CHAPLIN C-GREAT DICTATOR (DVD/2 DISC) DVD

The Great Dictator
"This is the story of the period between two world wars--an interim during which insanity cut loose, liberty took a nose dive, and humanity was kicked around somewhat." With this pithy opening title, Charles Chaplin begins his first all-talking feature film, The Great Dictator. During World War I, a Jewish barber (Chaplin) in the army of Tomania saves the life of high-ranking officer Schultz (Reginald Gardiner). While Schultz survives the conflict unscathed, the barber is stricken with amnesia and bundled off to a hospital. Twenty years pass: Tomania has been taken over by dictator Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin again) and his stooges Garbitsch (Henry Daniell) and Herring (Billy Gilbert). Hynkel despises all Jews and regularly wreaks havoc on the Tomanian Jewish ghetto, where feisty Hannah (Paulette Goddard) lives. Meanwhile, the little barber escapes from the hospital and instinctively heads back to his cobweb-laden ghetto barber shop. Unaware of Hynkel's policy towards Jews (in fact, he's unaware of Hynkel), the barber gets into a slapstick confrontation with a gang of Aryan storm troopers. He is rescued by his old friend Schultz, now one of Hynkel's most loyal officers. Thanks to Schultz's protection, the ghetto receives a brief respite from Hynkel's persecution. The barber sets up shop again, developing a warm platonic relationship with the lovely Hannah. But things take a sorry turn when Hynkel, angered that a Jewish banker has refused to finance his impending war with Austerlitz, begins bearing down again on the Ghetto. Near the end of the film, when the dictator is expected to make another one of his hate-filled, war-mongering speeches, the barber steps up to the microphones...and Charles Chaplin drops character and becomes "himself," delivering an impassioned plea for peace, tolerance, and humanity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Charles Chaplin as Adenoid Hynkel, Dictator of Tomania Charles Chaplin as Jewish Barber Paulette Goddard as Hannah Jack Oakie as Benzino Napaloni Reginald Gardiner as Schultz Henry Daniell as Garbitsch Billy Gilbert as Herring Grace Hayle as Mme. Napaloni Maurice Moscovich as Mr. Jaeckel Emma Dunn as Mrs. Jaeckel Bernard Gorcey as Mr. Mann Paul Weigel as Mr. Agar

Crew Russell J. Spencer - Art Director Wheeler Dryden - First Assistant Director Charles Chaplin - Director Willard Nico - Editor Meredith Willson - Composer (Music Score) Meredith Willson - Musical Direction/Supervision Roland H. "Rollie" Totheroh - Cinematographer Karl Struss - Cinematographer Charles Chaplin - Producer Charles Chaplin - Screenwriter

The Great Dictator
After a five-year absence from movies, Charles Chaplin took on a dual role in his first full-length talking feature, famous for its comic attack on Nazi Germany (and Adolf Hitler in particular). The script was written before Hitler's invasion of Poland, and Chaplin subsequently noted that, had he known the scope of the evil perpetrated on Europe by the Nazis, he would never have made them the subject of this lampoon. Not as maniacally funny as Chaplin's classic comedies of the 1920s, The Great Dictator has more in common with Chaplin's later films, which were more lyrical in approach and more overt in their socio-political messages. In this case, the proselytising turned out to be prescient, as Hitler would soon prove Chaplin's concerns well-founded. This was one of very few films made in the West before World War II that dared to take on Hitler and Mussolini. Still, many critics found fault with Chaplin's approach, claiming that, by portraying German Nazis and Italian Fascists as schoolyard bullies and buffoons, Chaplin was cheapening the impact of their evil actions on millions of Europeans. Despite these criticisms, Chaplin's lampooning of Hitler is a moment of comic genius, complemented by Jack Oakie's ridiculously exaggerated portrayal of the Mussolini-like Italian fascist (nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor). The Great Dictator is loosely structured, lacking the tight pace and sense of direction of Chaplin's best films: its long-winded concluding speech is the most egregious example. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Chaplin for Best Actor. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide
 

Charles Chaplin: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Actor (nominated) Charles Chaplin: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Screenplay (nominated) Charles Chaplin: National Board of Review, Best Acting (winner) Charles Chaplin: New York Film Critics Circle, Best Actor (winner) Jack Oakie: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (nominated) Meredith Willson: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Score (nominated)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Picture (nominated) Library of Congress, U.S. National Film Registry (winner) National Board of Review, Best Picture (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French, Spanish Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish, Por, TH, KO Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc All-new digital transfer from Chaplin family vault picture and audio elements Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as original mono Interactive menus Scene access Languages: English, Français & Español Subtitles: English, Français, Español, Português, Chinese, Thai & Korean The Tramp and the Dictator: a documentary by Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft, which parallels the lives of Chaplin and Hitler, born the same week of the same year The production filmed in color by Sydney Chaplin: recently discovered color footage shot on the set of the film Charlie the Barber (1919): twenty years before The Great Dictator, a scene shot by Chaplin for his short, Sunnyside, but deleted from the finished film Scene from Monsieur Verdoux (1947) Scenes from films in the Chaplin Collection Poster gallery DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: G DVD Discs Included: 2 DVD Sides: 2 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 120 min Part of Series: The Chaplin Collection   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- The Film 1. Directecd by Charles Chaplin [1:40] 2. 1918 [6:42] 3. The Plane [5:02] 4. Hynkel [8:59] 5. The Ghetto [3:53] 6. The Return of the Barber [9:14] 7. Hynkel's Palace [5:37] 8. All Calm in the Ghetto [5:46] 9. World Dictator! [6:24] 10. The Enchanted Hour [3:37] 11. Bad News! [2:51] 12. Get the Barber! [7:37] 13. The Cakes [6:10] 14. Osterlich [7:57] 15. War Is Declared [4:10] 16. Napaloni [3:53] 17. Heil Hynkel! [6:49] 18. The Ball and the Buffet [8:14] 19. Error [5:41] 20. The Final Speech [9:17] Side #2 -- Special Features 1. Chaplin and Hitler [13:09] 2. The Voice of the Dictator [3:10] 3. Political Chaplin [8:04] 4. Before the War [6:05] 5. David and Goliath [6:04] 6. The Film Shoot [5:54] 7. The End of the Film [3:40] 8. The Final Speech [3:38] 9. Did Hitler See the Film? [5:09]