October 20, 2015

SHOULDER ARMS, released October 20th, 1918

Chaplin's war comedy, released 22 days before the Armistice was signed, became one of his most successful and important films.

Chaplin signs the opening title card and then mimics shooting at the Tramp.
"The Awkward Squad"
Soldier Charlie dreams about home.
Chaplin deleted this "three-on-a-match" sequence when he re-released the film as part of
the Chaplin Revue in 1959. 
Filming this scene in the tree costume was "anything but comfortable"
due to the heat wave in Los Angeles that summer.
Charlie awakens in an abandoned cottage to find Edna, a French girl, tending
to a wound on his hand.
Albert Austin (left) and Henry Bergman each played at least three roles in the film.
 Syd Chaplin (right) portrays both Charlie's army pal and the Kaiser (above).
He can also be seen as the latter in The Bond, a short film Chaplin made
 for the Liberty Bond effort that was released shortly before Shoulder Arms
Charlie helps Edna disguise herself as a German soldier.
Charlie captures the Kaiser, or was it all a dream?

1 comment:

  1. This is one of my favorites of his -it moves fast and there are so many funny bits of business in it!

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