Charlie Chaplin - The Great Dictator

Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator was made in 1940 at a time when America was still neutral in WW2 and couldn't portray any nation in a bad light, this makes it one of only a few films to have made it past government censors with its obvious anti-Nazi theme in tact.

The film follows Chaplin in two roles as both Adenoid Hynkel the dictator of Tomania and a simple Jewish barber. Chaplin said after the war that if he had truly known about the horrors of Nazi Germany he would have never made this film, in my opinion that would have been a shame - the fact that Chaplin portrays one of the most evil men who ever lived to be a bumbling fool allows this film to be acceptable.

The quality of the video is amazing considering the original print is over 60 years old and the sound is clean and crisp. The extras are quite good with a number of documentaries and some colour footage filmed by Chaplin's brother. Recommended.