The Bond (1918)

Directed by

Charlie Chaplin

Genre

comedy film, silent film

Country

United States

Runtime

11 min

Rating

5.1 of 10 from 52 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Charlie Chaplin uses a series of sketches to show different kinds of bonds. He illustrates the bond of friendship, the bond of marriage, and finally the Liberty Bond to help defeat the Kaiser. Chaplin literally punches the Kaiser and encourages viewers to buy war bonds.

lightheartedwhimsicalplayfulpatrioticsatiricalsimplestagedpropagandistic

What happens

The Bond is a 1918 two-reel propaganda film created by Charlie Chaplin at his own expense for the Liberty Loan Committee for theatrical release to help sell U.S. Liberty Bonds during World War I. Made in 1918 with Edna Purviance, Albert Austin and Sydney Chaplin, the film has a distinctive visual motif set in a simple plain black set with starkly lit simple props and arrangements. The story is a series of sketches humorously illustrating various bonds like the bond of friendship and of marriage and, most important, the Liberty Bond, to K.O. the Kaiser which Charlie does literally. That theme is made explicit when Charlie meets Uncle Sam and a laborer representing industry. Charlie buys a liberty bond and the industrial laborer supplies a rifle for an American soldier. Charlie is sufficiently impressed by the result of his patriotic contribution that he reveals more funds he had hidden in his pants to buy another bond and an American Naval sailor is thus equipped with a rifle himself. There was also a British version with Uncle Sam replaced by John Bull and promotes War Bonds. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Shoulder Arms (1918)
• The Adventurer (1917)
• The Great Dictator (1940)
• The Vagabond (1916)
• Triple Trouble (1918)
• Chase Me Charlie (1918)
• He's in Again (1918)
• A Dog's Life (1918)