Live Life Team
Genre: War
Director: Charles Chaplin
Starring Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Albert Austin, Henry Bergman
Chaplin is a soldier in the army at a training camp at the time of World War 1. Although his drilling company is not very accomplished, he outshines the others in uselessness. After being on his feet all day, he gets into his bunk and falls asleep. He dreams of what he’ll do on the battlefield. In enemy held territory, he covers himself in a tree trunk in order to move around undetected until a French girl gives him refuge. When she is arrested by German soldiers, Charlie rescues her and captures the Kaiser, Hindenburg and the Crown Prince. Then he is woken up by two soldiers who tell him to get on with training. One of the greatest of Charlie Chaplin’s films was released only a few weeks before the armistice, drawing howls of protest from those who thought that one shouldn’t make fun of trench warfare so fresh in the memory. Yet, it was Chaplin’s biggest triumph up to that time, proving that audiences need a good laugh and release after the tragic effects of World War 1. Abandoning his baggy trousers, cane and bowler hat for the first time since he devised the character of the tramp, Charlie, in uniform is just as funny as before, especially when seen camouflaged as a tree trunk.
