The Power of Satire and Screenwriting



By the time the Great Dictator premiered on October 15, 1940 in New York City, Charles Chaplin was “the world’s most famous movie star” (Maland 178). With the Great Dictator, Chaplin said goodbye to his film persona (the Little Tramp) and to the so called silent era of cinema that brought him fame. In addition to Chaplin’s evolution, the Great Dictator became Chaplin’s satirical attack on fascism and a leader who threatened Europe with another war: Adolf Hitler. The dualities of the Chaplin’s protagonist and antagonist permeate throughout the plot, and it’s also explicit within the various iterations of Chaplin’s script. Chaplin’s script iterations during 1937 and 1939 responded to the historical events (fascism) that corresponded with its creation.

The Great Dictator was produced by the Charles Chaplin Production Company during January 1, 1939 to October 2, 1940 (the Great Dictator). The film’s October release was also made possible by United Artist. With an estimated budget of two million dollars, the Great Dictator became the most daring satirical and political commentary to surpass its initial investment (The Great Dictator). In other words, The Great Dictator was a box office success during its 1940 release, and the film continued to earn revenue after World War II (WWII) (Maland 178-9).  Great Dictator was filmed in black and white with a total runtime of two hours and six minutes on an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 (The Great Dictator). In the 1941 the Academy Awards bestowed the Great Dictator with five nominations, which included Chaplin for Best Original Screenplay and Meredith Willson for Best Original Score (Miller).

In addition to being the film’s producer and writer, Chaplin was also credited as the film’s director with Dan James, Wheeler Dryden, and Bob Meltzer as assistant directors (Conway, McDonald, and Ricci 204). Even though Chaplin was involved in almost aspect of filming, the involvement of others was crucial during production. The following individuals assisted in Chaplin’s vision: Roland Totheroh and Karl Struss (cinematographers), Russell Spencer (art director), Ted Tetrick (non-credited costume supervisor), Ed Voight (non-credited Makeup artist), and Meredith Wilson (music director) (IMDb; Conway, McDonald, and Ricci 204). Besides the film’s main protagonist and antagonist, Paulette Goddard (Hannah), Jack Oakie (Napaloni: Dictator of Bacteria), Reginald Gardiner (Schultz), and Henry Daniell (Garbitsch) played a critical role in furthering the story (The Great Dictator).

After the opening credits of the Great Dictator, a note appeared on screen: "any resemblance between Hynkle the Dictator and the Jewish barber is purely co-incidental” (The Great Dictator). From the beginning, the film attempted to dissipate the identity of Charlie Chaplin’s usual character (the Little Tramp). Instead, the note presents a dual identity that merges the historical characterization of a megalomaniacal dictator named Hynkle, and an “absent minded” Jewish Barber (the Great Dictator).

After the introductory note appeared on screen, the film began with a prologue of a solider during WWII, who had been a Jewish barber from the Ghetto of Tomania. With the end of war, the Jewish barber suffered an injuring, because he helped a Tomania pilot named Schultz (Reginald Gardiner). From the end of WWI and Hynkle’s rise to power, the Jewish barber suffered a twenty year long concussion. After waking from his deep sleep, the Jewish barber was now older (with grey hair) and unaware of the anti-Semitic policies enforced by Hynkle’s dictatorship, which attempted to conceal the economic depression of Tomania. Once Napaloni (Jack Oakie), the Dictator of Bacteria, arrives in Tomania, the separate duality of the Jewish barber and Hynkle merge in a situation of mistaken identity. While the beginning of the film introduced two new characters to Chaplin’s Little Tramp persona, the ending, however, introduces another character very few knew: Charles Chaplin himself.

As Adolph Hitler entered the world stage, Alexander Korda (friend to Chaplin) suggested in 1937 to make a character, which became Chaplin’s Little Tramp, who was mistaken for Hitler (Miller). This suggestion became the foundation for Chaplin’s scripts. Before the film went into production, Chaplin studied the Hitler’s overtly expressive speaking style of Hitler, who Chaplin proclaimed as “the greatest actors he had ever seen” (Miller). One of the most controversial scenes of the film was Chaplin’s final speech where he spoke not as the Jewish barber impersonating Hynkle, but as the real Chaplin. As news reports continued to arrive from Europe during 1939, Chaplin had to rewrite the speech to better reflect the events leading WWII (Miller). As a critic, Chaplin commented on the influence the news played on world events. Chaplin also speculated on the role the news would play in the war by incorporating fictional and  actual newsreels as transitions in the story, see image#1 (The Great Dictator). 

Image#1
Chaplin, Charlie, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, and Reginald Gardiner. The Great Dictator. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video/MK2 Editions, 2003. Screenshots

The script of the Great Dictator provided the general blueprint for the director and members of the production crew, but it also conveyed the structure for the story (Raj). In the case of the Great Dictator, the inspiration for the story was actually unfolding in real-time as Charles Chaplin was writing the script. Because of the film was a satirical film based on commentary historical and political events, the constant re-writes created difficulties with the schedules for the actors, production directors, and editors of the film (Raj). While a traditional script followed a classical narrative with a balanced start and end, while the middle was tumultuous, the Great Dictator followed a different path (Raj). The Great Dictator, however, begins with a war sequence and ends with an exhilarating speech that did not resolve any of the previous plot points (The Great Dictator). 

In addition, according to Frank Miller, Chaplin’s first shooting script was 300 pages long, which was three times longer than the typical Hollywood feature of the time. While the script of the Great Dictator followed a linear story arch, it was unique in that it infused dual storylines within one cohesive story, which tied both lead characters at the end. Considering that “the People of the Palace” were on screen for 47 minutes and “the People of the Ghetto” were on screen for 46 minutes, the comparison between both realities became apparent (Maland 173). In addition to balance between the Palace and the Ghetto of Tomania, Chaplin shoot the scenes with the Jewish barber 16 frames per second slower than the rest of the film (Miller). Chaplin also gave the barber less dialogue than Hynkel, which created the illusion that both characters were acted by different people (Miller). In addition to time, the costume design also provided an interesting dichotomy between both characters (Raj). The barber with his disheveled frock coat, top hat, and mustache reminded audiences of Chaplin’s iconic comedic image, see image#2 (McDonald, Conway, and Ricci 9; the Great Dictator). On the other hand, Hynkel’s clean pressed white coats and hat introduce a more narcissistic and megalomaniacal character, see image#2 (the Great Dictator; Maland 173).     

Image#3
Chaplin, Charlie, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, and Reginald Gardiner. The Great Dictator. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video/MK2 Editions, 2003. Screenshots

In June 1939, a reporter that the set construction for the Great Dictator had to postpone because Chaplin was still re-working the script. Chaplin was known for his impulsive need for detail, an impulse which caused delayed during  production of the Great Dictator (Miller). According to Frank Miller, Chaplin excessive eye for detail occurred when Chaplin hired a new director of photography, Karl Struss. Because Chaplin’s brother felt that Rollie Totheroh’s techniques behind the camera were obsolete (Miller). Once production started, Struss had to adapt to the director’s (Chaplin) preference for filming scenes as if they were performed on theater stage (Miller). According to Frank Miller, because of Chaplin’s career started in theater, it took some time for Struss convince Chaplin to shoot the scenes with two cameras to facilitate the editing process. Considering that the Great Dictator was Chaplin’s most expensive production, the production conveyed the director’s vision of a balanced story between the protagonist and antagonist (Maland 178).

According to Miller, one of the Great Dictator’s most memorable sequences, Hynkel’s dance with a balloon of the globe of the world, was actually written in a completely different way, see image#3 (the Great Dictator). Instead of Hynkel’s expressive dance, the original script was written with Hynkel cutting a map of the world and rearranging the countries to his desired end (Miller). Both sequences fulfilled the writer’s vision to illustrate Hynkel’s impulse to excessively dominate, but only one conveys his impulse though action and sound (Maland 172-3). The original sequence told us Hynkel’s impulse, while the final sequence showed us his narcissistic impulse to dominate (Maland 173). As a result, Chaplin spent nine day filming and re-shooting the original map sequence and Hynkel’s dance over a period of two months (Miller).

Image#3
Chaplin, Charlie, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, and Reginald Gardiner. The Great Dictator. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video/MK2 Editions, 2003. Screenshots

With its eclectic mixture of classical music and comedic sound effects, the Great Dictator carried audiences through the high and low beat pace of two co-incidental characters. Through its pacing, the Great Dictator allowed audiences to laugh (and think even) at something that would be hard to laugh at once the war ended in Western Europe. After the war in Europe ended, Chaplin said, "if [I would have] known of the true horrors of the concentration camps, [I] never would have made the Great Dictator” (Miller). As a historical and political satire on events that occurred simultaneously to the creation of the film, the Great Dictator speculated on the unimaginable events of both World Wars through comedy and satire. When asked why he was not making romantic comedies, Chaplin said, “How could I throw myself into the feminine whimsy or think of romance or the problems…when madness was being stirred up by a hideous grotesque—Adolf Hitler” (Maland 166). For a brief moment, Chaplin’s satirical film displaced audiences from the potential horrors of WWII, and allowed them a glimpse into the true reality of fascism.  Overall, I truly urge you to watch the Great Dictator, because even though it premiered 74 years ago, the film remains relevant even today.   

Works Cited

Chaplin, Charlie, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, and Reginald Gardiner. The Great Dictator. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video/MK2 Editions, 2003. Screenshot.

Chaplin, Charlie, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, and Reginald Gardiner. The Great Dictator. Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video/MK2 Editions, 2003. Screenshots.

Delage, Christian. “Filming The Great Dictator.” Charlie Chaplin: Official Website. Jean Michel Place, 2005. Web.  http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/biography/articles/13-The-Great-Dictator.

Gross, William. “Blu-ray Review: The Great Dictator-Criterion Collection.” Film.com/movies. MTV Networks. 31 May 2011. Web. 11 March 2014. http://www.film.com/movies/blu-ray-review-the-great-dictator-%E2%80%93-criterion-collection

McDonald, Gerald D, Michael Conway, and Mark Ricci. The Films of Charlie Chaplin. New York: Citadel Press, 1965. Print.

Miller, Frank. “The Great Dictator (1941)”.  Turner Classic Movies. TCM.com, Inc. nd. Web. 13 March 2014. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76858/The-Great-Dictator/articles.html

Miller, Frank and Satfford, Jeff, ed.  “The Great Dictator (1941): Awards & Honors”.  Turner Classic Movies. TCM.com, Inc. nd. Web. 13 March 2014. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76858/The-Great-Dictator/articles.html
"pantomime". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 15 March 2014. <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/pantomime>.

Raj, Sony. “Telling Stories for the Screen-Scriptwriting.” St. Thomas University. Miami Gardens, Flordia. 06 March 2014. Lecture.

Raj, Sony. “Music & Sound in Film.” St. Thomas University. Miami Gardens, Flordia. 30 January 2014. Lecture.

Raj, Sony. “How to Analyze a Film.” St. Thomas University. Miami Gardens, Flordia. 16 January 2014. Lecture.

Steffen, Jamees.  “The Great Dictator (1941)”.  Turner Classic Movies. TCM.com, Inc. nd. Web. 13 March 2014. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/76858/The-Great-Dictator/articles.html

“The Great Dictator”. The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com, Inc, nd, Web. 13 March 2014. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). IMDb.com, Inc, 2009, Web. 13 March 2014