The Great Dictator
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Before the horrors of the Holocaust became evident, Charlie ChaplinÆs The Great Dictator, advocating the forces of democracy to collectively stand against fascism, found its way into theaters. Ironically, production of the film began on September 3, 1939, the day Britain and France declared war on Germany. Prior to WWII, BritainÆs policy of appeasement and the U.S. policy of isolationism did little to persuade Chaplin against making the film. A parody of HitlerÆs and MussoliniÆs fascism, Britain announced it would not release the film for fear of angering Hitler, while the film was immediately banned by Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco. A political idealist, Chaplin knew how to exploit film to clearly draw the line between ôthemö and ôusö, a filmmaker determined to make the world view fascism as he saw it. Dan James, a script writer for The Great Dictator, said of Chaplin, ôHe believed in human freedom and human dignityö (Cole 2001, 142). The plot of The Great Dictator involves a Jewish barber, who is mistaken for the anti-Semitic dictator, Adenoid Hynkel, of the militaristic nation of Tomania. After awakening from amnesia suffered in WWI, the Jewish barber returns to his barbershop, only to discover that under the banner of the Double Cross, Hynkel, to whom he bears a remarkable resemblance, has become dictator. HynkelÆs storm troopers delight in persecuting Jews, including the barber, and Hynkel aims at becoming emperor of the worl
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everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned menÆs souls; has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshedàDictators free themselves but they enslave people. Now let us fight to free the world! Lest us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to the happiness of us all. Soldiers in the name of democracy, let us unite!...The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope!
(Chaplin 1940)
Ironically, Chaplin would be barred from reentering the U.S. after going to Europe to promote his next film, Monsieur Verdoux, because of allegedly ôleft-wingö views. Branded a ôdangerous alienö, the treatment of Chaplin demonstrates that the forces of good and evil were alive and well after the end of WWII.
References
Chaplin, C. (Director). (1940). The Great Dictator, (Film). USA: 124 min.
A film by Charlie Chaplin, financed by the filmmaker himself. The film is a complete parody of the rise to power of fascism and the Nazis. Controversial at the time, the film is prescient in its plea for democracies to combine forces in order to conq
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Approximate Word count = 2799
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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