The Great Dictator (1940)
Comedy, War • 2h 8m
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert, Grace Hayle, Carter DeHaven, Maurice Moscovitch, Emma Dunn, Bernard Gorcey, Paul Weigel, Chester Conklin, Esther Michelson, Hank Mann, Florence Wright, Eddie Gribbon, Rudolph Anders, Eddie Dunn, Nita Pike, George Lynn, Wheeler Dryden, Fred Aldrich, Richard Alexander, Sig Arno, William Arnold, Joe Bordeaux, Don Brodie, Gino Corrado, John Davidson, Max Davidson, Lew Davis, Pat Flaherty, Bud Geary, Sam Harris, Eddie Hart, Leyland Hodgson, William Irving, Charles Irwin, Ethelreda Leopold, Torben Meyer, Bert Moorhouse, Nellie V. Nichols, Manuel París, Jack Perrin, Lucien Prival, Cyril Ring, Henry Roquemore, Tiny Sandford, Hans Schumm, Harry Semels, Charles Sullivan, Carl Voss, Leo White, Harry Wilson, Hans Conried, Francis Ernest Drake, Francesca Santoro, Leonard Walker, Finn Zirzow, Wyn Ritchie Evans, James Carlisle, Oliver Cross, Herschel Graham
About the film
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.
- Featured Lists
- National Film Registry
Year of Induction: 1997
- TSPDT
- 2026: #2102025: #2102024: #2142023: #2102022: #210
- Alternative Titles
- Charlie Chaplin: The Great Dictator
Director: Richard Brooks
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Elaine May
Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:
The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.
Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K / Capelight 4K
1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered
Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice
Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible
Director: Dennis Hopper
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.
DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
WB 4K
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Director: Charlie Chaplin
1928 version: Image Entertainment DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
1969 version: Criterion Blu-ray > UK Artificial Eye Blu-ray, see DVDBeaver caps.
Japan Kadokawa Blu-ray is the same as AE BD and inferior to Criterion too
Director: Charlie Chaplin
1936 version: Image Entertainment DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · nitrateville.com (opens in a new tab)
Cut info: https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=31209
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Theatrical: Image Entertainment LaserDisc International: Criterion Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2000 Image Entertainment DVD
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
4k restoration. Superior to Germany Kinowelt or Japan Kadokawa, see caps-a-holic
2000 Image Entertainment DVD
Director: Charlie Chaplin
BFI or Flicker Alley Charlie Chaplin Mutual Comedies Blu-ray boxsets
BFI or Flicker Alley Charlie Chaplin Mutual Comedies Blu-ray boxsets use the same restoration, no comparison available
BFI Blu-ray has commentaries while Flicker Alley doesn't
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
And it has both 1925 version and 1942 version
Director: Charlie Chaplin
1921 version: Image Entertainment DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
1923 version: Image Entertainment DVD. 1976 version: Criterion Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
1923 version: Image Entertainment DVD 1976 version: Criterion Blu-ray
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion, 2k transfer
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: William Dieterle
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
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