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
Studebaker Dictator was a Chancellor in 1927, too, but that year only. In June 1929, Studebaker began offering an 8-cylinder engine for the Dictator series (221 cubic inches, 70 bhp at 3,200 rpm), designed by Barney Roos, though the old 6-cylinder option was continued for another year. Dictators were available in a full range of body-styles. In retrospect, the choice of the model name might seem unfortunate. One writer began a history of American perceptions of dictators with the introduction of the Studebaker Dictator. He noted there were political problems in the name 'Dictator', making it unusable in European monarchies. The same