Film Talk Tuesday: The Great Dictator (1940)

Watch The Great Dictator (1940) at home, and then come join us over Zoom to discuss it. This movie can be watched on Kanopy, a free movie streaming app which you can sign up for with your library card. A library staff member will lead the film discussion.

In his controversial masterpiece, Charlie Chaplin offers both a cutting caricature of Adolf Hitler and a sly tweaking of his own comic persona.

Chaplin, in his first pure talkie, brings his sublime physicality to two roles: the cruel yet clownish “Tomainian” dictator and the kindly Jewish barber who is mistaken for him. Featuring Jack Oakie and Paulette Goddard in stellar supporting turns, The Great Dictator, boldly going after the fascist leader before the U.S.’s official entry into World War II, is an audacious amalgam of politics and slapstick that culminates in Chaplin’s famously impassioned speech.

Register for this event using this link here.