The Great Dictator (Blu-Ray)

In his controversial masterpiece The Great Dictator, 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.

Special features:
– New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
– New audio commentary by Charlie Chaplin historians Dan Kamin and Hooman Mehran
– The Tramp and the Dictator (2001), a documentary narrated by filmmaker Kenneth Branagh and featuring interviews with author Ray Bradbury, director Sidney Lumet, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., screenwriter Budd Schulberg, and a host of others
– Two new visual essays, by Chaplin archivist Cecilia Cenciarelli and Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance
– On-set, colour production footage shot by Chaplin’s half-brother, Sydney
– Deleted scene from Chaplin’s 1919 film Sunnyside
– Theatrical trailer
– PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Wood and a 1940 article by Chaplin on the film