GREAT DICTATOR, THE - DVD review

In the character of the Little Tramp, Charlie Chaplin created one of the screen's immortals, but it was not his only trump card. "The Great Dictator," the famous filmmaker's first completely talkie film, has become as classic as anything he did with only partial help from the little fictional fellow. It's good to see "The Great Dictator" and all of Chaplin's full-length films finally getting their proper due on DVD in "The Chaplin Collection," special-edition, two-disc sets from MK2 and Warner Brothers.

Yes, it wasn't until 1940, well over a dozen years after sound was introduced to film, that Chaplin was dragged kicking and screaming into the talking era. He was, after all, the supreme mime, so it was no wonder his early sound films like "City Lights" (1931) and "Modern Times" (1936) continued to be mostly devoid of dialogue. More directors should take the hint in this day and age. Nevertheless, while "The Great Dictator" does use dialogue, there is still a good deal of visual humor throughout, which was always Chaplin's forte. When the great man is doing his silent bits, the movie is art; when he stops to talk, with few exceptions, it tends to drag. Maybe there's a moral there. Anyway, the movie is a wonderful showcase for Chaplin's talents, as it combines biting satire and serious issues, slapstick and sentimentality, all the trademarks of the famous comic actor, writer, and director.

The plot rails against the horrors of tyranny and racial persecution, specifically against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, occasionally straying uncomfortably into preachiness but generally staying within the bounds of farce and caricature. Chaplin opens the picture with the following preface: "This is a story of a period between two World Wars--an interim in which Insanity cut loose, Liberty took a nose dive, and Humanity was kicked around somewhat."

Chaplin plays two parts in the film, which alternates sequences between the characters. His first role is that of the dictator of Tomania, Adenoid Hynkel, a peevish, foolish, and quite mad character whose emblem for his country is not the twisted cross but the double cross. This Hitler imitation is complete with broken, nonsense German and all of the real dictator's mannerisms. By way of further oddity, it has been suggested that Hitler adopted his own abbreviated mustache after watching early Chaplin films. So life imitates art, which in turn imitates life. At least Chaplin's mustache was temporary.

The second role Chaplin plays is that of a Jewish barber living in a Tomanian ghetto. He is, of course, the Little Tramp himself, right down to topcoat, vest, derby hat, and cane. He is forever the small or insignificant man fighting the big and seemingly indomitable enemy and always prevailing in the end, much to the delight of every small guy in the audience. The character remains universal.

Supporting Chaplin in the cast are Paulette Goddard, Chaplin's wife at the time, as Hannah, a local laundress who befriends the barber; Henry Daniell as Garbitsch, Hynkel's evil and calculating advisor (a part in which Chaplin thought the actor a little too calculating, to the point of Chaplin's accusing Daniell of trying to sabotage the film); Reginald Gardiner as Commander Schultz, one of Hynkel's senior officers, whose life the barber had saved many years before in World War I; Billy Gilbert as Field Marshal Herring, a thickheaded soldier who keeps coming up with harebrained military ideas; and perhaps best of all, Jack Oakie as Benzino Napaloni, the egomaniacal dictator of a neighboring country, Bacteria, and the man whom Hynkel grudgingly tries to make an ally. Like Chaplin's Hitler burlesque, Oakie's Mussolini parody is spot on.

Chaplin was unaware of the extent of the persecution facing Jews in Europe at the time he produced his film. He later revealed that he would never have made "The Great Dictator" or depicted Hitler as such a simpleminded blockhead if he had known the full horror of Hitler's crimes and that the Holocaust would eventually claim the lives of millions of innocent people. There are some things, he said, that are simply not the subjects of humor. There is a prescient moment in the movie when Hynkel says he wants not only to wipe out the Jews, he wants to eliminate brunettes next. So close it was to the horrendous truth.

Chaplin's gutsy stand against Hitler, Nazism, Fascism, and Jewish persecution are important contributing factors to the film's significance today, but the script has also got its moments of sheer fun, even if they are sometimes lost in the propaganda. Note the famous globe juggling scene, for instance, with Hynkel daydreaming of world domination by bouncing a balloon of the world around the room with all the grace of a ballet dancer. Then there's the barber shaving a customer to the tune of Brahms' Fifth Hungarian Dance. And a coin-in-the-pudding routine. And Hynkel and Napaloni raising themselves higher and higher in barber chairs, each trying to look down on the other. And a dozen more.

This is not to say the film is without fault, however, classic or not. Its plot line is flimsy and old-fashioned, its characters one-dimensional, and its moralizing sentimental and sometimes strenuously annoying. The barber's culminating speech, as a prime example, goes way over the top, altering the final tone of the picture. Moreover, there are stretches between gags that will seem agonizingly long and slow to viewers used to today's nonstop pacing.

I suspect the film has acquired its classic status as much because it was made by the great Chaplin as because of its actual humor content; and because Chaplin wasn't afraid to attack problems--Hitler and the persecution of the Jews--that most of the rest of the world, especially Hollywood, was turning a blind eye to at the time. Overall, though, with a little patience the movie has far greater pleasures than pains and remains a work worthy of every serious film buff's consideration.

Video:
The picture quality of this old black-and-white film is outstanding, beautifully clear and clean. There are no moiré effects or shimmering lines and no grain to speak of; the print is of pristine quality, free of age marks of any kind. The B&W contrasts are generally good, too, and definition is remarkably vivid. The disc reproduces a print taken from the Chaplin family vault, so it's no wonder it sparkles; if the source is good and the engineering is good, the transfer will be good. This one is very good, indeed. The image probably looks better than it did in 1940 when it was first released.

Audio:
The film's original monaural soundtrack has been remixed to good effect in Dolby Digital 5.1. The results not only broaden the soundstage but further clarify the sonics. The rear channels are nicely utilized also, with the sounds of battle in the opening sequence especially well rendered. Add in crowd noises, airplanes, trains, and the like emanating from the rear, plus the usual musical ambience reinforcement, and you get audio reproduction that appears extraordinarily new. Dialogue comes across crisply and naturally, as well, the audio engineers wisely keeping it in the center channel; and the backgrounds are free of extraneous hiss, crackles, or pops. Of course, there are limited dynamic and frequency ranges, so don't expect modern blockbuster sound, but for its age, like the picture quality, the audio is excellent. For the purists among us, the original mono track is also available, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to listen to it when the alternative is so good.

Extras:
As with the other sets in "The Chaplin Collection," this one comes on two discs. Disc one contains the 1940 film in a standard, black-and-white screen presentation; Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby mono soundtracks; English, French, and Spanish languages; English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, and Korean subtitles; and twenty scene selections.

Disc two's major bonus item is a fifty-five minute documentary, "The Tramp and the Dictator," made for Turner Classic Movies in 2001 and narrated by Kenneth Branagh. It is divided into thirteen chapters and covers everything from the production's history to behind-the-scenes material. Interviews with filmmakers, historians, and critics of the time paint a vivid picture both of Chaplin the funnyman and of Hitler the madman. Interestingly, the two men were the same age to the month; and, incidentally, a member of Hitler's inner circle later said that Hitler saw and actually enjoyed "The Great Dictator," especially the takeoffs on Mussolini. But he still banned it in all of occupied Europe. Next, there is twenty-five minutes of the production filmed in color by Sydney Chaplin, the star's brother. This material may also be viewed interspersed with parallel B&W footage from the film. After that is a scene called "Chaplin the Barber" from a 1919 silent film, "Sunnyside," showing us the origins of barber's character in "The Great Dictator." Then there is a brief scene from "Monsieur Verdoux" (1947) involving Hitler and Mussolini, followed by a poster gallery of art from the film. Finally, there are excerpts from ten other films in "The Chaplin Collection," each lasting several minutes.

Parting Thoughts:
"The Great Dictator" is not so zany or so funny a spoof of war and dictatorships as the Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup" of a few years earlier. In fact, "The Great Dictator" is a lot like a toned-down Mel Brooks take-off. But Chaplin's film is more courageous and more powerful in its immediacy and historical importance than anything the Marx boys or Brooks ever did.

A person can hardly blame Chaplin for the excesses of his character's final speech, this film being so utterly and completely an expression of the man's personal convictions. But while the speech, spoken directly from Chaplin's heart, may upset the mood of the story temporarily, it does no lasting harm. "The Great Dictator" was one of the few motion pictures of the day to stand up and be counted against the forces of tyranny and injustice, for which it must always be commended. The picture's uneasy blend of comedy and moralizing about such serious topics as dictatorships and persecution can be a bit discomforting, true, even when we know the filmmakers' heart is in the right place; but modern audiences can still find many moments of genuine humor and insight in the movie, and certainly the themes remain urgent.

It was ironic that this man who so cherished freedom and democracy would at the height of the McCarthy Era a decade later be subjected to accusations of un-Americanism and eventually forced to abandon the adopted country he loved so well. Chaplin was told after a visit to Europe in 1953 that his return would be questioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, so he relinquished his reentry permit. It was not until 1972 that Chaplin would come back to the United States and then only to accept a special award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"The Great Dictator" is one of ten Chaplin films that Paris-based MK2 and the Warner studios are releasing in special-edition DVD sets. Among the others in the first wave of entries are "The Gold Rush," "Modern Times," and "Limelight." What do you mean, do I recommend them?