The Tramp and the Dictator (2002)

Fantastic!

The acting in this movie is really good.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

" . . . who did not want Peace," after World War Two, such as the American Legion, acclaimed writer Ray Bradbury says near the end of THE TRAMP AND THE DICTATOR, a nearly hour-long Criterion documentary on Charlie Chaplin's most important film, THE GREAT DICTATOR. Though this piece is as good as far as it goes, many viewers--such as myself--will want to do follow-up research about WHY Chaplin became banned from America despite making this movie, which spelled the beginning of the end of the Axis, Hitler, and Mussolini. What they will discover is that America was as nearly divided in the 1920s and 1930s as it is Today. Armies of World War I vets marched in West Virginia, shooting it out with the stooges of the Fascist Mine Managers. Though most of Hollywood was Anti-Hitler, an eventually-triumphant subset led by director John Ford and his protégée, the notorious draft dodger John Wayne, backed the Fascists. Just as the Rich People's Party specializes in Voter Suppression, Unconstitutional Supreme Court Jiggering, and Promotion of Wealth Disparity Today, so too did this Cabal led by Ford and Wayne target Chaplin and all the other Champions of Freedom before the final A-Bomb echoes of WWII had died away. Too bad Criterion did not highlight this more here.

This film was spurred on by Charlie Chaplin's film "The Great Dictator"--a film in which he made fun of but also warned the world of the evil beast, Adolph Hitler. And, not surprisingly, it is included on the DVD for "The Great Dictator".It begins by discussing similarities between the two men--such as being born the same month of the same year. And, how the two were polar opposites--Hitler was never accused of being the funniest man on the planet. However, much of the film was not about their similarities and differences but was more of a 'making of' featurette. It discussed such things as the obsessive nature of Chaplin and his directorial style as well as the reaction to the film when it was released.My reason for watching this, more than any, was that it was made by Kenneth Brownlow--one of the foremost experts on silent comedy and who had created the very best documentaries on Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. Secondly, I love Chaplin's full-length films--though I should admit that "The Great Dictator" is among my least favorite of these films. Folks who adore this film would probably get a bit more out of the documentary. I also really preferred his film "Unknown Chaplin" (also by Brownlow) as it gave much more insight into Chaplin's directorial style. Still, it's well worth seeing and offers a few really nice insights into "The Great Dictator".

This is a documentary about Charlie Chaplin and his attack on the Nazi-regime with his first talking movie, 'The Great Dictator'. The documentary explains how the film was made, what was going on in the head of Chaplin, how Hitler did handle some things and how those things were used by Chaplin. We see footage of Hitler, Mussolini and of course Chaplin himself. Between that we see people who had to do with Chaplin, including his son and great director Sidney Lumet. A great documentary about a great comedian and a great movie.

A fascinating documentary that explores the making of Charles Chaplin's first "talkie" The Great Dictator (1940) and draws many things that between Chaplin and Hitler had in common. The film contains colour home movie footage of the film's production which where shot by Charles' brother Sydney. These never before seen films were discovered by his daughter Victoria while looking though an old suitcase she found in the basement. The raw footage gives us an alternate insight to Chaplin's classic film which started production years before Adolph Hitler was seen as a major threat in the western world.