The Great Dictator late 1920s. "The Great Dictator" does feature several scenes without dialogue more in keeping with Chaplin's earlier films. The score was written and directed by Meredith Willson, later known as composer and librettist of the 1957 musical comedy "The Music Man": According to Willson, the scene in which Chaplin shaves a customer to "Brahms' Hungarian Dance" No. 5 had been filmed before he arrived, using a phonograph record for timing. Willson's task was to re-record it with the full studio orchestra, fitting the music to the action. They had planned to do it painstakingly, recording eight measures or less at
Roman dictator the earliest period, the official title of the dictator throughout the history of the Republic was "magister populi", or "master of the infantry". His lieutenant, the "magister equitum", was the "master of the horse" (that is, of the cavalry). However, the use of "dictator" to refer to the "magister populi" seems to have been widespread from a very early period. The appointment of a dictator involved three steps: first, the Senate would issue a decree known as a "senatus consultum", authorizing one of the consuls to nominate a dictator. Technically, a "senatus consultum" was advisory, and did not have the