The Great Dictator

Written, directed, and starring Charles Chaplin, with additional direction by Wheeler Dryden, The Great Dictator is a satirical film about a Jewish barber who returns home learning that his country is under the rule of a brutal dictator. The film is Chaplin’s commentary towards the emergence of Nazism and Adolf Hitler at a time when World War II was in its early stages. Also starring Paulette Goddard, Reginald Gardner, and Jackie Oakie. The Great Dictator is an outstanding satire from Charles Chaplin.

After saving a man’s life during a battle in World War I, a Jewish war private (Charles Chaplin) has been hospitalized for twenty years as his country of Tomainia goes through a change of politics following its loss. Now under the rule of the ruthless dictator Adenoid Hynkel (Charles Chaplin) who hopes to rid of Jews from the country and rule the world. After leaving the hospital, the Jewish man returns to find his barbershop abandoned and unaware of how much the world has changed when he gets into a fight with a couple of storm troopers. With help from a young Jewish woman named Hannah (Paulette Goddard), the Jewish man is later saved by Commander Schultz (Reginald Gardner) who remembers the man since he saved his life back in World War I.

With the tension between storm troopers and Jews living at the ghetto calmed down, Hynkel along with his interior minister Garbitsch (Henry Daniell) and war minister Herring (Billy Gilbert) are planning an invasion of Osterlich though funds are depleting as people are becoming upset. When Hynkel learns that Schultz had been going against his plans, Schultz is arrested only to flee into the ghettos where he organizes a suicide mission to blow up Hynkel’s palace. Instead, he and the Jewish barber are captured as they’re sent to camp. Hannah and her Jewish neighbors flee to Osterlich unaware that Hynkel is set to invade. Yet, Hynkel learns that Benzino Napaloni (Jackie Oakie), the dictator of Bacteria, also intends to invade Osterlich.

Though he intends to fight Napaloni, Garbitsch suggests that Hynkel should invite Napaloni to Tomainia to discuss the invasion. Things go well until a party where Hynkel and Napaloni have a fight only to have Garbitsch and Napaloni’s ambassador (Carter DeHaven) smooth things out. Yet, Hynkel secretly decides to do the invasion only to have things go wrong for him following an escape from Schultz and the Jewish barber. When the barber is suddenly mistaken for Hynkel and the invasion going on, it’s up to the barber to give Hynkel his big moment.

The film was made during Adolf Hitler’s rise as World War II is just happening following Germany’s invasion of Poland in September of 1939. With the world knowing about what Hitler and Nazi Germany is doing along with Benito Mussolini and Fascist Italy, how would one respond to what is going on? For Charles Chaplin, he uses comedy and satire to comment on the state of the world by mocking Hitler and bring attention to what is happening with Jews. While he maintains his own pantomime style for the film, it’s also the moment that Chaplin decides to speak as he leaves silent comedy behind.

The film opens with a battle scene as Chaplin’s Jewish barber character is a man trying to help out in battle while he ends up saving this man’s life as it starts out as a funny war film. Then it becomes a bit grim through footage of newsreels and newspaper headlines about the changes of Tomainia as Chaplin goes into this intense yet captivating role of this dictator who is a bit of a klutz as well as a dreamer. Chaplin brings a lot of humor the Hynkel character as a man who walks from room to room either to be given a portrait or to deal with everything else as a leader. Chaplin humanizes the character a bit though he really portrays Hynkel as a buffoon who is just obsessed with being the emperor of the world.

The script moves back-and-forth into the story of this ruthless dictator and this ordinary Jewish barber who falls for a young woman as they try to deal with the oppressive world they live in. Yet, Chaplin allows things to be improvised throughout the film in his stylized yet freewheeling direction. From the physical interplay between he and the actors to the way he keeps the camera moving for a lot of the big comedic moments. Chaplin does put in a sense of dread through the newsreel scenes and in scenes where storm troopers abuse the Jews in the ghettos. Still, Chaplin finds a way to put humor throughout the scenes in the ghettos while balancing it with light drama.

Chaplin’s approach to the scenes involving Hynkel is satirical in the way he frames Hynkel in the middle as he’s going to give a speech. Using stock footage for crowds, it’s to emphasize the power that Hynkel holds among his people. The stuff with Napaloni is Chaplin also taking shots as Mussolini through slapstick while setting up for the film’s climatic moment. The film’s ending has Chaplin breaking character and breaking the fourth wall in what is definitely the film’s most powerful moment. Overall, the ambition that Chaplin lays out for and what he wants to say is truly among one of his greatest films of his career.

Cinematographers Karl Struss and Roland Totheroh do great work with the film‘s black-and-white cinematography from the polished yet gorgeous look of the palace scenes where Hynkel lives in. The photography also has a simple look of the ghetto along with some grainy shots for parts of the opening battle scene. Editors Willard Nico and Harold Rice do amazing work with the stylized editing with the use of transition wipes, dissolves, and fade-outs to help the film move at a brisk yet leisured pace. Art director J. Russell Spencer and set decorator Edward G. Boyle do wonderful work with the set design for the Hynkel palace along with the look of the cannons for the battle scene while giving the scenes of the ghetto something refined rather than go for grit which was a style of the time.

The sound work of Glenn Rominger and Percy Townshend is superb for creating an atmosphere from the battle and crowd scenes to the intimacy of dramatic scenes. The music of Charles Chaplin and Meredith Wilson is brilliant with its bombastic yet sweeping orchestral score for some of the film’s more political-driven moments to serene yet dramatic pieces for the romantic moments of the film. The soundtrack also includes a couple of pieces from Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner plus a brief piano piece of Luigi Boccherini played by Chaplin as the music is a major highlight of the film.

The casting for the film is phenomenal as it features some memorable appearances from Bernard Gorcey as the helpful Mr. Mann, Maurice Moscovitch as the businessman Mr. Jaeckel, Carter DeHaven as the Bacterian ambassador, and Grace Hayle as Napaloni’s wife. Billy Gilbert is funny as the inept war minister Herring who keeps trying to please Hynkel with ideas only to mess up. Henry Daniell is very good as Garbistch, a pun on Joseph Goebbels, who tries to maintain order and keep Hynkel in check for the big invasion. Reginald Gardiner is excellent as Schultz, a war officer who helps out the Jewish barber as he owes the man a great debt during a mission in World War I.

Jackie Oakie is extremely hilarious as Napaloni by making this variation of Mussolini into a brash, arrogant buffoon who tries to show Hynkel how cool he is. Paulette Goddard is wonderful as Hannah, a Jewish woman who tries to deal with the storm troopers while finding an ally and love in the Jewish barber as Goddard displays a great sense of radiance and energy to her performance. Finally, there’s Charles Chaplin in a towering performance in the dual roles of the Jewish barber and Adenoid Hynkel. For the barber, Chaplin brings in elements of his famed tramp character while bringing a soft-spoken approach to the character as a man that just wants to live a simple life without compromise. In the role of Hynkel, Chaplin brings this amazing attitude with great mocking accent as well as a funny, melodramatic approach to a man that wants to rule the world.

The Great Dictator is a witty yet thrilling satirical comedy from Charles Chaplin as it is among one of his best films of his celebrated career. This film isn’t just one of Chaplin’s best works but also one of the best comedies ever made as it’s a film that really speaks out at the atrocities of Nazism as the time it was released in 1940 as well as a commentary of the state of the world. It is also a very daring film from a filmmaker who uses his talents to make fun and say what he felt was needed to be say without being too preachy or be too silly. In the end, The Great Dictator is a marvelous comedy from Charles Chaplin.

Charles Chaplin Films: (Twenty Minutes of Love) - (Caught in the Rain) - (A Busy Day) - (Her Friend the Bandit) - (Mabel’s Married Life) - (Laughing Gas) - (The Face On the Bar Room Floor) - (Recreation) - (The Masquerader) - (His New Profession) - The Rounders - (The Property Man) - (The New Janitor) - (Those Love Pangs) - (Dough & Dynamite) - (Gentlemen of Nerve) - (His Musical Career) - (His Trysting Place) - (Getting Acquainted) - (His Prehistoric Past) - (His New Job) - (A Night Out) - (The Champion) - (In the Park) - (A Jitney Elopement) - (The Tramp) - (By the Sea (1915 film)) - (His Regeneration) - (Work (1915 film) - (A Woman) - (The Bank) - (Shanghaied) - (A Night in the Snow) - (Burlesque on Carmen) - (Police (1916 film)) - (Triple Trouble) - (The Floorwalker) - (The Fireman) - (The Vagabond) - (One A.M. (1916 film)) - (The Count) - (The Pawnshop) - (Behind the Screen) - (The Rink) - (Easy Street) - (The Cure (1917 film)) - (The Immigrant (1917 film)) - (The Adventurer) - A Dog’s Life - (The Bond) - Shoulder Arms - Sunnyside - A Day’s Pleasure - (The Professor) - The Kid (1921 film) - The Idle Class - Pay Day - The Pilgrim - A Woman of Paris - The Gold Rush - The Circus - City Lights - Modern Times - Monsieur Verdoux - Limelight - A King in New York - (A Countess from Hong Kong)

© thevoid99 2011

Modern Times

Written, directed, and starring by Charles Chaplin, with additional un-credited writing by Paulette Goddard, Modern Times tells the story of a man trying to find a job in a modern world filled with industrialization while falling for an orphan girl. The film is Chaplin’s final silent film with elements of sound effects and spoken dialogue as the film has Chaplin commenting on the world of industrialization during the Great Depression. Also starring Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Stanley Sandford, and Chester Conklin. Modern Times is a witty yet enchanting film from Charles Chaplin.

Working at an assembly factory where he tries to deal with the accelerating machine, a tramp (Charles Chaplin) finds himself overwhelmed by the demands as he was even tested for a machine to shorten lunch hours. After suffering a breakdown and later sent to jail when he‘s mistaken for a Communist protest leader, the tramp deals with the world in prison where he becomes a hero during an attempted break-in by fellow prisoners. Pardoned for his actions, the tramp tries to deal with the harsh world outside of prison where he meets an orphaned girl (Paulette Goddard) who he tries to help after she stole some bread.

Though he tries to take the rap for her, the two escape as they hope to find some work for a better life. After getting a job as a night watchman, the tramp takes the young girl in where they have fun until he causes more trouble to lose his job and get arrested. After the girl finds a home following his return from jail, the tramp learns about work at a factory where he gets a job as a mechanic’s assistant for a while. Again, things don’t work out as it’s planned until he learns that the girl has gotten a job as a dancer at a café. Just as things were starting to pick up for the two of them, trouble ensues leaving them unsure about their future.

The film is a hybrid of sorts in Charles Chaplin’s pantomime silent comedy with some spoken dialogue that plays out in the film through a few characters. Yet, it’s Chaplin providing some commentary about the rising world of the industry where everything is assembled for profit. The film’s opening sequence reveals that Chaplin’s famed tramp character having a hard time trying to pick up the pace to tighten up bolts. He is then suddenly thrust inside the machine in a wonderful, playful scene that would set up a series of comedic situations throughout the film.

The film is also Chaplin providing insight into a world where he’s the individual in a society where everything feels like a machine from the way men walk and sit in unison in prison to the way he tries to help a mechanic later in the film. When the tramp is fired from his first job at the factory, he suddenly comes across a Communist march where he is mistaken as one of them as the film has a lot of commentary about the increasing world of industrialization and conformity. Yet, Chaplin manages to balance the commentary with the story of a man falling for a poor girl who had lost her family and is desperate to find work for a good life.

Chaplin’s direction throughout the film is truly mesmerizing where he creates a world that is oppressing for the factory scenes to the chaos for scenes in the cities. Still, Chaplin maintains a very engaging approach to the way he frames the scene as he lets audience know that whatever machine or job he’s taking on. Something will go wrong where it’s about when is something bad is going to happen. Yet, Chaplin does it in great comic style where he either goes inside the machine or let the machine provide some comedic elements. Another of what makes Chaplin so enduring as a filmmaker is the way he choreograph big scenes involving lots of extras where he would often be in a background or be in the middle of it. It’s all about Chaplin creating a form of chaos where he captures enough detail in the frame.

Chaplin also creates a wonderful sense of intimacy for many of the film’s romantic scenes as he keeps things simple. Chaplin creates some wonderful yet playful scenes at a mall where he rides around in skates to display his pantomime talents along with a great fantasy scene of the tramp and girl in their ideal life. For the film’s climatic moment at a restaurant, Chaplin does finally allow the tramp to say something for the audience to hear. Yet, he does it with style to display that he is set to embrace the world of the talkies but on his own terms. Overall, Charles Chaplin creates what is truly a magical yet heartwarming film.

Cinematographers Ira H. Morgan and Roland Totheroh do some wonderful work with the film‘s black-and-white photography that includes some great exterior shots in the daytime scenes. Notably some of the interior scenes as the look of black, white, and gray has a richness that is truly intoxicating in its look. Chaplin and Wilard Nico do some great work with the film’s editing by employing some wonderful fade-outs and inter-title cards to help set the mood for the scene or to display bits of dialogue. Yet, the editing is mostly straightforward throughout most of the presentation as it is a highlight in the film.

Production designer Charles D. Hall and art director J. Russell Spencer do a fantastic job with the set pieces created including the factory scenes that includes the famous bolt scene where the tramp is inside at and fixes along with the roller-skating at the mall sequence. The film’s score by Charles Chaplin is superb as it’s another of the film’s technical highlights. Filled with whimsical themes to play up the comedy along with the satirical tone of the film, it is among one of Chaplin’s finest score pieces that includes some arrangements by David Raskin. One of the film’s memorable pieces includes a nonsensical song that Chaplin sings through different languages along with the soothing romantic theme that would become the famed Chaplin song Smile.

The casting by Al Ernest Garcia is excellent as it includes some appearances from Gloria DeHaven and Gloria Delson as the orphan girl’s young sisters, Stanley Blystone as the girl’s father, and Richard Alexander as the tramp’s brutish cellmate. Other notable small performances include Henry Bergman as the sympathetic café manager, Tiny Sanford as the tramp’s factory co-worker, the film’s casting director Al Ernest Garcia in a rare speaking role as the factory president, and Chester Conklin as the mechanic who becomes an unfortunate victim of the tramp’s attempts to be helpful.

Finally, there’s the duo of Paulette Goddard and Charles Chaplin as they give glorious performances to their respective roles as the orphan girl and the tramp. Goddard displays a wonderful beauty as a young woman trying to find work and a life so she can regain her young sisters while proving to be a captivating dancer. Goddard brings a wonderful sense of grace and humor to her performance as she and Chaplin have great physical interplay to the comedic performances they give. Chaplin does a lot of his best work in being someone who means well but often bumbles his way while maintaining a sense of charm to bring joy throughout the film. It is Chaplin at his finest that is complemented by Goddard’s delightful presence.

Modern Times is a brilliant yet exhilarating film from Charles Chaplin that includes amazing contributions from Paulette Goddard. The film is among one of Chaplin’s best work as he provides some insightful commentary about the industrialization of the work place as well as conformity with his own unique brand of humor. The film is also a graceful exit for Chaplin to move away from silent film as he does it with comical style only the way he can do it. In the end, Modern Times is a dazzling film from Charles Chaplin.

Charles Chaplin Films: (Twenty Minutes of Love) - (Caught in the Rain) - (A Busy Day) - (Her Friend the Bandit) - (Mabel’s Married Life) - (Laughing Gas) - (The Face On the Bar Room Floor) - (Recreation) - (The Masquerader) - (His New Profession) - The Rounders - (The Property Man) - (The New Janitor) - (Those Love Pangs) - (Dough & Dynamite) - (Gentlemen of Nerve) - (His Musical Career) - (His Trysting Place) - (Getting Acquainted) - (His Prehistoric Past) - (His New Job) - (A Night Out) - (The Champion) - (In the Park) - (A Jitney Elopement) - (The Tramp) - (By the Sea (1915 film)) - (His Regeneration) - (Work (1915 film) - (A Woman) - (The Bank) - (Shanghaied) - (A Night in the Snow) - (Burlesque on Carmen) - (Police (1916 film)) - (Triple Trouble) - (The Floorwalker) - (The Fireman) - (The Vagabond) - (One A.M. (1916 film)) - (The Count) - (The Pawnshop) - (Behind the Screen) - (The Rink) - (Easy Street) - (The Cure (1917 film)) - (The Immigrant (1917 film)) - (The Adventurer) - A Dog’s Life - (The Bond) - Shoulder Arms - Sunnyside - A Day’s Pleasure - (The Professor) - The Kid (1921 film) - The Idle Class - Pay Day - The Pilgrim - A Woman of Paris - The Gold Rush - The Circus - City Lights - The Great Dictator - Monsieur Verdoux - Limelight - A King in New York - (A Countess from Hong Kong)

© thevoid99 2011