The Great Dictator is a loosely veiled play on Hitler's dictatorship of Germany. As much of the rest of the world, especially the United States, was trying to ignore the German threat and the persecution of the Jews, Charlie Chaplin spoke out loudly against the injustice.

In his story, Chaplin plays two roles: the barber with amnesia and Adernoid Hynkel the dictator of Tomania. The barber was injured in the First World War when he was saving Commander Schultz's life. Eventually, he leaves the mental institution and returns home without any knowledge of the present situation in which Jews are being persecuted. His ignorance means that he insults the police and begins to cause problems in the area. In the meantime, Hynkel who looks like the barber is trying to take over the world. Finally, the barber and Schultz escape from a concentration camp only to return to...