This still from United Artists 1940 classic "The Great Dictator" depicts Charlie Chaplin (the film's writer and director) in full Nazi-parody regalia as dictator Adenoid Hynkel, leader of the fictional Tomania. He is surrounded by a group of military officers and soldiers in uniforms very similar to those worn in Nazi Germany. In lieu of the swastika symbol, a patch with 2 x's adorns the uniforms and the flags of the regime. Chaplin later commented that if he had known the full extent of the atrocities committed by Nazis, he would have been unable to mock the regime as he did.
Adapted from George Orwell’s classic 1949 dystopian novel by writer-director Michael Radford, 1984 stars John Hurt as Winston Smith, a drone in a totalitarian state dominated by the supreme figurehead, Big Brother. Attempting to break out, he has an affair with Julia (Suzanna Hamilton), a rebellious sensualist, but then has to deal with O’Brien (Richard Burton), a powerful tool of the state. Winston and Julia are tracked down by the Thought Police and "re-educated" into loving the State. The film’s producer Simon Perry describes 1984 as both a cautionary tale and a wicked satire. The film is haunting and disquieting, but its central theme is one of heroic struggle. Director Michael Radford sees George Orwell as “fundamentally the champion of decency and the freedom of the individual against the state.”
