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 was nearly absolute. However, as a rule he could not exceed the mandate for which he was appointed; a dictator nominated to hold the "comitia" could not then take up a military command against the wishes of the Senate. Some dictators appointed to a military command also performed other duties, such as holding the "comitia", or driving a nail into the wall of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus; but presumably they did so with the Senate's consent. The "imperium" of the other magistrates was not vacated by the nomination of a dictator. They continued to perform the duties of