is not a call to arms but rather a reminder of the humane, decent, and good. Chaplin showcases that comedy can be profoundly serious. Later in life, Chaplin remarked that if he had known the extent of the atrocities surrounding Nazi Germany, he would not have been able to make THE GREAT DICTATOR.
Suggested Supplmental Screenings: TRIUMPH OF THE WILL (Riefenstahl, 1935), MODERN TIMES (Chaplin, 1936), FURY (Lang, 1936), THE GRAND ILLUSION (Renoir, 1937), THE LADY VANISHES (Hitchcock, 1938), THE ETERNAL JEW (Hippler, 1940), TO BE OR NOT TO BE (Lubitsch, 1942)