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(aka " The Dictator ")

U.S.A. 1940

Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" (1940) came some 12 years after the introduction of sound, but it was Chaplin's first all-talking picture, and the first in which we heard the Little Tramp speak. The dialog turned out to be his last words; Chaplin never used the Tramp character again after this film.

In a way, the Tramp's heartfelt closing plea for peace and human brotherhood is spoken by Chaplin himself, stepping out of character to make a personal statement on the eve of the war with Hitler. The speech does not fit into the fabric of the rest of the film (as many critics noted at the time), but the passage of years has made it seem uncannily appropriate.

Chaplin conceived and filmed "The Great Dictator" during a period when an accommodation with Hitler was still thought possible in some quarters; indeed, he must have been filming when Neville Chamberlain went to Munich. But Chaplin himself had no such optimism, and his portrait of Adenoid Hynkel, dictator of Tomania, was among the first declarations of war on Hitler. The film also prophesied the persecution of the Jews, and the scenes of storm troopers terrorizing the Ghetto were thought at the time to go too far. What a sad joke that seems today.

Excerpt from Roger Ebert's review at The Chicago Sun Times located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 15th, 1940 - USA

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DVD Comparison:

Warner - Region 2- PAL vs. Image - Region 0 - NTSC (oop) vs. Warner Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC

Thanks to Ole of DVDBasen for the Region 2 PAL captures!

(Warner - Region 2- PAL - LEFT vs. Image - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Warner Region 2 - PAL	Image Entertainment Region 0 - NTSC	Warner Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:59:44 ( 4% PAL Speedup)	2:05:04	1:59:40 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.52 mb/s PAL 720X 25.00 f/s	1.28:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.68 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.66 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Warner Region2
Bitrate: Image
Bitrate: Warner
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Arabic, Bulgarian, Romanian, English for the hearing impaired, French for the hearing impaired, Italian for the hearing impaired and none - Extras is subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, German, Dutch and none	English, French and none	English, Spanish, French, Korean, Portuguese, Thai and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Black & White, Dolby • All-new restoration with digital transfer from the Chaplin family vault and remastered • The Tramp and the Dictator: documentary directed by Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft • The Production Filmed in Color by Sydney Chaplin (1939/40) • Gallery of film posters • A seven-minute sequence shot in 1918 for Sunnyside that inspired the famous barber scene in The Great Dictator • A scene from Monsieur Verdoux • Trailers The same as Warner R1, but if you buy the Chaplin Collection Volume One you get an extra disc that's not with the R1 Box: Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin - A film by Richard Schickel (2:06:39). DVD Release Date: September 22nd, 2003 Custom Case Chapters 20	Release Information: Studio: Image Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Full Screen (Standard) - 1.28:1 Edition Details: • All Regions • Black & White • Production notes • A seven-minute sequence shot in 1918 for Sunnyside that inspired the famous barber scene in *The Great Dictator* • A 1933 Fox MovieTone newsreel about Adolf Hitler • Original story notes, drafts of scripts and production records documenting • Chaplin's work on Sequence "X"--the Final Speech DVD Release Date: April 11th, 2000 Snapper Case Chapters 17	Release Information: Studio: Warner Home Video Aspect Ratio: Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Black & White, Dolby • All-new restoration with digital transfer from the Chaplin family vault and remastered • The Tramp and the Dictator: documentary directed by Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft • The Production Filmed in Color by Sydney Chaplin (1939/40) • Gallery of film posters • A seven-minute sequence shot in 1918 for Sunnyside that inspired the famous barber scene in The Great Dictator • A scene from Monsieur Verdoux • Trailers DVD Release Date: July 1, 2003 Custom Case Chapters 20

Comments:

UPDATE: October 9th - Warner Region 2 added:

Well, in short the image on the Warner Region 2 is the best. There is no "ghosting" as in the Warner Region 1's. I would like to point out that I, personally, wouldn't trade in the Image Entertainment discs for the Warner Region 2's. I am happy with the Image discs - no PAL speedup - less cropping. This is not counting the valuable Extras on the Region 2 and the extra disc with "The Life and Art of Charlie Chaplin" that you don't even get on the Warner Region 1 set. It would be nice to own that.... and the 5.1 sound... ohh who am I kidding, I'll be getting the R2's as well.

On normal viewing on a television I saw some PAL to NTSC 'ghosting' on the Warner Region 1 discs. It was more prevalent while obtaining captures (as it always is), but not overly obtrusive during normal screenings. By judging the times we can see that Warner has not accounted for the PAL speedup and we have the infamous "blurring" occurring in rapid motion scenes (many examples below). We are seeing the film at 4% faster than normal.

One of these DVDs is out of ratio. The Mk2 characters appear slimmer and taller. I don't know which is wrong, but my guess is the Mk2's. The PAL versions are probably the same. I suspect that the 1.28:1 is more correct than 1.33:1.

What a waste. Obviously the Warner image is sharper than the Image Entertainment image, but I am very disappointed in the blurring which is more prevalent here than in the Modern Times DVD. The contrast levels in the new Warner discs seem artificial to me. The blacks sure are blacker and the whites are definitely whiter but my bet would still be to buy the European versions. I am very disappointed in my purchase of this Region 1 DVD. It does have quite an array of Extra Features, but the "ghosting" is extremely visible on the Warner 'The Great Dictator' DVD.

Instead of doing the transfer from the original source themselves, Warner let someone else do it (Mk2) then took THEIR PAL transfer. Now we get the worst of both worlds: 4% PAL speedup from original source and lower NTSC resolution (AND "ghosting"). It looks to me to have excessive digital processing. I'm glad I still have my Image discs, but will look into the PAL Mk2 versions soon.

- Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus

(Image - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Warner - Region 1 - NTSC and Warner - Region 2- PAL- RIGHT)

NOTE: Warner Region 1+2 DVD Menus
are identical (negligible differences)

Screen Captures