Shoulder Arms (1918)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (writer)

Release Date:

20 October 1918 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Capture | Gas Mask | Behind Enemy Lines | Limburger | Espionage

Cast

Charles Chaplin	...	Recruit
Edna Purviance	...	French girl
Syd Chaplin	...	Sergeant / The Kaiser (as Sydney Chaplin)
Jack Wilson	...	German Crown Prince
Henry Bergman	...	Fat German sergeant / Field Marshal von Hindenburg
Albert Austin	...	U.S. soldier / German soldier / Kaiser's chauffeur
Tom Wilson	...	Training camp sergeant
John Rand	...	U.S. soldier
J. Parks Jones	...	U.S. soldier (as Park Jones)
Loyal Underwood	...	Short German officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
W.J. Allen	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
L.A. Blaisdell	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
A.D. Blake	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Cliff Brouwer	...	Soldier (uncredited)
E. Brucker	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
F.S. Colby	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Slim Cole	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Wellington Cross	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
E.H. Devere	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
C.L. Dice	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
M.J. Donovan	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Guy Eakins	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Fred Everman	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Mark Faber	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
G.A. Godfrey	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
Harry Goldman	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Soldier (uncredited)
W.E. Graham	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
James Griffin	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
William Hackett	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Ray Hanford	...	Soldier (uncredited)
A.J. Hartwell	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
O.E. Haskins	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Tom Hawley	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Carl Herlinger	...	Bit part (uncredited)
W. Herron	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
Ed Hunt	...	Soldier (uncredited)
E.B. Johnson	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Charles Knuske	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Sam Lewis	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Tom Madden	...	Soldier (uncredited)
G.E. Marygold	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
Clyde McAtee	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Robert McKenzie	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
A. North	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Louis Orr	...	Soldier (uncredited)
J.T. Powell	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
Jack Shalford	...	Soldier (uncredited)
J.H. Shewry	...	Bit part in street scene (uncredited)
Joe Van Meter	...	Soldier (uncredited)
W.G. Wagner	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
Tiny Ward	...	Soldier (uncredited)
J.H. Warne	...	Motorcyclist (uncredited)
Jack Willis	...	Soldier / Bit part in street scene (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Chaplin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Charles Chaplin		writer

Produced by
Charles Chaplin	....	producer

Original Music by
Charles Chaplin		(1957)

Cinematography by
Roland Totheroh

Film Editing by
Charles Chaplin		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Charles D. Hall

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Reisner	....	assistant director

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Wilson	....	second camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mother Vinot	....	seamstress (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Toraichi Kono	....	driver: Mr. Chaplin (uncredited)

Other crew
Nellie Bly Baker	....	secretary: Mr. Chaplin (uncredited)
Elsie Codd	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Tom Harrington	....	assistant: Mr. Chaplin (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Charles Chaplin Productions

Distributors

• First National Exhibitors' Circuit (1918) (USA) (theatrical)
• MK2 Diffusion (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Koch Vision (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Reelclassicdvd.com (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

46 min | 36 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

Originally planned at five reels; outtakes were preserved in Chaplin's private collection. True Boardman, Marion Feducha and Frankie Lee played Chaplin's sons in cut domestic scenes intended for the beginning of the film. Peggy Prevost and Nina Trask portrayed draft board clerks, Alf Reeves a draft board sergeant and Albert Austin a doctor in a cut scene at the draft board office.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Featured in Cineastes en acció (2005)

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.