The Great Dictator is an interesting combination of both a silent film and a talkie. Charlie Chaplin is best known for his performance in silent films and his amazing ability to communicate thoughts and emotions with the movement of his body. He uses that talent in this film even though there are parts where talking is used.

Because audible words are only used through a portion of this film, many of the most important parts are designated by the use of words. The brilliance of the film and Chaplin's performance specifically is that the use of words in no way takes away from the powerful symbolism of his movements. Although Chaplin plays both Hynkel and the barber, the way they move is one of the distinguishing characteristics of them both. For example, even when Chaplin is the barber dressed as Hynkel, he still moves...