The film
The Great Dictator is a 1940 American comedy-drama film written by and starring Charlie Chaplin. This was Chaplin’s first true talking picture as well as his most commercially successful film.
At the time of its first release, the United States was still formally at peace with Nazi Germany. Chaplin’s film advanced a stirring, controversial condemnation of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini’s fascism, antisemitism, and the Nazis.
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer ‘Charlie’ Chaplin was a British comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the silent era. Chaplin became a worldwide icon through his screen persona ‘the Tramp’ and is considered one of the most important figures of the film industry. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death at age 88, and encompassed both adulation and controversy.