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 (uncredited)

Writer:

Charles Chaplin

Stars:

Edna Purviance, Charles Chaplin, Syd Chaplin

Cast

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

slapstick comedy | capture | behind enemy lines | limburger | gas mask | 

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Taglines:

A 3 REEL ASSAULT ON THE HUN (Print ad- Watertown Daily Times, ((Watertown NY)) 17 December 1918)

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Genres:

Comedy | War

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 October 1918 (USA)

Also Known As:

Charlot soldat

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 36 min (TCM print) 36 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First feature film directed by Charles Chaplin.

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Goofs

In the woods, where Chaplin runs to hide from the pursuing Germans, automobiles are visible traveling on a highway on the horizon.

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Quotes

Title Card: Peace on earth - good will to all mankind.

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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

Edited into The Chaplin Revue (1959)

User Reviews

Timeless

It's really amazing, how timeless this movie is. This is the first Chaplin movie that I saw (and I intend to watch more), I was blown away to how funny it still is, with already 100 years-old! I think that this is probably the main characteristic of a classic (or a masterpiece), it's a movie that doesn't matter when you see it, it stills good. And Shoulder Arms is definitely one of those cases.

The humor here is silly, but at the same time is also really clever, and this is my favorite aspect of it. At the end, is hard to judge something that old, I really don't have a clear path in mind of how to rate something like that, so I don't know, I might be being unfair or overvaluing it, so, anyway, you really must see it, in order to see what is your opinion about it.

Probably the only thing that bother me sometimes was the score, it repeats a lot, but, again, I get all the scenario behind the production (age, technology).

In short, I think that Shoulder Arms is a classic, timeless, and Chaplin is definitely one of the most influential people in film story, if you see guys like Johnny Depp out there today and likes it, you had to thanks Charlie for that.