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 held by the dictator, Quintus Fulvius Flaccus, unless he agreed to withdraw his name from the list of candidates for the consulship. A dictator was expected to resign his office upon the successful completion of the task for which he was appointed, or at the expiration of six months. These sharp limitations were intended to prevent the dictatorship from too closely resembling the absolute power of the Roman kings. But the six month limitation may have been dispensed with when the Senate deemed it expedient; no consuls are known for the years 333, 324, 309, and 301, and it is