History YMMV / TheGreatDictator

* FairForItsDay: It's (through no fault of it's own) inaccurate about how evil the Nazis were, but is harsh on hatred and racism, which makes it very relevant for today. And that speech is still inspirational.

* SignatureScene: Hynkel dancing with the globe balloon.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: After the Barber and Hannah escape to the roof while running away from the soldiers, there is a short scene of Hynkel playing the piano, after which it goes back to the Barber and Hannah on the roof. The piano shot serves no purpose (except maybe for Charlie to show off) and is just kind of there. However, itt's possibly there to juxtaposition the Barber's misery with Hynkel's trouble-free circumstances.

* GeniusBonus: The signs in the Jewish Quarter are written in Esperanto. In ''Literature/MeinKampf'', Hitler wrote that he thought it was created as a tool to unify the Jewish diaspora.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The film concludes with a 3 and a half minute speech delivered directly to the camera. While Chaplin's political views were complicated, the clear takeaway is "Down with Hitler." See SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped below.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: After the Barber and Hannah escape to the roof while running away from the soldiers, there is a short scene of Hynkel playing the piano, after which it goes back to the Barber and Hannah on the roof. The piano shot serves no purpose (except maybe for Charlie to show off) and is just kind of there.
** It's possibly there to juxtaposition the Barber's misery with Hynkel's trouble-free circumstances.

* MisaimedFandom: UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler watched the film at least twice. It is believed he enjoyed it. Meanwhile, Chaplin once said he would've given anything to know what Hitler thought.

* StockPhrase: "Schtonk!" alone stands for the whole film (up to the point that the German film parody of the fake Hitler diary affair is called this way).

* {{Anvilicious}}: The film concludes with a 4 1/2 minute speech delivered directly to the camera. While Chaplin's political views were complicated, the clear takeaway is "Down with Hitler." See SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped below.

* HarsherInHindsight: Chaplin only had a faint picture of the atrocities occurring in Nazi Germany when the film was being produced, based on what refugees from Europe had told him. Back in 1940, the worst things have not started yet anyway. He would later state that had he known the full extent of the Nazis' crimes, he would never have made the film.

* MisaimedFandom: UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler watched the film at least twice. It is believed he enjoyed it.
** Chaplin once said he would've given anything to know what Hitler thought.

* HeReallyCanAct: Anybody who thought that Chaplin was only capable of sight gags and slapstick corrected themselves after watching this movie. Then again, it wasn't acting so much as [[AuthorTract Charles Chaplin speaking his mind]].

* FairForIt'sDay: It's (through no fault of it's own) innacurate about how evil the Nazis were, but is harsh on hatred and racism, which makes it very relevant for today.

* MemeticMutation: For some reason the RousingSpeech has been seeing some spread, in the form of clips like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7HtO57f1Es this one.]] Such clips are rather frequently posted under the title "The Greatest Speech Ever Made", or some variant of it.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The film concludes with a 4 1/2 minute speech delivered directly to the camera. While Chaplin's political views were complicated, the clear takeaway is "Down with Hitler."

** It was FairForItsDay, considering that this could be directed at the fascist ''elite''. Both Italian and German fascism was prone to use feelings as a propagandistic tool to persuade the masses. Thus, the "thinking" part may be interpreted as a TakeThat to the cynical abuse of people´s hearts - and the commoners were not allowed to think that much anyway. This may also tie in to the fact that fascist regimes were prone to be rather technocratic, proudly presenting new machinery and architecture. Italy at the time had a boost in new and megalomaniacal building projects. The "heart vs mind" analogy goes on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism label. The fact that Chaplin states that "we" think too much and feel too little, may also be considered a warning that all nations have the danger of fascism in them.

** Chaplin says he would've given anything to know what Hitler thought.

* Nightmare Fuel: While Hynkel himself is funny, the laws that he passes to persecute the Jewish people are not. No matter how ridiculous Hynkel is; the fact that he can have his soldiers harass and assault any Jew without reproach is legitimately chilling.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: With the allegations of UsefulNotes/NaziGermany's influence on Hollywood during its [[UsefulNotes/GoldenAgeOfHollywood golden age]] coming to light, Chaplin's determination to produce an anti-Nazi satire feature film in defiance of it comes off as downright heroic.

** It was FairForItsDay, considering that this could be directed at the fascist ''elite''. Both Italian and German fascism was prone to use feelings as a propagandistic tool to persuade the masses. Thus, the "thinking" part may be interpreted as a TakeThat to the cynical abuse of people´s hearts - and the commoners were not allowed to think that much anyway.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Anybody who thought that Chaplin was only capable of sight gags and slapstick corrected themselves after watching this movie. Then again, it wasn't acting so much as [[AuthorTract Charles Chaplin speaking his mind]].

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The anti-nazi message isn't exactly subtle but this was the US of 1940 and a large minority in the US had some sympathy for or were impressed by the nazi regime. Effective, easy-to-understand and revealing satire of nazism and fascism was badly needed.

* ValuesDissonance: Chaplin's speech really doesn't fit with a modern understanding of fascism. He describes the Nazis as "machine me with machine minds" who "think too much and feel too little." It's now widely accepted that fascism is a highly emotional and irrational movement, generally brought about by paranoia and xenophobia.

* ValuesDissonance: Chaplain's speech really doesn't fit with a modern understanding of fascism. He describes the Nazis as "machine me with machine minds" who "think too much and feel too little." It's now widely accepted that fascism is a highly emotional and irrational movement, generally brought about by paranoia and xenophobia.

* GeniusBonus: The signs in the Jewish Quarter are written in Esperanto. In ''Mein Kampf'', Hitler wrote that he thought it was created as a tool to unify the Jewish diaspora.

* HeReallyCanAct: Anybody who thought that Chaplin was only capable of sight gags and slapstick corrected themselves after watching this movie. Then again, it wasn't acting so much as [[AuthorTract Charles Chaplin speaking his mind]].
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: With the allegations UsefulNotes/NaziGermany's influence on Hollywood during its [[UsefulNotes/GoldenAgeOfHollywood golden age]] coming to light, Chaplin's determination to produce an anti-Nazi satire feature film in defiance of it comes off as downright heroic.

* HarsherInHindsight: Chaplin only had a faint picture of the atrocities occurring in Nazi Germany when the film was being produced, based on what refugees from Europe had told him. Back in 1940, the worst things have not started yet anyway. He stated that had he known the full extent of the Nazis' crimes, he would never have made the film.

* SignatureScene: Hynkel dancing with the global balloon.