The Great Dictator two-page discussion of the relationship between the barber and The Tramp appears in Eric L. Flom's book "Chaplin in the Sound Era: An Analysis of the Seven Talkies." He concludes: The film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Chaplin's half-brother Sydney directed and starred in a 1921 film called "King, Queen, Joker" in which, like Chaplin, he played the dual role of a barber and ruler of a country which is about to be overthrown. More than twenty years later, in 1947, Charles Chaplin was sued over alleged plagiarism with "The Great Dictator". Yet, apparently, neither the suing party nor
Roman dictator force of law, but in practice it was nearly always followed. Either consul could nominate a dictator. If both consuls were available, the dictator was chosen by agreement; if they could not agree, the consuls would draw lots for the responsibility. Finally, the "Comitia Curiata" would be called upon to confer "imperium" on the dictator through the passage of a law known as a "lex curiata de imperio". A dictator could be nominated for different reasons, or "causa". The three most common were "rei gerundae causa", "for the matter to be done", used in the case of dictators appointed to