The Great Dictator who view the barber as different include Stephen Weissman, whose book "Chaplin: A Life" speaks of Chaplin "abandoning traditional pantomime technique and his little tramp character". DVD reviewer Mark Bourne asserts Chaplin's stated position: "Granted, the barber bears more than a passing resemblance to the Tramp, even affecting the familiar bowler hat and cane. But Chaplin was clear that the barber is not the Tramp and "The Great Dictator" is not a Tramp movie." "The Scarecrow Movie Guide" also views the barber as different. Annette Insdorf, in her book "Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust" (2003), writes that "There was
The Great Dictator throughout 1938 and 1939, and began filming in September 1939, one week after the beginning of World War II. He finished filming almost six months later. The 2002 TV documentary on the making of the film, "The Tramp and the Dictator", presented newly discovered footage of the film production (shot by Chaplin's elder half-brother Sydney) which showed Chaplin's initial attempts at the film's ending, filmed before the fall of France. According to "The Tramp and the Dictator", Chaplin arranged to send the film to Hitler, and an eyewitness confirmed he saw it. Hitler's architect and friend Albert Speer denied that