ON TCM: THE LITTLE TRAMP VS. HITLERBY MARK MCGUIRE STAFF WRITER.(TELEVISION)

For a man who built his career in silent films, Charlie Chaplin had a lot to say.

But while Chaplin's Little Tramp had always struggled against economic hardship and heartless bureaucracy, the filmmaker waited until after the advent of sound to make his gutsiest statement: his 1940 comedy ``The Great Dictator,'' which had the audacity to poke fun at Adolf Hitler.

Chaplin's willingness to lay his career on the line is the recurring theme of ``The Tramp & the Dictator,'' an engrossing new documentary debuting at 8 p.m. Tuesday on Turner Classic Movies. ("The Great Dictator" will immediately follow at 9 p.m.) Produced by Kevin Brownlow and narrated by Kenneth Branagh, it includes rare color footage of the director shot by Chaplin's brother, Sydney.

One of the film's numerous …