Do it all yourself and do it all right. This is what Charlie Chaplin does in this brilliant film. He's the producer, star, scriptwriter and director of The Great Dictator, his firs talkie (sound movie). And one can't help but wondering if the art of this British genius was somewhat affected by the arrival of sound, by the changes that it brought about both for actors and audiences. Judging by how good the film is, I'd say that it didn't.A.Hynkel is the dictator and absolute ruler of Tomaine. This role and the one of a Jewish barber are both played by Chaplin. Although the picture is aimed at criticizing Germany and fascism, the first scenes are used to show us Chalie Chaplin's character fighting in the Great War. Comic scenes are intertwined with satire-driven ones, which only increases the difficulty to know where this masterpiece stands. Its legendary status and reputation are undeniable but.....Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Does it stand alone on a genre of its own? I guess that's up to the viewers. I can only say I see no easy way out of that dilemma, as we have a little bit of everything in the film. realistic depiction of Jews and their struggles, critique of Hitler, Mussolini and fascism through humour. There's one poignant speech at the end of the film that serves in a double purpose: to close the movie in a spectacular fashion and to give us something to cheer us up, something to remember and hold on to in moments of despair.

The tagline of 'The Great Dictator' is 'the comedy masterpiece', and I couldn't think of a better line to sum this film up. It's a hilarious political satire, but it also delivers an important message. This film was released at a time when Hitler was at the height of his power and dictator Hynkel is obviously a reference to him.Charlie Chaplin is simply outstanding in this in what was his first spoken film. He shines in both of his roles as dictator Hynkel and the Jewish barber. Chaplin's speech at the end, which is very much HIS speech even though he's playing a character, is a piece of cinema I will never forget. Such a powerful, moving and compelling speech that remains relevant even today.Making a comedy out of such a tragedy is risky business, but Chaplin's anti-fascist message ensured it wasn't taken the wrong way. 'The Great Dictator' is a hilarious but meaningful and powerful film. A brilliant piece of cinema.

Charles Chaplin is well known for his silent movies, with The great dictator to be one of his first sound movies. He stepped out of his comfort zone. At an area of Hollywood where political stances are forbidden to be shown in productions, he took a stand. He broke the 4th wall, and utilized his traditional popular 'Tramp' persona. All for this movie, debuted 1940. It is a declaration of war on the breech of human rights, horrendous act and discrimination. It was a time which Nazi Germany is at the prime of their power, and the Ally forces, which was then only recently established, had suffered numerous defeats in the European ground even world wide. Fair is to say that, at the year 1940, there were quite a few signs that Nazi German would ascend to world domination.He had nothing to gain from making this movie at that time, and everything to lose, he could face a disastrous controversy and be black listed for all his work. He could be jobless, homeless and on the run for the rest of time. But he made this satirical movie as his stance toward the atrocities committed by the actual dictators of the world. He put his life on the line.It is easy for us to condemn Hitler and Nazi Fascists now. It is easy for us to speak up against them or write papers, novels and films about that matter. Will you still have done it, in 1940? Will you? He did. It isn't a perfect movie production, limited perhaps by time and by technology. But the Actors and Actresses were fantastic. and It deserves a perfect vote for their outstanding performances and the plot. It has no special effects, yet it echoed through a century.His final speech in the movie, albeit controversy is what I view as one of the finest moments in movie history. He spoke to his audiences, millions around the world, in those few minutes. His true passion, conveyed in a fashion that mimics (satirically) Hitler's speech pattern, has reached their souls.I recommend that everyone should watch this movie again, given the political turmoil around the world recently, and remember what this movie, the history and the great men and women fought for our freedom have tried teaching us.

What is very clear is that Charlie Chaplain is the master of silent films and slapstick humour. Unfortunately, this is not a silent film.Near the beginning there is a ~5-10 minute long 'joke' of a speech in garbled German-English words. I couldn't even make out what he is saying, the German-English jokes were not at all obvious, and so it was not funny and quite boring. If you manage to keep watching past this, you're doing well, it gets better but not by much.The small amount of classic charlie chaplain slapstick was mostly good and I laughed a few times at that, but unfortunately between the slapstick is tedious, unexciting dialogue.Maybe what Charlie Chaplain did was ground breaking at the time. Today, it fails to capture interest long enough to enjoy the comedic elements.