The first and original release of The Great Dictator was in 1940. Directed by Charlie Chaplain and Wheeler Dryden, this movie is set at the time of the World War II. Charlie Chaplain was also the star, producer, writer and music composer for the movie. The Great Dictator was Charlie Chaplain’s first ‘talkie’ movie and his most successful commercial film. The budget for this movie ran up to $ 2 million (US) at that time.
Purpose of The Great Dictator
The Great Dictator is a brilliant movie which has been critically acclaimed in the history of Hollywood cinema. The movie took up the social issue atrocities committed by the Nazi Germans. It bitterly satirized Adolf Hitler, Nazism, fascism and anti-Semitism. It ends dramatically with a plea for social reform and fight against the dictatorship.
Plot of The Great Dictator
The Great dictator starts by showing Charlie Chaplain as a Jewish private recruited in the national army. In an attempt to rescue an officer named Schultz, he loses his memory and after spending 20 years in a hospital he returns home.
Hynkel (Hitler) at that time had already started prosecuting the Jews. Then the scene unfolds to show how Charlie keeps escaping from the soldiers and falls in love with Hannah.
It so happens that the Jewish barber is remarkably similar looking to Hynkel himself. When Hynkel planned to invade Osterlich, he goes on a duck-hunting expedition as a decoy to hide his true intensions. Here the comedy of errors occurs when Charlie is mistaken for The Great Dictator and Hynkel is mistaken to be the fugitive Jew and arrested. The movie ends with Charlie bringing sweeping reforms and awakening hope for the people.
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The Great Dictator is now a classic Hollywood movie and is studied in media education. The excellent performance and extra-ordinary directorial skills displayed by Charlie are the high points of the movie. It is packed with comedy and drama and the message of the movie is very clear- that we should not buckle under adversities. There is always hope for a better future.
Casting of The Great Dictator
The Film stars Charlie in a double lead role of the Jewish barber and Hynkel. Paulette Goddard plays the role of Hannah, Jack Oakie as Napaloni and Reginald Gardiner as Schultz. Henry Daniell is cast as Garbitsch and Billy Gilbert as Field Marshal Herring.
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