Written by: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Sydney Chaplin, Jack Wilson, Henry Bergman
Rating: [3.5/5]
The brilliant physical comedy Chaplin made globally famous works in pretty much every setting because he can make any situation funny. Evidently, early in his career, he put this theory to the test when he inserts himself in World War I and unsurprisingly he put together a great story of dreams and survival all within the terrible conditions of trench warfare. Leave it to Chaplin to accomplish a feat of this stature.
A young military recruit Doughboy (Charles Chaplin) finds himself on the front lines against the Germans. While there he dreams of a return back to home but almost accidentally begins to get heavily involved in making inroads in this incredibly violent war.
Instead of narrowly dodging cranes or sewer drains, this feature brings the shenanigans of Chaplin’s character in the middle of a war and manages to create so many fun and incredibly impressive sequences. This along with the comedy of it ultimately remains the big draw of Chaplin as he continually finds ways to be innovative in his time and truly push the envelope on what artists could do given the limitations of the technology of the time. Taking his talents to trench warfare provided a whole new playground for him to utilize and he did not squander the opportunity.
As with many situations where Chaplin’s tramp characters find themselves, Doughboy comes in fresh to the scene and has plenty he needs to learn about the trenches and the procedure. He evidently grasps some of it and when he needs to put his knowledge into action he struggles with the basics of keeping his balance and not making a mess of everything he touches. In a great twist of fate for him Doughboy musters the courage to run through No Man’s Land during a charge ordered by their command and as you can imagine, this scenario became catnip for Chaplin to do his thing. Somehow surviving all of the madness up there he manages to complete some difficult missions to support the Allied troops in this war.
Nothing quite matches what he manages to complete in the second half of the film where he disguises himself as a tree for protection as he traverses enemy territory. One of those unbelievable circumstances where it detaches itself from reality but makes for a tremendous set of sequences where he magically has the ability to pass himself off as a tree and make his way through enemy territory safely. Certainly, a daunting task, especially when you have to watch out for soldiers who decide they need some firewood for the night.
For all of the sequences and the fun Chaplin always wants to deliver a message in the films he crafts, which has made his work timeless as compared to the works of others. His films may give an appearance of dumb fun and completely unbridled silliness but he knows how to drive home a point as he later does in satirizing the Second World War later in his career with The Great Dictator. He does not go as bold as he does with Hitler but he does manage to deliver an effective anti-war message calling for peace amidst a film making fun of the entire exercise. Chaplin manages to deliver it in such a poignant and effective manner in keeping with the tone of the film as he threads the needle so well. Thus it makes complete sense all things considered at the time this film became the biggest hit early on in his career both critically and financially.
Chaplin taking on World War I provided the goods just as anyone with good sense should suspect. He finds innovative ways to integrate his style of humor into different aspects of trench warfare making for some truly hilarious sequences you just have to sit back and appreciate how he manages to craft all of this in the multiple roles he takes on not only as the lead actor but also director, writer, and producer and heck even editor. Sensational work by him fairly early in his career in piecing this together this fairly underseen and underappreciated as time has passed and his other more popular films have dominated the talk of his legacy.
Films with Josh 
