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
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
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
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The Adventurer (1917)
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The Vagabond (1916)
Triple Trouble (1918)
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Chase Me Charlie (1918)
He's in Again (1918)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.