The Great Dictator: Chaplin’s Act of Artistic Nobility | Dissident Cinema

Filmspotting

First up in Filmspotting’s Dissident Cinema Marathon, Adam and Josh discuss Charlie Chaplin’s 1940 satire The Great Dictator. They explore how comedy becomes a weapon against fascism, the film’s surprising prescience and moral clarity, and the risks Chaplin took by calling out authoritarian power before much of the world was willing to do so.

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Links:

-Filmspotting Marathons

https://www.filmspotting.net/marathons

Feedback:

-Email us at feedback@filmspotting.net⁠⁠

-⁠⁠⁠⁠Ask Us Anything⁠⁠⁠⁠ and we might answer your question in bonus content.

Support:

-Join the Filmspotting Family for bonus episodes and archive access.
https://filmspottingfamily.com

-Filmspotting Shop for T-shirts and more.
https://www.filmspotting.net/shop⁠⁠⁠

Follow:

-Watch Filmspotting on YouTube:

https://youtube.com/filmspotting

-Adam/Filmspotting:

Letterboxd | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky

-Josh/LarsenOnFilm:

Letterboxd | Instagram | Facebook | Bluesky

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2026-05-04 40 min Transcript

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