The Great Dictator (1940)

Note des utilisateurs:

8.4/10   

Réalisateur:

Charles Chaplin

Scénariste:

Charles Chaplin (written by)

Release Date:

7 mars 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedie | Drame | War

Accroche:

The Comedy Masterpiece!

Plot:

In Chaplin's satire on Nazi Germany, dictator Adenoid Hynkel has a double... a poor Jewish barber... who one day is mistaken for Hynkel.

Plot Keywords:

Barber | Dictator | Soldier | Amnesia | Satire

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Avis des utilisateurs:

The best moments are in pantomime...

Ensemble

Charles Chaplin	...	Hynkel - Dictator of Tomania / A Jewish Barber
Jack Oakie	...	Napaloni - Dictator of Bacteria
Reginald Gardiner	...	Schultz
Henry Daniell	...	Garbitsch
Billy Gilbert	...	Herring
Grace Hayle	...	Madame Napaloni
Carter DeHaven	...	Bacterian Ambassador (as Carter De Haven)
Paulette Goddard	...	Hannah
Maurice Moscovitch	...	Mr. Jaeckel (as Maurice Moscovich)
Emma Dunn	...	Mrs. Jaeckel
Bernard Gorcey	...	Mr. Mann
Paul Weigel	...	Mr. Agar
Chester Conklin	...	Barber's Customer
Esther Michelson	...	Jewish Woman
Hank Mann	...	Storm Trooper Stealing Fruit

Autre(s) titre(s):

The Dictator (USA) (working title)
Le dictateur (Belgium: French title) (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]

Durée:

125 min

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Anglais | Esperanto

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Son:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Classification:

Brazil:Livre | Germany:6 (DVD rating) | South Korea:Tous | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | UK:U (original rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Denmark:7 (2003) | Finland:K-12 | Finland:S (re-release) | France:U | Germany:(Banned) (original rating) | Ireland:(Banned) (original rating) | Ireland:PG (re-rating) | Norway:7 | Spain:(Banned) (1940-1976) | Spain:T (re-rating) (1976) | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG (re-rating) (2003) | USA:Approved (PCA #6611) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | West Germany:12 (original rating)

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Anecdotes:

Charles Chaplin named Paulette Goddard's character after his mother, Hannah.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Jewish Barber has just returned to the Ghetto and is cleaning his windows, his white overcoat changes from being buttoned and unbuttoned throughout the fight scene.

Guillemet:

Garbitsch: "Corona veniat electus." Victory shall come to the worthy. Today, democracy, liberty, and equality are words to fool the people. No nation can progress with such ideas. They stand in the way of action. Therefore, we frankly abolish them. In the future...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Good Life (2007)

Soundtrack:

Hungarian Dance No. 5

The best moments are in pantomime...

Since enough plot elements have been discussed in previous reviews, suffice it to say that although I enjoyed this legendary Chaplin film, it is by no means a masterpiece. It's slow in getting started and then becomes a series of heavy-handed vignettes about life in the ghetto contrasted with the life of The Great Dictator, giving Chaplin a chance to emote in high style as both the tramp-like Jewish barber and as Adenoid Hynkel. His funniest bits are of course whenever he does a brilliant piece of "silent" acting with gestures timed to the background music--notably in the barbershop scene where a nervous customer gets a close shave. Unfortunately, none of the dialogue is as brilliant as his use of pantomime.

Indeed, there is a heavy handedness about much of the story's pace and direction. It almost seems as though Chaplin told his actors to play against his comedy by keeping a sober straight face uppermost in mind--watch how Henry Daniell and Reginald Gardiner play their parts with that stiff upper lip approach. An exception is Jack Oakie as Napaloni, doing a brilliant take-off on Mussolini. As a poor Jewish waif, Paulette Goddard shows all the vivaciousness that made her a star in subsequent films throughout the '40s. She adds warmth to all of her scenes with Chaplin.

Some of the gags are carried on at too great a length, outlasting their comic value. And criticism can be made of some of the sequences played against fake scenery when obviously a good deal of money was spent on the main sets. The station scene featuring Napaloni's arrival is staged on an obviously fake studio set where the painted scenery stands out like a sore thumb. Jack Oakie got his only Supporting Role Oscar nomination for this one and Chaplin won a Best Actor nomination.

Whatever the shortcomings, it does manage to keep afloat with some very amusing sequences. Chaplin deserves credit for even attempting such a satire--especially considering this was near the outbreak of the U.S. entry into war. His scene with the globe shows off his rare comic timing.

A final note: the six minute speech at the end seems improbable coming from the timid Jewish barber and strikes a false note because it's so out of character. Obviously, Chaplin intended it to give the film a personal message of hope.