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.