October 15, 1940: "The Great Dictator" Premieres

October 15, 1940: The Great Dictator premieres, at a time in World War II when things are looking good for the real-life dictators. Charlie Chaplin directs, and plays 2 roles: A poor Jewish man identified only as "The Barber," for his profession, and living in the fictional European country of Tomania (a play on "ptomaine poisoning"); and that nation's dictator, Adenoid Hynkel, who physically resembles Adolf Hitler, except for having curly hair like Chaplin's silent-film era "Tramp" character.

Indeed, when Hitler first became famous, he was said to look like Chaplin, because of the small black mustache. They were born 4 days apart: Chaplin on April 16, 1889 in Walworth, South London; and Hitler on April 20, 1889 in Branau am Inn, northern Austria, on the border with Germany.

Paulette Goddard, Chaplin's real-life wife at the time, plays Hannah, the Barber's girlfriend, and would turn out to be the film's last surviving castmember, living until 1990. Jack Oakie plays Benzino Napaloni, dictator of Tomania's ally, Bacteria. He is meant to invoke Italy's Benito Mussolini, although his name is also a nod toward the chemical benzene and an earlier European dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.

It is a "prince and the pauper" story: Through a turn of events involving an aide to Hynkel, remembering the Barber as a soldier who saved his life in the previous war, the Barber impersonates Hynkel, who is about to give a radio speech, to be broadcast all over the world (television is still in its infancy), which everyone believes will be justifying Tomania's upcoming invasion of Osterlich (based on Austria), an invasion that Bacteria supports. (Italy also borders Austria, and they've fought a few times.) But with Hynkel secretly out of the picture, the Barber, impersonating him, tells the world that he has had a change of heart, and wants peace, and human rights for all.

Chaplin, a known leftist, had continued to make silent films into the era of "talkies," and this was his 1st full-length sound film. Most people around the world had heard of him and, at the least, had seen his picture, but had never heard his voice before. So he put it to good use.

Chaplin would not have lasted in the #MeToo era. He married 4 times, to women then ages 16, 16, 26 (Goddard) and 18 (Oona O'Neill, daughter of playwright Eugene O'Neill, and together she and Charlie were grandparents of Game of Thrones actor Oona Chaplin). And he did get a little too friendly with the Soviet Union after World War II. But he was a pioneer of one of the great arts, and should still be celebrated.

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October 15, 1940 was a Tuesday. Baseball season had just ended, with the Cincinnati Reds defeating the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. Football was in midweek. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And the NHL season wouldn't begin until November 2. So there were no scores on this historic day.