Are there movies for which you have seen most of the noteworthy scenes just due to their ubiquitousness in pop culture, and so you have decided to put off ever watching the whole picture?

I remember finally watching John Carpenter’s The Thing a few years ago, and a movie that should have been an absolute banger for me got downgraded slightly (calm down! I still gave it four stars out of five) just because I already knew what was going to happen at some of the most dramatic moments. “Oh, here’s where the guy’s belly opens up and bites off this fella’s hands”. “Oh, this is the moment where they test the blood samples and the blood goes crazy”. Stuff like that. Scenes that should have floored me just felt perfunctory.

So it can be hard to choose to watch a movie where you know what some of the best beats are. There’s always the risk that they will underwhelm in their own larger context.

And so was my concern when I decided to get back on my Charlie Chaplin train and see a fifth movie of his. I decided to watch The Great Dictator, Chaplin’s satirical takedown of World War II era fascists and their abhorrent policies. The Great Dictator, however the first 110 minutes played out, was always going to end with Chaplin’s speech–his plea, really–for the world to go back to hopefulness and love for each other. Would the fact that I have seen this iconic moment before ruin it for me?

The Great Dictator features Chaplin in a dual role, as he plays not only a Jewish barber version of his beloved Tramp character, but also the leader of the fictional nation of Tomania, Adenoid Hinkel. The latter character is Hitler-esque to say the least, which given the similarity in facial hair between the real life totalitarian and the actor always seemed an inevitability. Hinkel rules with an iron fist, stamping out opposition and running a persecution plan against the Jewish population in the ghetto.

It strangely goes unnoticed by, well, EVERYONE that the barber is the spitting image of Hinkel until late in the movie when circumstances arise that see the two confused for one another. And with the Tramp now in position to speak to the world as a cruel dictator, he delivers his famous fiery speech.

And how did that moment hold up for me? Well…

TWO UPS AND TWO DOWNS

+ Chaplin’s speech at the end is as timely and relevant now–probably moreso–as it ever has been since the year he committed it to film. It’s a powerful moment of one of history’s greatest actors using the auspice of his work to speak directly to a world under strife. It’s an important moment in movie history. And wild to consider he got away with it in 1940, before we were even involved in World War II. It’s unfortunate that a lot of people could stand to hear this message in 2025, but even then those that could most stand to hear it would just blow it off, anyway. Just what we need; for a 1940 movie to be dismissed out of hand as “woke”.

As Chaplin’s Jewish barber character takes the stage, having been mistaken for the dictator Hinkel, you are probably expecting there to be whacky hi-jinx and a few laughs. But instead, Chaplin stares straight down the barrel of the camera and delivers an impassioned message of peace and kindness in the face of fascism and hatred. It’s so subversive of your expectations, and that just adds to its power.

+ Even without the speech, this is a potent work because Chaplin’s projects were usually goofy, as I noted about what you would expect from that moment. And while his previous pictures had slight messages about society and classism, they were mostly just feel-good pieces to make folks laugh. This was a story about the then-current situation of the world, and it’s a bit more serious because of that.

There are moments of storm troopers killing an innocent man. The barber gets strung up to be hanged at one point before being saved. He and his friend are placed in a concentration camp, and it does not have the humorous imprisonment scenes that Modern Times provided us with.

It’s great seeing Chaplin get to flex his muscles and make a film that, while funny, has actual consequences on the line, too.

– Going from the last Up, this is less funny that other Chaplin pictures I have seen. It has a few chuckle-worthy moments because of course it would since it stars an iteration of The Tramp, and Chaplin remains a master of physical comedy, but this is more about the message than the fun.

I don’t know if it was the more serious subject matter or because I knew how the flick would end–as noted above, I have seen the climactic speech scene without any context before–but I just found this whole movie to be less joyful from beginning to end. Even an iconic comedic moment like Hinkel playing with a balloon of the Earth is just good for a light bit of laughter.  

– A big down to the fact that global and national fascism is rising again all of these years later, and this movie and the end of WWII didn’t actually save the world from it. Boooo. 

OVERALL

Despite my misgivings that this film is less amusing than other Tramp outings, The Great Dictator still tackles a real world issue with heart and humor, making it all more palatable to an audience that, at the time, wasn’t ready for war. And let’s face it: being less funny that films like Modern Times or City Lights or The Gold Rush is no great sin. So this is an important cinematic achievement that was ahead of its time in a multitude of ways. Add in that final speech where it genuinely feels like Charlie Chaplin is trying to use his reach to better the world, and you’ve got an unquestionably great motion picture.