feelsalike.comSign in
The Great Dictator poster

Movies that feel likeThe Great Dictator (1940)

Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.

If you loved The Great Dictator, the closest films we have are Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), The Bed Sitting Room (1969) and M*A*S*H (1970). All three share The Great Dictator's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is I'm All Right Jack (1959).

πŸ… 92% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8.4 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Charlie Chaplinwittyplayfulbleakcerebraldarkly funny
9 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max Β· Amazon Prime Video Β· Criterion Channel

Can't choose? Answer three questions and get one movie for tonight.

See it on the Mood Map

When is The Great Dictator streaming? β†’

If The Great Dictator hit the spot, these will too

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb poster
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.3comedy Β· war

Both are built on the same subject: satire

The difference: Trades the ideas of The Great Dictator for an angle of its own

After the insane General Jack D. Ripper initiates a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, a war room full of politicians, generals and a Russian diplomat all frantically try to stop it.

The Bed Sitting Room poster
The Bed Sitting Room
1969 Β· dir. Richard Lester
πŸ… 64%β˜… 6.1comedy Β· science fictionPrime Video

Witty where it counts, playful underneath

The difference: The scrappier of the two with critics

In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.

M*A*S*H poster
M*A*S*H
1970 Β· dir. Robert Altman
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.3comedy Β· drama Β· war

Bleak and darkly funny in the same breath

The difference: Easier on the ideas than The Great Dictator

One of the world's most acclaimed comedies, M*A*S*H focuses on three Korean War Army surgeons brilliantly brought to life by Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Elliott Gould. Though highly skilled and deeply dedicated, they adopt a hilarious, lunatic lifestyle as an antidote to the tragedies of their Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and in the process infuriate Army bureaucrats. Robert Duvall, Gary Burghoff and Sally Kellerman co-star as a sanctimonious Major, an other-worldly Corporal, and a self-righteous yet lusty nurse.

Duck Soup poster
Duck Soup
1933 Β· dir. Leo McCarey
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.7comedy Β· war

The same preoccupation in both: dictator

Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.

Brazil poster
Brazil
1985 Β· dir. Terry Gilliam
πŸ… 98%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· science fiction

One thread runs through both: satire

The difference: Sits closer to science fiction than The Great Dictator does

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

To Be or Not to Be poster
To Be or Not to Be
1942 Β· dir. Ernst Lubitsch
πŸ… 96%β˜… 8.1comedy Β· war Β· romanceMax

Two things both keep coming back to: nazi and jewish ghetto

The difference: Leans harder into romance than The Great Dictator does

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

Monsieur Verdoux poster
Monsieur Verdoux
1947 Β· dir. Charlie Chaplin
πŸ… 97%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· crime Β· dramaMax

The same hand behind both of them: Charlie Chaplin

The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine.

Delicatessen poster
Delicatessen
1991 Β· dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
πŸ… 90%β˜… 7.5comedy Β· science fiction Β· fantasy

Comedy with a pulse of ideas, in both cases

The difference: Made in the 1990s, in a different era of the craft

In a post-apocalyptic world, the residents of an apartment above the butcher shop receive an occasional delicacy of meat, something that is in low supply. A young man new in town falls in love with the butcher's daughter, which causes conflicts in her family, who need the young man for other business-related purposes.

Jojo Rabbit poster
Jojo Rabbit
2019 Β· dir. Taika Waititi
πŸ… 81%β˜… 7.9comedy Β· war Β· dramaRent or buy

Both keep coming back to the same thing: world war ii

Jojo, a lonely German boy during World War II has his world shaken when he learns that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Influenced by a buffoonish imaginary version of Adolf Hitler, he begins to question his beliefs and confront the conflict between propaganda and his own humanity.

The Producers poster
The Producers
1968 Β· dir. Mel Brooks
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5comedy

Common ground: nazi

A conniving Broadway producer and his meek accountant plan to profit from charming wealthy old biddies to invest in an overbudget production, and then put on a sure-fire disaster, so nobody will ask for their money back β€” and what's more disastrous than a tasteless musical celebrating Adolf Hitler.

I'm All Right Jack poster
I'm All Right Jack
1959 Β· dir. John Boulting
πŸ… 85%β˜… 7.1comedy

Both lean on wit more than on war

Naive Stanley Windrush looks for a career in a family business. Much to his dismay, he finds work at a munitions factory where he has to start from the bottom, while both the management and the labor union use him as a tool in their fight for power.

Ninotchka poster
Ninotchka
1939 Β· dir. Ernst Lubitsch
πŸ… 95%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· romance

Comedy built on play, twice over

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

In the mood for more witty?

all witty movies β†’

The best-reviewed films that share The Great Dictator’s defining feeling.