The Tramp and the Dictator

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.

What can be said about one of the greatest movies in the history of cinema. It seems that a lot, and this documentary - actually a juxtaposition of two documentaries succeeds to tell a lot.

The first part focuses on the parallel biographies of Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler, the genial artist who made people laugh and the horrible dictator who entered history as one of the most evil people to have ever lived. One of the revelations of the movie is that the two were born the same week, and their biographies had no few common things. Very interesting color footage from the film studios taken by Chaplin's brother Sidney add a lot and the commentaries are solid, without being extremely deep. The only other remarkable thing I learned is that Hitler may have seen 'The Great Dictator' and actually enjoyed it. The supreme beast had a sense of humor.

The second part is actually also interesting from a documentary point of view, telling the story of a few more Hitler films made during the war. The balance between art and propaganda inclined towards propaganda in most of these productions and none of course benefited from the genius of a Chaplin, so they were much less successful and are now forgotten.

A respectable if a bit rushed accounting of the lives of Chaplin (born April 16, 1889) and Hitler (born April 20, 1889), and the events that led them into opposition as the Nazis rose to power in Germany. There are interviews with people like Sidney Lumet and Ray Bradbury that I couldn't get enough of, and others that either didn't add much or weren't challenged, like the archival footage of the then deceased Reinhard Spitzy, a Nazi in Hitler's inner circle. The film is at its best when it makes observations about the parallels between the two men's lives, like Hitler who was a supreme actor while orating and critically needed sound while being filmed, whereas Chaplin always thrived in the silent medium.

The documentary would make quite an accompanying piece to Chaplin's masterpiece The Great Dictator because it provides so much context to that film, including just how much courage and resolve Chaplin had to summon to make it, and some of its finer satirical moments. Some of the context was the fact that antisemitism was alive and well in America too, and it doesn't shy away from this. Having Chaplin's brother Sydney's color home footage of the shooting of The Great Dictator weaved in was a nice treat as well. The documentary builds to Chaplin's big speech at the end but then curiously doesn't let it play in its entirety, which I think was a mistake, as stirring as it was.

Chaplin was a beacon of light about fascism at a time when Hollywood was generally trying to ignore the problem and appease as many people as possible, foreign and domestic. To its credit, while the post-war commentary is brief, the documentary includes the bitter irony of Chaplin having been forced into exile during the communist witch hunt, having set this up with explanations of his satire of capitalism in another of his masterpieces, Modern Times (1936).

I still brim with admiration for Chaplin's humanism and how he used his immense popularity on things of importance, like helping wake Americans up to the evil that was going on in the world. The documentary could have been more fleshed out, but it's well worth seeing, even if you're already knowledgeable on the subject.

As a history teacher I love this documentary. It gives my students the opportunity to step into the the world of the early 20th century and understand a bit of the fast array of events that took place. Not only the First and Second World War, but also the Great Depression,the rise of totalitarian regimes and new methods of propaganda are explained through the life and work of Charlie Chaplin. A lot of young people have never seen a silent movie, but after seeing this film they often are interested to actually watch The Great Dictator and not only understand what it is about, but also how fascinating the story of its making was.

Tramp and the Dictator, The (2002)

**** (out of 4)

Charles Chaplin and Adolf Hitler were born days apart from one another but the two would collide in 1940 when the legendary director decided to make a spoof in The Great Dictator. The wonderful documentary digs into the making of that film and the impact it had on Chaplin for the rest of his career. It seems that every controversial movie ever made features different opinions on what actually happens as I've read that this film helped put a nail in Chaplin's career but this film points out that the movie did very well at the box office and much better than the director's previous films. Whatever the truth might be this is a very interesting documentary that features some great stories about the making of the film and Chaplin's opinions on making the movie had he actually known what Hitler was doing to millions of people. There's also some great stuff about Hitler apparently watching the film twice. One can only imagine seeing Hitler in a dark theater laughing at the spoof. Opinions seem to be mixed about the actual film but I think it's another great one from a director who made countless great movies. This documentary is a nice tribute to the movie and also features some behind the scenes footage, in color, showing Chaplin at work.