GREAT DICTATOR

Original 1956 Re-Release British 30 inch x 40 inch Quad Poster for the 1940 Charlie Chaplin Comedy THE GREAT DICTATOR starring Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Reginald Gardiner, Henry Daniell, Billy Gilbert, Henry Bergman, Grace Hayle, Carter De Haven and Chester Conklin.

In this controversial masterpiece, Charlie Chaplin offers both a cutting caricature of Adolf Hitler and a sly tweaking of his own comic persona. Chaplin, in his first pure talkie, brings his sublime physicality to two roles: the cruel yet clownish “Tomainian” dictator and the kindly Jewish barber who is mistaken for him.

Poster art by Léo Kouper.
Léo Kouper is a French illustrator and poster designer, born in Paris on August 20, 1926. He is the author of numerous cinema and theatre posters most notably for his works devoted to the releases of Charlie Chaplin’s films in the 1950s. After studying at Chaptal College, interrupted by the war, Léo Kouper took refuge in Auvergne. At the end of the war, he took correspondence drawing lessons. These courses brought him some rudiments of studies, but it was from the great poster designer Hervé Morvan (1917-1980), his mentor, that he learned most of his work.

Printed by Stafford & Co. Ltd., Netherfield, Nottingham and London

The poster is in fine unfolded (rolled) condition.