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The Great Dictator (2 Disc Special Edition) | Year: 1940 Classification: Comedy Directed: - Charles Chaplin Actors/Actresses: - Charles Chaplin - Paulette Goddard A flawed classic receives a good treatment on DVD. After my gross disappointment at the edition of The Gold Rush that's part of this series, I'm happy to discover that the other releases seem to be much better. The Great Dictator has never been one of my favourite Chaplin films, probably because it's so dependent on its own specific timeframe. Many details in this film do hinder its effect: Chaplin's very theatrical dialogue delivery, complete with a British accent which jars mightily with the German and Jewish characters he's playing, especially when mixed with the hilarious "faux German" he employs for the role of Adenoid Hynkel; the corny music, which verges on the melodramatic and sounds syrupy especially during dramatic climaxes; the wandering central narrative; and the final speech, where overly florid writing and delivery make the central message sound less heartfelt than it could have bee dialogue delivered by the method's inventor:<BR>" Now, it is vital to my process, Sir Edmund, that each dog be wounded with the *same knife*, as these three animals have been, under my instructions, some three days ago. Now, the animals are then to be conveyed aboard one of His Majesty's ships, uh, under the supervision of a designated officer, whose task it is to *prevent the wound from healing*. Now the knife, however, would remain here, in London, and at *precisely noon*, each day, is to be plunged into the Powder of Sympathy, which would immediately aggravate the wound, so that each dog, no matter how many thousands of miles away he may be on his particular vessel, would begin to howl... thus." Clearly, there was a need for a practical solution to t ommanding We n versions on DVD Buy The Great Dictator at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Great Dictator Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Great Dictator This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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