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Charlie Chaplin had more in common with Adolf Hitler than a small moustache; both men were born within a week of each other in April 1889 and they both endured a tough childhood. Both men changed from being the best loved to the most hated men in their time.
The Nazis mistakenly believed Chaplin to be Jewish. In a 1934 anti-Semitic propaganda leaflet Chaplin is described as a “disgusting Jewish acrobat”. Chaplin knew about the pamphlet and it is believed that it prompted him to make The Great Dictator, an incredibly daring film that laughed in the face of the totalitarian regimes and the hardship they inflicted.
The documentary features black-and-white archive footage of Hitler’s rallies and excerpts from The Great Dictator, interspersed with interviews with film critics, historians and a contemporary of Hitler. However the most remarkable footage is some colour film, showing the making of The Great Dictator, which was found in a suitcase in the cellar of Chaplin’s Swiss home.
The film, hailed as one of the most significant finds in recent cinematic history, reveals that Chaplin planned a completely different ending to his satire on Nazi Germany. The famous last reel in which Chaplin looks into the camera and makes a heartfelt plea for world peace, was actually an 11th-hour innovation to resolve technical problems.
Shot by Chaplin’s elder brother Sydney the footage also challenges the idea that the Oscar winner was a mild-mannered professional who always kept his cool. At one stage, he is shown berating an assistant director who failed to complete a scene on time.
The Great Dictator ended up making twice as much as Chaplin’s other films which were already breaking all box-office records at the time. But did Hitler ever see it? Screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who was present at the Nuremberg trials, noticed that the title was mentioned twice in a list of films that had been sent to Hitler; moreover, an eyewitness who was a member of Hitler’s inner circle at the time is absolutely convinced that he did see it.