The Great Dictator is a 1940 political satire film written, produced, and staring world renowned actor and comedian, Charlie Chaplin. This was Chaplin’s first true sound film and wound up being his most commercially successful film. The film was nominated for several awards, including five Academy Awards. The setting is based in fictional country Tomania, based on Nazi Germany. The film was produced in the United States prior to World War II, at a time when the U.S. was still at peace with Nazi Germany. In hindsight, Chaplin admitted that would not have made the film if he had known the extent of the horrors committed by Adolf Hitler.
The film portrays life in the country of Tomania, where ruthless dictator Adenoid Hynkel, based upon Adolf Hitler, had seized power. The protagonist, a Jewish Barber, is recovering from a 20-year long comma. He has no recollection of what has transpired in the meantime as well as the rise of Hynkel. The plot finds the barber struggling to adjust to life in the dictatorship that Tomania has become. He now faces extreme persecution as a result of Hynkel’s pathological antisemitism. The barber eventually ends up in a concentration camp with a former aid of Hynkel. Meanwhile, Hynkel planes to invade a neighboring nation, Osterlitch, but runs into a conflict with fellow dictator, Napolini. This conflict is not able to be resolved, so Hynkel decides to lie to Napolini and plans to invade Osterlitch within days. Before this could happen, the barber