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The Great Dictator (1940)

TV_PG 125 min  -  Comedy | Drama | War  -   7 March 1941 (USA)
8.5
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Ratings: 8.5/10 from 55,531 users  
Reviews: 152 user | 81 critic

Dictator Adenoid Hynkel has a doppelganger, a poor but kind Jewish barber living in the slums, who one day is mistaken for Hynkel.

Director:

Charles Chaplin
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Charles Chaplin ...
Jack Oakie Jack Oakie ...
Napaloni - Dictator of Bacteria
Reginald Gardiner Reginald Gardiner ...
Schultz
Henry Daniell Henry Daniell ...
Garbitsch
Billy Gilbert Billy Gilbert ...
Herring
Grace Hayle Grace Hayle ...
Madame Napaloni
Carter DeHaven Carter DeHaven ...
Bacterian Ambassador (as Carter De Haven)
Paulette Goddard ...
Hannah
Maurice Moscovitch Maurice Moscovitch ...
Mr. Jaeckel (as Maurice Moscovich)
Emma Dunn Emma Dunn ...
Mrs. Jaeckel
Bernard Gorcey Bernard Gorcey ...
Mr. Mann
Paul Weigel Paul Weigel ...
Mr. Agar
Chester Conklin Chester Conklin ...
Barber's Customer
Esther Michelson Esther Michelson ...
Jewish Woman
Hank Mann Hank Mann ...
Storm Trooper Stealing Fruit
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Storyline

Twenty years after the end of WWI in which the nation of Tomainia was on the losing side, Adenoid Hynkel has risen to power as the ruthless dictator of the country. He believes in a pure Aryan state, and the decimation of the Jews. This situation is unknown to a simple Jewish-Tomainian barber who has since been hospitalized the result of a WWI battle. Upon his release, the barber, who had been suffering from memory loss about the war, is shown the new persecuted life of the Jews by many living in the Jewish ghetto, including a washerwoman named Hannah, with whom he begins a relationship. The barber is ultimately spared such persecution by Commander Schultz, who he saved in that WWI battle. The lives of all Jews in Tomainia are eventually spared with a policy shift by Hynkel himself, who is doing so for ulterior motives. But those motives include a want for world domination, starting with the invasion of neighboring Osterlich... Written by Huggo  

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Barber | Dictator | Jew | Jewish Ghetto | Soldier  | See more »

Taglines:

Chaplin talks . . while You Laugh ! His greatest comedy since "Shoulder Arms" and "the Gold Rush" ! See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Esperanto

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Also Known As:

El gran dictador See more »

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€9,826 (Italy) (22 December 2002) (2 Screens) (re-release limited)

Gross:

€395,872 (Italy) (23 March 2003)
See more »

Company Credits

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Playwright Daniel Lewis James, who was associated via Erwin Piscator with Charles Chaplin's friend Hanns Eisler, helped Chaplin with the screenplay. See more »

Goofs

Continuity: When Adenoid Hynkel climbs the curtains his left leg is up/down between shots. See more »

Quotes

Field Marshal Herring: We've just discovered the most wonderful, the most marvelous poisinous gas. It will kill everybody.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The film is obviously a satire on Adolf Hitler, represented by Adenoid
Hynkel, and its story is based on Hynkel looking exactly like "a Jewish
barber": both are played by Charles Chaplin. But it begins with a
notice: "Any resemblance between Hynkel the dictator and the Jewish barber
is purely co-incidental". See more »


Soundtracks

"String Quintet in E, Op. 13 No. 5: Minuet"
(uncredited)
Music by Luigi Boccherini
Played on piano a bit by Charles Chaplin See more »