The Great Dictator (1940) + Extras [The Criterion Collection]

In his controversial masterpiece The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin offers both a cutting caricature of Adolf Hitler and a sly tweaking of his own comic persona. Chaplin, in his first pure talkie, brings his sublime physicality to two roles: the cruel yet clownish “Tomainian” dictator and the kindly Jewish barber who is mistaken for him. Featuring Jack Oakie and Paulette Goddard in stellar supporting turns, The Great Dictator, boldly going after the fascist leader before the U.S.’s official entry into World War II, is an audacious amalgam of politics and slapstick that culminates in Chaplin’s famously impassioned speech.



New Audio Commentary by Charlie Chaplin experts Dan Kamin and Hooman Mehran

Extras:
- The Tramp and the Dictator (2001), Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft’s documentary paralleling the lives of Chaplin and Hitler, including interviews with author Ray Bradbury, director Sidney Lumet, screenwriter Budd Schulberg, and others (55:00)
- Two new visual essays, one by Chaplin archivist Cecilia Cenciarelli and one by Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance (19:12)
- "The Clowns Turn to Prophet" visual essay by Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance (20:54)
- Color production footage shot by Chaplin’s half-brother Sydney (26:52)
- Barbershop sequence from Sydney Chaplin’s 1921 film King, Queen, Joker (4:54)
- Deleted barbershop sequence from Chaplin’s 1919 film Sunnyside (7:50)