Original Trailer
The Great Dictator(1940)
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1940 · FILM
The Great Dictator
A memory‑lost Jewish veteran is thrust into a chaotic interwar world where he must navigate absurd dictators and looming conflict to prevent another war, all while battling his own forgotten past.
“Once again - the whole world laughs!”
ComedyDramaWar
Synopsis
Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel
Credits
Actors
Editor
Director of Photography
Writers
Director
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 68+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Willard NicoShot by Karl Struss
Box Office
1940 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 5.5× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$11.0M
Budget$2.0M
Worldwide gross$11.0M
break-even (2.5×)
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Charlie Chaplin - Der große Diktatorde
- Der große Diktatorde
- El gran dictadores
- Le dictateurfr
- Il grande dittatoreit
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Cast & Crew
68 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Charlie Chaplin
as Adenoid Hynkel, Dictator of Tomania / A Jewish Barber
Charles Chaplin
as A Jewish Barber
Paulette Goddard
as Hannah
Jack Oakie
as Benzino Napaloni, Dictator of Bacteria
Reginald Gardiner
as Commander Schultz
Henry Daniell
as Garbitsch
Billy Gilbert
as Field Marshal Herring
Grace Hayle
as Madame Napaloni
Carter Dehaven
as Spook
Maurice Moscovitch
as Mr. Jaeckel
Emma Dunn
as Mrs. Jaeckel
Bernard Gorcey
as Mr. Mann
Supporting cast
53Paul Weigel
as Mr. Agar
Chester Conklin
as Barber's Customer
Esther Michelson
as Jewish Woman
Hank Mann
as Storm Trooper Stealing Fruit
Florence Wright
as Blonde Secretary
Eddie Gribbon
as Tomanian Storm Trooper
Rudolph Anders
as Tomanian Commandant at Osterlich / Robert O. Davis
Eddie Dunn
as Whitewashed Storm Trooper
Nita Pike
as Secretary
George Lynn
as Commander of Storm Troopers
Wheeler Dryden
as Heinrich Schtick / Translator (voice)
Fred Aldrich
as Soldier (uncredited)
Richard Alexander
as Tomainian Prison Guard in 1918 (uncredited)
Sig Arno
as Compact Parachute Inventor (uncredited)
William Arnold
as Tomanian Officer (uncredited)
Joe Bordeaux
as Ghetto Extra (uncredited)
Don Brodie
as Reporter from International Press (uncredited)
Gino Corrado
as Sculptor (uncredited)
John Davidson
as Hospital Superintendent (uncredited)
Max Davidson
as Jewish Man (uncredited)
Lew Davis
as Hospital Orderly (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty
as Friendly Storm Trooper (uncredited)
Bud Geary
as Storm Trooper (uncredited)
Sam Harris
as Officer (uncredited)
Eddie Hart
as Policeman (uncredited)
Leyland Hodgson
as Big Bertha Gunnery Officer (uncredited)
William Irving
as Man Seated on Bed (uncredited)
Charles Irwin
as Banquet Butler (uncredited)
Ethelreda Leopold
as Blonde Secretary (uncredited)
Torben Meyer
as Bald Barbershop Customer (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse
as Hynkel's Staff Officer (uncredited)
Nellie V Nichols
as Jewish Woman (uncredited)
Manuel Paris
as Dance Extra at Ball (uncredited)
Jack Perrin
as Jewish Man (uncredited)
Lucien Prival
as Storm Trooper Officer (uncredited)
Cyril Ring
as Officer Extra (uncredited)
Henry Roquemore
as Soldier (uncredited)
Tiny Sandford
as Soldier in 1918 Tomainia (uncredited)
Hans Schumm
as Soldier (uncredited)
Harry Semels
as Jewish Fruit Stand Proprietor (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan
as Prison Guard (uncredited)
Carl Voss
as Officer (uncredited)
Leo White
as Hynkel's Barber (uncredited)
Harry Wilson
as Soldier in Field (uncredited)
Hans Conried
as Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Francis Ernest Drake
as Storm Trooper (uncredited)
Francesca Santoro
as Aggie (uncredited)
Leonard Walker
as Conductor (uncredited)
Finn Zirzow
as Soldier (uncredited)
Wyn Ritchie Evans
as Woman in Crowd (uncredited)
James Carlisle
as Ball Guest (uncredited)
Oliver Cross
as Ball Guest (uncredited)
Herschel Graham
as Soldier (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
1Other crew
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Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
MPA·NRUSRe-ratedBBFC·PGGBRe-ratedFSK·FSK 6DERe-ratedACB·GAURe-ratedEirin·GJPRe-ratedKAVI·SFIRe-ratedCNC·TPFRRe-ratedICAA·AESRe-ratedItaly·TITRe-ratedKijkwijzer·ALNLRe-ratedKMRB·ALLKRRe-ratedCZECH REPUBLIC·12+Re-ratedDENMARK·ARe-ratedPORTUGAL·M/12Re-ratedRUSSIA·6+Re-ratedSWEDEN·7Re-rated
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Trailers
Browse all →Original Trailer
The Great Dictator(1940)
THE GREAT DICTATOR Trailer (1940) - The Criterion Collection
The Great Dictator(1940)
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