Don't listen to the negative reviews

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

As a history teacher I love this documentary. It gives my students the opportunity to step into the the world of the early 20th century and understand a bit of the fast array of events that took place. Not only the First and Second World War, but also the Great Depression,the rise of totalitarian regimes and new methods of propaganda are explained through the life and work of Charlie Chaplin. A lot of young people have never seen a silent movie, but after seeing this film they often are interested to actually watch The Great Dictator and not only understand what it is about, but also how fascinating the story of its making was.

Tramp and the Dictator, The (2002) **** (out of 4)Charles Chaplin and Adolf Hitler were born days apart from one another but the two would collide in 1940 when the legendary director decided to make a spoof in The Great Dictator. The wonderful documentary digs into the making of that film and the impact it had on Chaplin for the rest of his career. It seems that every controversial movie ever made features different opinions on what actually happens as I've read that this film helped put a nail in Chaplin's career but this film points out that the movie did very well at the box office and much better than the director's previous films. Whatever the truth might be this is a very interesting documentary that features some great stories about the making of the film and Chaplin's opinions on making the movie had he actually known what Hitler was doing to millions of people. There's also some great stuff about Hitler apparently watching the film twice. One can only imagine seeing Hitler in a dark theater laughing at the spoof. Opinions seem to be mixed about the actual film but I think it's another great one from a director who made countless great movies. This documentary is a nice tribute to the movie and also features some behind the scenes footage, in color, showing Chaplin at work.

Kenneth Branagh narrates this documentary directed by film historian Kevin Brownlow and Michael Kloft about the making of Charles Chaplin's film The Great Dictator. The film contrasts the early lives of both Chaplin and Hitler in a way which demonstrates the uncanny similarities between them. Both were interested in the arts at young ages: Chaplin escaped early poverty by performing in music halls; Hitler was rejected as a painter, fell into despair, and became a vagabond who later joined the German army. The film traces Hitler's rise to power and shows archival photos of him with a full mustache in his twenties. It was Hitler who later adopted Chaplin's mustache due to the latter's world wide popularity, indicating Hitler's shrewishness as a public relations wizard. The film contains interesting anecdotes regarding Chaplin's decision to make the film and the political dilemmas he faced in this undertaking. Several well known figures from the film world as well as witnesses during the war years contribute their thoughts and reminiscences. Blacklisted writer Walter Bernstein, writer Ray Bradbury, film critic Stanley Kauffmann, writer Budd Schulberg, Nazi insider Reinhard Spitzy, and Chaplin's son Sidney are chief among them. The film was produced by Turner Classic Movies and is an excellent companion to watching a film that was daring for its time and still stands as an entertaining parody of Hitler's Germany. ***1/2 of 4 stars.

A fascinating documentary that explores the making of Charles Chaplin's first "talkie" The Great Dictator (1940) and draws many things that between Chaplin and Hitler had in common. The film contains colour home movie footage of the film's production which where shot by Charles' brother Sydney. These never before seen films were discovered by his daughter Victoria while looking though an old suitcase she found in the basement. The raw footage gives us an alternate insight to Chaplin's classic film which started production years before Adolph Hitler was seen as a major threat in the western world.