Shoulder Arms
About Shoulder Arms
A doughboy in a trench in France drills, eats, and sleeps in the mud, then slips behind the German line. He comes back with a prisoner and is treated as a hero. The uniform is an army kit, not the tramp's clothes. Edna Purviance is the French woman who hides him. Syd Chaplin is a fellow soldier.
Cast & crew
More about Shoulder Arms
Chaplin's second film for First National. He wrote and directed it. Roland Totheroh photographed it. Syd Chaplin, his brother, is in the cast. A score later credited to Chaplin is attached to some prints.
Themes
Background
Released in 1918, while the war was still being fought.
Look
Roland Totheroh photographed it.
Music
Prints circulate with a score credited to Chaplin.
Preservation
A print survives. Internet Archive holds shoulder-arms-1080p-charles-charlie-chaplin.
Notes
- Chaplin does not wear the tramp costume.
- It is his first of three comedies about war.
- Syd Chaplin plays alongside him.
Scenes
- The soldier opens letters and parcels in a flooded trench.
- He crosses into the German lines and returns with a captive.
Also available
- Internet Archive (shoulder-arms-1080p-charles-charlie-chaplin)
