The Great Dictator (1940)

Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator”

In 1940, Adolf Hitler commenced a push for supremacy across Europe. He had already invaded Poland, which ignited World War II. He also had attacked Denmark and Norway in the summer months of 1940 with Italy joining the German forces. However, well before the war started, Hitler had already begun seizing the assets of people deemed ‘enemy of the state,’ including Jews. Jews were being harassed and bullied by their fellow German citizens as well as the German police force. This subject provided the fuel for Charlie Chaplin’s film The Great Dictator, in which he both displays the unwelcomed harassment of the Jewish community as well as ridiculing Hitler himself. 

The film beings in 1918, in which a Jewish Private is fighting for the Tomanians in World War I. Tomanian is the country that is used as a stand in for Germany in this film. Chaplin opens with a tracking shot over the German trenches as soldier are engaged in warfare. Chaplin uses this camera stroke to set up the chaos of war and how this will set the stage for the rest of the film. His camera then tracks over to reveal a giant oversized cannon. With this frame, Chaplin establishes the advanced and overwhelming uses of power and destruction that the advancement of technology has induced. The narrator establishes that the name of the weapon is Big Bertha, which was an actual cannon the German forces used during the first world war. The imagery of the weapon instills the idea that war has become a far less personal mechanism. Later in the film, Chaplin’s barber gives a speech impressing the notion that technology and scientific advancement has turned humans into machines and has given them credence to assert power over people.

After saving the life of Commander Schultz, the Jewish Private suffers a head injury and remains in a coma until he awakens again in 1938 with memory loss. Chaplin illustrates the passage of time by showing a montage of newspapers running through the presses, with images of newspapers coming towards the camera with notable events. This technique is an easy way to convey the passing of time over the next couple of decades. He goes back to his previous profession as a barber in the ghetto, which now seems to be governed by Schultz (the commander he saved). The Jewish barber now seems to be harassed by German ‘stormtroopers’ who are plastering “Jew” signs over his barber shop and are physically assaulting him and his Jewish neighbor, Hannah. This time jump Chaplin uses really demonstrates the extensive changes that occurred in Germany over the 20s and 30s. Where in 1918, the Jewish barber was a German patriot fighting for his country, he is now considered an enemy of the state, having not even done anything. The writing choice by Chaplin to use an amnesiac removes all biases around Germany’s treatment of the Jewish community. Had some sort of storyline been played out with the barber in the midst of the changes, the viewer could fall into the trap of assigning reason to this mistreatment. However, by allowing an individual who literally is a blank slate to come into this heated contemporary situation, it is impossible to place blame on him in any way. The blame for this situation is placed entirely on the “Nazi” officers. 

The blame is also placed on the ruler of Tomanian: Adenoid Hynkel, the stand in for Adolf Hitler. Hynkel has orchestrated the tense environment of Tomania and its cruel oppression of its citizens. Hynkel, also played by Chaplin, is giving speeches to a fanatic crowd when he is first introduced. Chaplin sounds like he is speaking the German dialect, however it is actually just gibberish. This decision by Chaplin could have been for any reason, however it is the interpretation of this viewer that the gibberish that Hynkel is espousing could be Chaplin conveying that his hateful rhetoric is just that, gibberish and meaningless. As a narrator translates this gibberish, it is clear that the speech is full of fascist ideas, insulting the Jewish community and establishing that all must bend to the rule of Hynkel’s centralized government. Chaplin paints Hynkel and the German dictator he represents with distain. He also uses this film to mock Hynkel/Hitler and portray him as a ridiculous fool. Examples include Hynkel making coughing noises that sound like they are apart of his German speech, comically falling down the stairs, and being disgusted by having to hold a baby for a picture. 

After Hynkel’s hate-filled speech, Chaplin jumps back to the ghetto to illustrate the effects of the speech and how it reverberates throughout the community. When he cuts, to illustrate the exposition of setting, Chaplin shows a close up of the a “Ghetto” sign, he then pans down to a street and tracks a man walking down the street. Stormtroopers arrive and start confiscating street-side vendors’ food merchandise. Hannah, the barber’s neighbor, verbally assaults the stormtroopers for their corruption, only to be pelted with tomatoes by them. This scene illustrates the effects of Hynkel’s hate speech and how it is negatively affecting the Jewish community.

However, this mistreatment eventually comes to an end when Commander Schultz recognizes the barber as the man who saved his life in the war and orders the stormtroopers to cease harassment of the citizens in the ghetto community. This single act of brotherhood and comradery creates a ripple effect as the Jewish citizens start to experience peace for the first time in a while. Hannah notes this when a couple of stormtroopers help her up after she trips and even gleefully ask the barber, “How do you do?” Chaplin seems to suggest that his oppression and hatred of your fellow man is possible of being overcome – and the event that started it was the act of brotherhood experienced by two soldiers decades ago. This hints that a sense of community and respect are the antidotes to these tensions. 

After Schultz protests the inhuman policies of the ghetto community to Hynkel, he is sent away to be taken to a concentration camp. Hynkel grabs a banana and rips it in two as Schultz is being taken away. This visual metaphor seems to use a phallic object to represent Hynkel’s insecurities about being challenged, as it seems to visually challenge his manhood. Chaplin portrays Hynkel as being someone with immense insecurity – only acting out as a way of combating his own foolishness. This becomes even more apparent with the arrival of Benzino Napoloni, the Diggaditchie of Bacteria – the stand in for Benito Mussolini, the Duce of Italy. At first, Hynkel becomes enraged that Napoloni has troops occupying Osterlich, a free country. He declares war on Napoloni and Bacteria. However, when Napoloni calls by telephone, Hynkel is too afraid to speak to him. This once again points to his insecurities and de-masculinity. Napoloni arrives in Tomainia to settle a peace deal and an alliance. When he does, Hynkel and Napoloni try constantly to one-up each other, both displaying their need for perceived masculinity and stature. They both try to stand in front of each other when pictures are being taken of them, Napoloni tells Hynkel that Tomania’s official clock is two minutes slow, Napoloni insults their fighter planes, Hynkel has Napaloni sit is lower chairs so that he can look up to him, and the two of them try to seat themselves higher than the other in the barber room. Chaplin uses these examples to contextualize the inferiority complex these two powerful men have and why this makes them so hungry for power and admiration.  

After escaping the stormtroopers, Schultz hides in the ghetto with the barber as they hatch a plan assassinate the dictator. However, while orchestrating their plan, stormtroopers invade and burn down the barber shop. They are now back to their violent treatment of the community due to Schultz’s loss of power. The barber and Hannah watch as their community is ablaze, as Chaplin cuts to an image of a caged bird before cutting back once again on the two. Chaplin uses the visual image of a caged bird to visually illustrate the trapped and oppressed situation this community finds themselves in – exhausting the hope of something better. The barber tells Hannah to escape the country as it is the only way to be free again. The barber and Schultz are then captured and sent off to a concentration camp. The two escape the camp with stolen uniforms and the barber is eventually mistaken for Hynkel by German forces, with Hynkel being mistaken for the barber while out duck hunting. The Barber is taken to a victory parade and must give a speech as Hynkel, which he does. The speech, however, is an impassioned plea for peace and liberty, hoping to change the hearts and minds of German citizens. He impresses upon his fellow man to act with goodwill and brotherhood. This speech is also Chaplin speaking directly to the viewer, noting that all men are equal and should be treated as such. It is an urgent plea to the world at a time when the world needed it the most. Chaplin notes that the rapid advancement over the century has made men into machines, turning their hearts cold to their fellow man. The im-personalization that has been brought about by technology has given rise to power hungry fascists and has weaponized hatred to tear apart civilization. The world has become a machine to glorify those in control of it. Chaplin emphasizes that technology can also bring us together as a human race and should be used as such. He urges humanity to combat mechanical ways of thinking. He urges for kindness and gentleness in the face of violence. The antidote to the madness of World War II is to stand up to the ‘brutes’ of the world, to combat fascism with liberty, and to begin by finding the humanity in yourself. 

Best Shot: 

 The best shot of The Great Dictator comes the second time we are shown Hynkel, this time in his palace. Chaplin opens with a shot of him at his desk. Hynkel appears small in the frame while the great room overwhelms the image of him. With this shot, Chaplin shows just how small this man really is and how much bravado he is trying to give off by surrounding himself with adoration and power, trying to combat the deep-seated insecurities in his nature. Chaplin paints him as a child with big toys to make himself feel bigger.