The Great Dictator a ruthless fascist dictator and a persecuted Jewish barber. "The Great Dictator" was popular with audiences, becoming Chaplin's most commercially successful film. Modern critics have also praised it as a historically significant film and an important work of satire, and in 1997, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". "The Great Dictator" was nominated for five Academy Awards – Outstanding Production, Best Actor, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Supporting Actor for Jack Oakie, and Best Music (Original Score). In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin
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