Neither the comedian nor his audience knew the full extent of Nazi atrocities; if they had, The Great Dictator either wouldn’t have been made or wouldn’t have succeeded. Still, its takedown of Hitler (not to mention Mussolini, Goebbels, and Goering) is relentless and blistering, even if it’s a trifle naïve in spots. For the first nine-tenths of the film, hijinks predominate—all of them more or less aimed toward the moment when Chaplin’s lookalike dictator and Jewish barber are mistaken for each other. Once that happens, there’s a marked change in tone—but if ever there was a time for seriousness, it was 1940, and if any filmmaker had earned the right to preach a little, it was Charlie Chaplin.
—Martin Stillion
Arts & Faith Lists:
2014 Top 25 Divine Comedies — #20