"The Great Dictator"-Charles Chaplin-1940
This is one of the many films I first saw in college at the special film viewings the undergraduate film group promoted on Friday and Saturday nights. I was very involved in the theater in college. I took tickets, ushered, for most of the films. I even had some influence on which films were shown; I was responsible for showing "My Little Chickadee." I apologize for that choice. As I remember my first viewing, there was quite a bit of laughter by my fellow students. I remembered particularly two scenes. In the first Adenoid Hynkel, the dictator of Tomania is bouncing a balloon globe around in his office. The second is where Napolini, the dictator of Bacteria, is given a kid's seat so Hynkel will be high above him. Those scenes still remain among my favorites.
This film was financed entirely by Chaplin. It cost about $2 million, it made about $5 million. It took several years of preparation, and a year and a half to film. Chaplin, as many of you will know, did everything on his later films:directed, wrote, wrote/chose the music, chose the cast, supervised the editing, and supervised the promotion and theater placement.
The story begins in World War I, the barber is serving with a German (Tomanian) artillery regiment in the later days of the war. The barber (Chaplin) pulls the rope which fires a massive artillery piece which is trying to hit Notre Dame. The first shot misses, and the second shot is a dud. The barber is ordered to investigate the massive shell. This is quite a funny sequence. Several misadventures later, the barber ends up trying to save an aviator. The plane crashes; the barber ends up in the hospital. He stays there for 20 years missing the rise of Hynkel and the double cross party. He leaves the hospital and returns to the ghetto.
The barber almost immediately becomes involved with the anti-semitic police. He is rescued by Hannah (Paulette Goddard) a local washerwoman. She lives with Jaekel (Maurice Moskovitch a star of the Yiddish theater). The ghetto receives a reprieve when Commander Schultz (Reginald Gardiner) recognizes the barber as the soldier who saved him.
I chose to follow Chaplin's example in separating the two story streams. So now we look at Adenoid Hynkel,dictator of Tomania. We first see him making an impassioned speech in a word salad to thousands in person and millions over the radio. This is translated into English sparsely and with no relationship to the truth. Hynkel's two closest advisers are Garbistch (Henry Daniell) the Minister of Propaganda, and Herring (Billy Gilbert) the Minister of War. They are obviously modeled on Goebbels and Goering, However, in real life Goebbels is small and frail and was a behind the scenes adviser. Garbistch is taller more forceful and not at all comic. This is an excellent performance.
There are plans to invade Austerlich. However, there are several problems, one of whom is Benezino Napolino, Dictator of Bacteria. His army is also poised on the borders of Austerlich. This is a great performance by Jack Oakie. Their numerous one upmanship scenes are frequently hilarious. Austerlich is taken by Tomania. Now the two stories really converge.
Commander Schultz is arrested for attacking Hynkel and his policies. He escapes and hides in the ghetto.
He and the barber are captured by the storm troopers and sent to the concentration camp. Meanwhile Hannah and Jaekel escape to Austerlich before the invasion. They are captured and are going to be sent to a concentration camp. Meanwhile, Schultz and the barber escape. Through a series of misadventures they end up on the platform. The barber disguised as Hynkel gives an impassioned speech contradicting all of Hynkel's policies.
This speech was dear to Chaplin's heart; he repeated it over radio, and it feature's prominently in his autobiography. Critics were unkind, many deeming it incongruous for the barber's character. In general the movie was a commercial and critical success despite being banned in many countries. Eisenhower contacted Chaplin to obtain French language prints after the liberation. It was an enormous success.
One area not covered adequately to my mind by commentators and scholars is the use of language. The Hynkel word salad is noted and studied. On the ghetto walls and storefronts in Tomania, many signs are in Esperanto. Esperanto is an invented international language based primarily on Romance Languages. It was invented by a Polish Jew. In Austerlich the similar signs are in Yiddish. Yiddish dates back to the 13th century. It is syncretic; it takes words, concepts, from several languages, but principally German. It is written in a modified Hebrew script. As mentioned above, Chaplin controlled everything in his films. So, what was he trying to say. I've thought about this, and my conclusion is I need a translator.
Your best chance to see this film is either through TCM or by buying the Criterion Edition. It is more than just an interesting historical piece, but by its very nature it cannot fully escape its era. Recommended, but I think most 'Yarders may well find other Chaplin films more welcoming.