"The Great Dictator" (1940)

The most infamous moment in The Great Dictator -- and the one that has since inspired countless Charlie Chaplin kind of looks like Adolf Hitler jokes -- doesn't occur until the last ten or so minutes in the film. It seems so strange that this moments plays out for such a short length of time; the film goes back and forth between the story of a Jewish barber and a fictional dictator so clearly standing in for Hitler (both played by Chaplin) that we're constantly anticipating the moment when their two stories will collide -- though the moment itself is actually a bit tedious and dull sadly enough. Though the dictator is not Hitler but the tyrant of fictional Tomainia, Chaplin's mocking jabs are so specific in their aim at Hitler that it's hard to think of anything else. Back upon its release in 1940, more Americans would have been familiar with Chaplin than Hitler. Today the opposite is probably true. But you don't need to be familiar with Hitler or Nazi Germany to get in on Chaplin's joke; The Great Dictator is many things (a critique of tyrannical governments and megalomaniac personalities, a scathing satire of the Third Reich, a sweet, sentimental romance) but above all else it's pretty darn funny. Chaplin mixes social commentary with his ever committed slapstick. But there's also just a lot of really inspired silliness; his clearly fake use of German (politically incorrect but damn if it isn't funny all the same) or the dictator dancing with a giant balloon shaped like the globe. Though some of this wears its welcome out, much of it is simply too clever to ignore. Chaplin was ahead of his time with the political message; the U.S. had yet to enter the war, the government was neutral on their position towards Hitler, and he was making a bold statement. Though that statement sometimes seems quaint today, it still doesn't take away from the film's frequently winning humor.

Grade: A