Shoulder Arms (1918)

Charlie is a boot camp private who has a dream of being a hero who goes on a daring mission behind enemy lines.

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin

Stars:

Edna Purviance, Charles Chaplin, Syd Chaplin

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Edna Purviance	...	The Girl
Charles Chaplin	...	Doughboy
Syd Chaplin	...	Charlie's Comrade / The Kaiser (as Sydney Chaplin)
Loyal Underwood	...	Short German Officer
Henry Bergman	...	Fat Whiskered Soldier / The Kaiser's General / Bartender
Tom Wilson	...	Dumb German Wood-Cutter
Albert Austin	...	American Soldier / Clean Shaven German Soldier / Bearded German Soldier
Jack Wilson	...	Crown Prince

Storyline

Charlie is in boot camp in the "awkward squad." Once in France he gets no letters from home. He finally gets a package containing limburger cheese which requires a gas mask and which he throws over into the German trench. He goes "over the top" and captures thirteen Germans ("I surrounded them"), then volunteers to wander through the German lines disguised as a tree trunk. With the help of a French girl he captures the Kaiser and the Crown Prince and is given a statue and victory parade in New York and then ... fellow soldiers wake him from his dream.

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Plot Keywords:

capture | limburger | behind enemy lines | gas mask | propaganda | 

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 October 1918 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chaplin, a katona

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min 45 min 36 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) (1959 re-issue) Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many in Hollywood were nervous that one of their most famous peers was going to tackle the subject of WWI. It was released shortly before the Armistice so it did not help boost national morale. But it did end up as one of Charles Chaplin's most popular films and it was particularly popular with returning doughboys.

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Goofs

Charlie, disguised as a tree, enters a pipe to escape a German. When the German tries to pull Charlie out he seperates the lower part of the tree costume along with Charlie's shoes. When Charlie emerges from the other end of the pipe he is still wearing shoes.

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Quotes

Officer: How did you capture thirteen?
Recruit: I surrounded them.

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Crazy Credits

The short opens with a title card showing a caricature of Chaplin dressed as a World War I soldier, and text reading "Shoulder Arms Written and Produced by" followed by a blank space. A live action hand appears and points to the title, then the drawing, then uses a piece of white chalk to sign "Charles Chaplin" in the blank space, then points to the caricature one more time.

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Connections

Featured in Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)

User Reviews

Little Man, What Now?

Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp or Little Man character wins World War I, called The Great War at the time, single handedly, even capturing the Kaiser, something the entire Allied armed forces were unable to do. Too bad it all turns out to be a dream, which is somewhat of a cop out and the weakest part of this mesmerizing silent short (almost a feature film at 46 minutes).

There are inventive gags galore including Charlie having to put on a gas mask to eat Limburger cheese sent from home, then using the cheese as a weapon against the Germans; Charlie sleeping underwater in a flooded trench next to a soldier he continues to annoy; Charlie disguising himself as a tree--one of his best sketches ever--and Charlie pretending to beat up his friend who has become a POW, then hugging him when the enemy is out of sight.

One amazing feature is how much Charlie, when he is behind enemy lines dressed as a German, resembles Hitler over ten years before Hitler and his Nazi thugs rose to dominate German politics. Obviously Hitler patterned his appearance after Charlie's from this film.