Fritz Bauer Institut · Cinematography of the Holocaust
ID |
FBW001084 Fiction |
Country / Year |
USA, 1940 |
Original Title |
The Great Dictator |
Other Title(s) |
Der Grosse Diktator (German) |
Directed by |
|
Produced by |
United Artists Corp., Los Angeles, CA / New York, NY / Charles Chaplin Corporation |
Staff |
Producer: Charles Chaplin; Production coordination: Henry Bergman; Assistent director: Dan James, Robert Meltzer, Wheeler Dryden; Script: Charles Chaplin; Camera: Karl Struss, Roland Totheroh; Editing: Willard Nico; Sound: Percy Townsend, Glenn Rominger; Art direction: J. Russell Spencer; Music: Charles Chaplin; Music based on themes by: Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms; Musical direction: Meredith Willson |
Cast |
Charles Chaplin (Adenoid Hynkel, Dictator of Tomania/A Jewish Barber); Paulette Goddard (Hannah); Jack Oakie (Benzino Napaloni, Dictator of Bacteria); Henry Daniell (Garbitsch); Reginald Gardiner (Schultz); Billy Gilbert (Herring); Maurice Moskovich (Mr. Jaeckel); Emma Dunn (Mrs. Jaeckel); Bernard Gorcey (Mr. Mann); Paul Weigel (Mr. Agar); Grace Hayle (Mme. Napaloni); Carter DeHaven (Bacterian Ambassador); Chester Conklin (Man in hairdressing saloon); Hank Mann (Nazi trooper); Eddie Gribbon (Nazi trooper); Richard Alexander (Nazi trooper); Leo White (Hynkels hairdresser); Lucien Prival (Officer); Pat Flaherty; Harry Semels; Esther Michelson; Florence Wright; Rudolf Amendt-Anders (als: Robert O. Davis); Eddie Dunn; Peter Lynn Hayes; Nita Pike; Jack Parrin; Max Davidson; Nele V. Nichols |
Length |
126' |
Format |
35mm/sw/1:1,37 |
Dates |
- 09 Sep 1940-02 Oct 1940: Shooting period |
Abstract |
Chaplin plays an unnamed Jewish barber in a "Tomanian" ghetto who is just recovering from what appears to be amnesia and wakes up to find himself living under the thumb of Hynkel. He is beaten up by some uniformed thugs but escapes to Austria with Hannah, a downtrodden Jewish laundress who is in love with him. There, he is mistaken for Hynkel, who has recently "liberated" the country. In the role of the dictator, Chaplin speaks in a combination of German double-talk, gibberish, and what used to be known as "Dutch" dialect on the old vaudeville stage. The most telling comedy scene has Hynkel playing with a gigantic balloon of the world in a mock ballet sequence. The scene in which Hynkel meets with Napaloni is a close second. The two are seated next to each other in barber's chairs which are alternately raised, because neither will allow the other's head to be above his own. |
Subject Terms |
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Holdings |
- Kinemathek Hamburg, Hamburg |
Bibliography |
- , in: Films, Vol. 1, Nr. 4, Winter 1940 |