Chaplin's half-brother Sydney directed and starred in a 1921 film called King, Queen, Joker in which, like Charles 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. Konrad Bercovici claimed that he had created ideas such as Charles Chaplin playing a dictator and a dance with a globe, and that Charles Chaplin had discussed his five-page outline for a screenplay with him for several hours.[35] Yet, apparently, neither the suing party nor Charles Chaplin himself brought up Sydney Chaplin's King, Queen, Joker of the silent era.[59] The case, Bercovici v. Chaplin, was settled, with Charles Chaplin paying Bercovici $95,000 ($1.3 million in 2023).[60] In return, Bercovici conceded that Chaplin was the sole author. Chaplin insisted in his autobiography that he had been the sole writer of the movie's script. He agreed to a settlement, because of his "unpopularity in the States at that moment and being under such court pressure, [he] was terrified, not knowing what to expect next."[61]
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