In his notorious masterpiece The Great Dictator,Charlie Chaplin (City Lights, Modern Times) offers both a cutting caricature of Adolf Hitler and a sly tweaking of his own comic persona.
Chaplin (in his first pure talkie) brings his sublime physicality to two roles: the cruel yet clownish “Tomanian” dictator and the kindly Jewish barber who is mistaken for him.
Featuring Jack Oakie (Thieves’ Highway, Lover Come Back) and Paulette Goddard (Modern Times, The Women) in stellar supporting turns, The Great Dictator, boldly going after the fascist leader before the U.S.’s official entry into World War II, is an audacious amalgam of politics and slapstick that culminates in Chaplin’s famously impassioned plea for tolerance.
Extras
New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
New audio commentary by Charlie Chaplin historians Dan Kamin and Hooman Mehran
The Tramp and the Dictator (2001), a documentary narrated by filmmaker Kenneth Branagh and featuring interviews with author Ray Bradbury, director Sidney Lumet, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., screenwriter Budd Schulberg, and a host of others
Two new visual essays, by Chaplin archivist Cecilia Cenciarelli and Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance
On-set, colour production footage shot by Chaplin’s half-brother, Sydney
Deleted scene from Chaplin’s 1919 film Sunnyside
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Wood and a 1940 article by Chaplin on the film
