The Great Dictator
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Synopsis
In his controversial masterpiece The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin 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 “Tomainian” dictator and the kindly Jewish barber who is mistaken for him. Featuring Jack Oakie and Paulette Goddard 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 speech.
Picture 9/10
Continuing on through the Chaplin library, Criterion next delivers The Great Dictator on Blu-ray in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on a dual-layer disc in a new 1080p/24hz high-def transfer.
As with Modern Times the presentation for The Great Dictator is really beyond anything I could have expected. The print is in spectacular condition with only minor blemishes dancing through on occasion, but the most incredible aspect is just how sharp and clear this transfer is; this is the crispest I’ve seen the film on home video. Fine object details are clear and distinct, and edges remain well defined. Contrast looks terrific and gray levels are cleanly rendered, blacks are bold and deep, and whites are strong yet not overblown.
It looks wonderful, and the job done here really is quite stunning. A terrific job by all those involved.
Audio 6/10
The audio unfortunately doesn’t hit it out of the park like the image does, though its faults are probably limited to the source. The lossless mono track may try a little too hard and in the end it comes off very harsh, even piercing at times. Still, dialogue is clear and has some volume and range to it, and the track does sound generally clean. But unfortunately its louder moments and the music really strain for more but ultimately fail.
Extras 9/10
As one would expect for this title Criterion has put together an intriguing assortment of supplements, starting with an audio commentary by Chaplin historians Dan Kamin and Hooman Mehran. Throughout the two take turns examining the many aspects of the film from its production history to the various controversies the film’s production caused. They explain the political climate of the time, the fears many had about what this film might do (specifically that it would anger Hitler), and the many hurdles Chaplin had to get through. They offer analysis of certain sequences, putting them in context, and admire Chaplin’s ability to mix humour with the more dramatic moments so effortlessly. It’s full of great information (which admittedly is covered in other features on the disc) and has very little dead space. A solid track overall.
Next is what was probably the more curious features from the list, a 55-minute TCM documentary entitled The Tramp and the Dictator, narrated by Kenneth Branagh. The idea behind the documentary is to parallel the lives of both Adolf Hitler and Charlie Chaplin, who, to start things out, were born within days of each other. The concept sounded a little ridiculous to me when I first heard of it back when it was included on Warner’s DVD but in the end it’s actually a rather fascinating and engaging piece which examines their early lives and the events that led them down their respective paths. It becomes especially interesting when we get to the second World War and the eventual production of The Great Dictator. It also covers various aspects of the film industry during the war, both in the States and Germany, along with various other parts of Europe, as well the political climate in the States. In all it’s a fascinating documentary, and it’s great Criterion carried it over from the previous Warner DVD edition.
Criterion next includes a couple of visual essays, starting with one by Chaplin archivist Cecilia Cenciarelli called Chaplin’s Napoleon, a 19-minute piece about Chaplin’s interest in making a film about Napoleon and the various stages the project went through, before ultimately morphing somewhat into The Great Dictator (his Napoleon film was never made.) Gathered here are many photos, correspondence, notes, scripts, and articles revolving around the project, and explanations of the many reasons as to why the production never took off (Abel Gance’s epic film was one of the things that halted Chaplin from beginning production on his. Great little piece filled with some intriguing material.
The next visual essay is called The Clown and the Prophet by Jeffrey Vance. This 21-minute feature more or less follows the making of The Great Dictator from possible early influences to its eventual release. It expands on some of the material covered in the commentary, particularly the political climate in North America, and the views held by many (whether positive or negative) about Hitler and the Nazis. It also mentions abandoned scenes, notes about the actors in the film, and some issues that came up just before the film’s release, like LIFE magazine trying to release photos of Chaplin in costume, leading the filmmaker to sue the magazine. There’s some repeated information here from the previous features but it’s a decent feature still worth watching.
Criterion also includes 27-minutes worth of footage shot by Sydney Chaplin, Charlie’s half-brother, on the set of The Great Dictator. Some of this footage (all in colour) was shown in The Tramp and the Dictator but we get much more of it here, divided into five chapters. The footage, all silent (and in surprisingly decent shape), presents the shooting of the ballroom sequence, one of the dictator’s speech scenes, an unused dance sequence from the finale, the chase in the ghetto, and finally the opening battle. It’s interesting to view just for some footage of Chaplin directing.
Sydney ‘s 1921 5-minute silent short, King, Queen, Joker, starring Sydney in a dual-role, centers around the antics of a barber and is included here to show the possible influence Charlie’s half-brother had on him and the barber scenes in the disc’s main feature (Chaplin had apparently wanted to do a barber scene for years.) And in case you don’t see the similarities you can view Charlie’s barber scene from The Great Dictator intercut with Sydney’s similar gags in his film, under Two Shaves. This piece runs over 2-minutes.
Charlie the Barber continues on the path in showing us Chaplin’s desire to do a barbershop bit. This 8-minute deleted scene from his 1919 film Sunnyside presents Chaplin’s Little Tramp as a rather, well, I’d almost say vicious barber. Surprised it’s been included here since it was from another film (though the Warner disc also included it) but it’s an amusing piece and does help in showing how Chaplin was building up to creating his barber character in The Great Dictator.
After this is a somewhat obnoxious theatrical trailer for the film. The booklet then includes an essay by Michael Wood along with Chaplin’s response to the criticisms made against the film, mentioned multiple times throughout the supplements. Jean Narboni then offers an essay about the film’s closing speech, which has divided audiences and critics alike over the decades. You’ll also find an assortment of drawings for the film by Al Hirschfield spread throughout the booklet.
In all a very satisfying and informative collection of material, offering a deep and insightful look into the film, what it was parodying, and Chaplin himself, who was obviously conflicted about the film throughout its entire production (he would later regret making the film, especially after finding out the scale of Hitler’s crimes during the war.) A solid edition, every bit of material worth going through.
Closing
With this and Modern Times Criterion’s editions of Chaplin’s films have been rather incredible and I hope they can keep up this pace with future releases. A great upgrade over Warner’s DVD and comes highly recommended for Chaplin fans.
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