This was Chaplin’s first true talkie (and his biggest hit), and it’s also an incredibly brave and progressive film that seems specifically designed to irritate Hitler personally (…). Made as the war got under way, Chaplin later said that had he known of the full extent of the Nazi horrors, he wouldn’t have deemed them a laughing matter. But we can be thankful that he did: not only did this hammer Hitler’s reputation, but it was also one of the first Hollywood films to tackle antisemitism. In a climate of US isolationism, Chaplin’ savagely funny film painted Hitler as someone to be mocked. It’s a film that, particularly in its legendary closing speech, bares its teeth not only to smile but to bite. — Phelim O’Neill

J’ai beau chercher, je ne trouve pas la faute de goût, l’erreur dans la distribution, le déraillement de l’histoire, le tempo qui s’affaiblit. Tout est au contraire millimétré, comme conçu en une sorte de bloc, par la volonté d’un démiurge, d’un magicien. — Alligator