It remains a powerful and important work, especially given how frequently people in positions of authority attempt to take away what makes us human.

Shortly after Britain declared war on Nazi Germany in September 1939, Charlie Chaplin started work on his next movie. He was influenced by the widespread belief that he and Adolf Hitler shared certain traits—beyond just a similar mustache, there were parallels in their backgrounds—and wanted to mock and criticize the German leader and fascism directly. In _The Great Dictator_, Adenoid Hynkel (played by Chaplin) is…