Shoulder Arms (1918)

 

                        Charlie Chaplin made what is considered the first war comedy.  He wrote, directed, and produced.  It was released after Armistice Day.  The movie was a big hit and is considered a classic in the war comedy subgenre.  It clocks in at 36 minutes. 

                        Charlie arrives on the Western Front and is assigned to the “awkward squad”.  What follows is the iconic drill scene with the slapstick and Chaplin’s pigeon-toes marching.  This sets the stage for lot of sight gags and low brow humor.  Charlie has a mouse-trap as a necklace.  He scratches his back using a cheese grater hanging on the wall.  He gets some limburger cheese from home and eats it wearing a gas mask.  It rains so much (the password is:  “It’s wet”) that his bunk is under water, while he is sleeping.  He lights a cigarette by holding it over the parapet for a bullet to light it.  His unit goes over the top and captures a German trench.  He goes on a mission disguised as a tree.  He ends up capturing the Kaiser. It’s that kind of movie.

                        The movie has been described as a realistic take on soldier life in the Great War.  I would not go that far. The trenches are surprisingly authentic.  The jokes about soldier life must have struck home with veterans.  Chaplin was already a favorite of theirs and this movie certainly was a hit with the men who had been in the trenches.  The humor holds up well, but the movie weakens in the second half when Charlie is behind enemy lines and it gets more serious.  Still, overall it is a must-see movie.

GRADE  =  B