Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Shoulder Arms" is an American silent (don't be fooled by the music) movie, black-and-white obviously and stars Charlie Chaplin as writer, director and lead actor. He cast his regular Edna Purviance as lead lady and half-brother Syd is in here again as well. It is not among his shorter works at 45 minutes, but also not among his longest films, not even close. In my opinion, the same is true when it comes to quality. Not one of Chaplin's best, not one of his worst. The year is 1918, so this one will soon have its 100th anniversary. It was made at the end of World War I and Germany are already the enemies in this film. Yep, Chaplin made (like the Stooges) a couple anti-German propaganda films, and here his target are still the enemy forces from World War I, later on from World War II when he went more into full features. I believe the action in "Shoulder Arms" is fairly uninteresting compared to his finest pieces and the emotion is also not really effective. The comedy is okay I guess. The most interesting aspect, however, are the political references. If anything makes these 45 minutes worth a watch, then it is these. As a whole, still fairly underwhelming and I do not recommend it.

ofpsmith I'm going to get straight to the plot with this film. Private Charlie Doughboy (Charlie Chaplin) is in boot camp in the US Army. Then he is sent to the Western Front in France. From there it's normal trench life. Until his platoon goes across no mans land and captures the German trench. From there Private Doughboy goes on an adventure. Disguised as a tree he saves a fellow soldier (Syd Chaplin) from being executed. Then he meets a girl (Edna Purviance) who ran an inn that was destroyed from artillery fire. Purviance is arrested and taken to a German officer but Private Doughboy saves her again and his comrade from earlier and even takes Kaiser Whilhelm (Syd Chaplin) prisoner. And then as it turns out it was all a dream. Although this was not the most correct representation of the trenches as they were way too clean in this film I still find it to be very enjoyable. I say go see this one.

bkoganbing Considering all of the comedies with a military situation that have been done in history, someone had to be the first. One could make a case that in Shoulder Arms, Charlie Chaplin invented the genre.Hard to believe that back then this was a daring move. When you consider that some of the best films involving such people as Bob Hope, Abbott&Costello, Laurel&Hardy involved military service and made during war time, it's just something you accept and laugh at.In the First World War Chaplin along with fellow stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford went out on bond tours. He was a great supporter of the Allied cause, unusual for someone of his left wing views. It would seem only natural that the Tramp would be drafted and unfortunately would flummox around and wreak havoc on all.A lot of things you'd see in the service comedies of World War II got their start in Shoulder Arms. Chaplin had no more imitators because within a few weeks of the film's release, the war was over.But a comedy art form had been established by one of comedy's greatest geniuses.

Nazi_Fighter_David In reaction to the dullness of the films of actual combat in that time, the wartime public increasingly turned to humor as escape from monotony and anxiety… Charlie Chaplin feared that his great "Shoulder Arms" would offend people, but it became his greatest hit… In it, Charlie, by luck, courage, and devilish ingenuity wins the war singlehanded and brings a captive Kaiser in triumph to London… The chief difference between this hilarious burlesque and some of the serious war dramas was that in Charlie's case it all turned out to be a dream