The Great DictatorPG
After serving in World War I, a Jewish barber spends years recovering in an army hospital, unaware that a ruthless, anti-Semitic dictator – who happens to look just like him – has risen to power. When he finally returns home, he’s shocked by the brutal changes in his once-familiar neighbourhood and joins a courageous young woman in resisting the new regime. In this daring and controversial masterpiece, Charlie Chaplin delivers both a scathing parody of Adolf Hitler and a clever reinvention of his own iconic comic persona.
Join us on Thursday 8th May (3.30pm) for a screening introduced by freelance critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson.
Reviews
‘Charlie Chaplin’s first talkie, made over a decade after the introduction of sound, stands as a brave and controversial piece of filmmaking.’
★★★★
Jamie Russell, BBC
Pamela Hutchinson is a freelance critic and film historian. Her books include BFI Film Classics on The Red Shoes and Pandora’s Box. She is a columnist for Sight and Sound and she runs the silent film website SilentLondon.co.uk.
Sorry - you missed it!
We showed The Great Dictator between May 4, 2025 and May 8, 2025.
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1h 47mPlan your visit
Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road. We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We don’t show adverts, just a couple of trailers, so don't be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!