History Film / TheGreatDictator

Chaplin planned and shot the film in 1939-1940 right during early UsefulNotes/WorldWarII; UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} were conquered during the filming, which may have influenced the final tone of the film. While Chaplin understood from first-hand accounts how hostile the Third Reich was to Jews, at the time of filming, he was ignorant of [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Hitler's desire to exterminate them and most of Eastern Europe in the near future]] (the ''Hungerplan'' was devised alongside planning for ''Operation Barbarossa'' later that year and the Final Solution in early 1942). After the war, Chaplin expressed some regret about the film, telling interviewers that he might not have made it if he'd known the whole story. That would be an artistic challenge Creator/RobertoBenigni would take up 50 years later with the Oscar winning {{Dramedy}}, ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''.

* SkunkStripe: The barber sports one of these in his hair.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: A quite memorable (and hilarious) example of faux-German. Chaplin is making it up as he goes, and it's rather obvious that when he runs out of "words" he'll say "Fluten sacht der Fluten" or some similar-sounding gibberish.
** Notably, when he's dressing Herring down, "big Booben" and "pinheaden" both turn up in his speech.

* KnightOfCerebus: Most of the villainous characters are too goofy to be scary; but this does not apply to Garbitsch, the Minister of Propaganda. Aside from his name, there is very little that is in any way funny about this character. He almost always acts much more seriously than the other characters, and he constantly encourages Hynkel to persecute the Jews and to act like a treacherous and hateful egomaniac. While the other 'children of the double-cross' can be viewed as parodies, Garbitsch goes above and beyond to earn his name.
** And he's played by British actor Henry Daniell, who spent his career refining and perfecting a portrayal of quiet, smooth, pure evil.

* UnnecessarilyLargeInterior: Hynkel's office is gigantic. He intends to use this to his advantage by forcing Napaloni to cross this massive space as psychological intimidation. Napaloni comes in the room from a door right behind Hynkel's desk.
** This was TruthInTelevision: Both Hitler and Mussolini had unusually large offices that they used precisely to intimidate audience-seekers.

* Earlier, Hannah gets a similar speech directly into the camera about how great it would be if Jews were allowed to live in peace.

* UnnecessarilyLargeInterior: Hynkel's office is gigantic. He uses this to his advantage by forcing Napaloni to cross this massive space as psychological intimidation. Napaloni comes in the room from a door right behind Hynkel's desk.

** Likewise, Bacteria shares all of the above traits as Tomania.

* TheDictatorship: Tomania is very obviously one, a European nation ruled by a virulently nationalist party that keeps the Tomanian people under their thumb, shovels out frequent propaganda at home and abroad and is plotting war against their neighbors. It's basically a pastiche of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany.

* VillainSong: The famous dance with the globe is essentially a Villain Ballet. There's no singing but it functions the same way as this trope, summing up Hynkel's character and ambitions while providing a break from the action.

* VillainSong: The famous dance with the globe is essentially a Villain Ballet. There's no singing but it functions the same way as a VillainSong, summing up Hynkel's character and ambitions while providing a break from the action.

Chaplin planned and shot the film in 1939-1940 right during early UsefulNotes/WorldWarII; UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} were conquered during the filming, which may have influenced the final tone of the film. While Chaplin understood from first-hand accounts how hostile the Third Reich was to Jews, at the time of filming, he was ignorant of [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Hitler's desire to exterminate them and most of Eastern Europe in the near future]] (the ''Hungerplan'' was devised alongside planning for ''Operation Barbarossa'' later that year and the Final Solution in early 1942). After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Chaplin expressed some regret about the film, telling interviewers that he might not have made it if he'd known the whole story. That would be an artistic challenge Creator/RobertoBenigni would take up 50 years later with the Oscar winning {{Dramedy}}, ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''.

''The Great Dictator'' was (of course) banned in UsefulNotes/NaziGermany, although prints of the film still found their way into occupied Europe.[[note]]According to an eyewitness, UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler obtained a copy of the film and watched it twice; when Chaplin found this out, he said that he would give anything to know what he thought of it.[[/note]] Britain had announced that they were going to ban the film while the film was in production (so that it wouldn't interfere with the country's appeasement policy with Nazi Germany), but when the film was released, Britain had entered the war against the Nazis, and the film couldn't be brought in fast enough; it ended up providing some badly needed laughs at a time where laughs were in short supply for Britain (and most of Europe).

Chaplin planned and shot the film in 1939-1940; UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} were conquered during the filming, which may have influenced the final tone of the film. While Chaplin understood from first-hand accounts how hostile the Third Reich was to Jews, at the time of filming, he was ignorant of [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Hitler's desire to exterminate them and most of Eastern Europe in the near future]] (the ''Hungerplan'' was devised alongside planning for ''Operation Barbarossa'' later that year and the Final Solution in early 1942). After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Chaplin expressed some regret about the film, telling interviewers that he might not have made it if he'd known the whole story. That would be an artistic challenge Creator/RobertoBenigni would take up 50 years later with the Oscar winning {{Dramedy}}, ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''.

** This was TruthInTelevision: Both Hitler and Mussolini had unusually large offices that they used precisely to intimidate audice-seekers.

* BeautifulAllAlong: Hannah after her makeover, though she [[UnnecessaryMakeover never looked ugly to begin with]]. More like an Unkempt Beauty.

* KnightOfCerebus: Most of the villainous characters are too goofy to be scary; but this does not apply to Garbitsch, the Minister of Propaganda. Aside from his name, there is very little that is in any way funny about this character. He almost always acts much more seriously than the other characters, and he constantly encourages Hynkel to persecute the Jews and to act like a treacherous and hateful egomaniac. While the other 'children of the double-cross' can be viewed as parodies; Garbitsch goes above and beyond to earn his name.

[[caption-width-right:250: TV-TROPEN...SCHTONK!]]

* GlovedFistOfDoom: Parodied (sans glove)]] by Creator/CharlieChaplin as Hynkel, who often raises his fist in an intimidating manner when he's trying to look tough during his speech.

* HufflepuffHouse: Bacteria, the Italy stand-in that seems to be a FriendlyEnemy to Tomania, much like Italy and Mussolini were friendly enemies to Germany and Hitler in the pre-war years (after the war started it was more like VileVillainLaughableLackey with Italy as the ButtMonkey of the Axis). In this movie Bacteria exists to allow a sequence where Mussolini stand-in "Napaloni" makes a state visit and Hynkel bumbles around trying to impress/intimidate him.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: A quite memorable (and hilarious) example of faux-German. Chaplin is making it up as he goes, and it's rather obvious that when he runs out of "words" he'll say "Fluten sacht der Fluten" or something similar-sounding gibberish.

* AgonyOfTheFeet: In the beginning set in World War I, the Jewish barber puts down the butt of his gun onto the foot of a fellow soldier, who scolds him.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: A quite memorable (and hilarious) example of faux-German. Chaplin is making it up as he goes, and it's rather obvious that when he ran out of "words" he would say "Fluten sacht der Fluten"or something similar.

* BlackComedy: Lampoons everything from war, anti-Semitism and even rape.

Chaplin planned and shot the film in 1939-1940; UsefulNotes/{{France}}, UsefulNotes/{{Denmark}} and UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} was conquered during the filming, which may have influenced the final tone of the film. While Chaplin understood from first-hand accounts how hostile the Third Reich was to Jews, at the time of filming, he was ignorant of [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Hitler's desire to exterminate them and most of Eastern Europe in the near future]] (the ''Hungerplan'' was devised alongside planning for ''Operation Barbarossa'' later that year and the Final Solution in early 1942). After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Chaplin expressed some regret about the film, telling interviewers that he might not have made it if he'd known the whole story. That would be an artistic challenge Creator/RobertoBenigni would take up 50 years later with the Oscar winning {{Dramedy}}, ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''.

Chaplin planned and shot the film in 1939-1940; France, Denmark and Norway was conquered during the filming, which may have influenced the final tone of the film. While Chaplin understood from first-hand accounts how hostile the Third Reich was to Jews, at the time of filming, he was ignorant of [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Hitler's desire to exterminate them and most of Eastern Europe in the near future]] (the ''Hungerplan'' was devised alongside planning for ''Operation Barbarossa'' later that year and the Final Solution in early 1942). After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Chaplin expressed some regret about the film, telling interviewers that he might not have made it if he'd known the whole story. That would be an artistic challenge Creator/RobertoBenigni would take up 50 years later with the Oscar winning {{Dramedy}}, ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''.

Chaplin planned and shot the film in 1939-1940; France was conquered during the filming, which may have influenced the final tone of the film. While Chaplin understood from first-hand accounts how hostile the Third Reich was to Jews, at the time of filming, he was ignorant of [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Hitler's desire to exterminate them and most of Eastern Europe in the near future]] (the ''Hungerplan'' was devised alongside planning for ''Operation Barbarossa'' later that year and the Final Solution in early 1942). After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Chaplin expressed some regret about the film, telling interviewers that he might not have made it if he'd known the whole story. That would be an artistic challenge Creator/RobertoBenigni would take up 50 years later with the Oscar winning {{Dramedy}}, ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''.

* EvilutionaryBiologist: Garbitsch. Right before the barber's famous RousingSpeech that closes the film, Garbitsch gives an evil speech in which he preaches about how might makes right and the strong will conquer the weak.
--> '''Garbitsch''': Victory shall come to the worthy. Today, democracy, liberty, and equality are words to fool the people. No nation can progress with such ideas. They stand in the way of action. Therefore, we frankly abolish them. In the future, each man will serve the interest of the State with absolute obedience. Let him who refuses beware! The rights of citizenship will be taken away from all Jews and other non-Aryans. They are inferior and therefore enemies of the state. It is the duty of all true Aryans to hate and despise them.

** And of course, Hynkel is [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]], Garbitsch is Goebbels, Herring is Göring/Goering, and Napaloni is [[UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini Mussolini]]

* SpeakingSimlish: The FakeGerman that Hynkel speaks is actually Teutonic-sounding nonsense.

!!''The Great Dictator'' includes examples of the following tropes:

Chaplin planned and shot the film in 1939-1940; France was conquered during the filming, which may have influenced the final tone of the film. While Chaplin understood from first-hand accounts how hostile the Third Reich was to Jews, at the time of filming, he was ignorant of [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust Hitler's desire to exterminate them and most of Eastern Europe in the near future]] (the ''Hungerplan'' was devised alongside planning for ''Operation Barbarossa'' later that year and the Final Solution in early 1942). After UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Chaplin expressed some regret about the film, telling interviewers that he might not have made it if he'd known the whole story. That would be an artistic challenge Roberto Benigni would take up 50 years later with the Oscar winning {{Dramedy}}, ''Film/LifeIsBeautiful''.