Saturday, April 18, 2009

The Great Dictator (DVD)

The Great Dictator (1940) starring Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin plays dual roles in his take on Adolph Hitler, made shortly after the start of the Second World War. Chaplin portrays Adenoid Hynkel, dictator of Tomainia, and also an amnesiac Jewish barber who looks exactly like Hynkel. The barber, captured and sentenced to a prison camp, escapes just in time for a case of mistaken identity -- he is taken for Hynkel, and gets his chance to deliver an impassioned speech in favor of liberty and democracy. It's a bit heavy handed, but makes for an OK film. Grade: B

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