The Bond

A World War I-era propaganda film essentially, advertising Liberty bonds in a very unsubtle, slightly grating manner. Chaplin presenting different categories of bonds felt like a YouTube video 87 years before YouTube - and, like YouTube videos nowadays, it turned out to be a goddamn ad. Charles motherfuckin' Chaplin. Always ahead of his time.

Weirdly stylized snoozer of an allegorical Liberty Bonds ad. Would have been better with more Kaiser Wilhelm and less of everything else.

The only real interest here is the style, with its mostly black backgrounds, largely painted in scenery, and the characters all wearing (mostly) white. It picked up when it got to the actual advertisement for Liberty Bonds, and Charlie's hammering of Wilhelm was fun, but overall, a pretty lackluster affair.

Humorless WWI propaganda.

Not the best work, but still is Chaplin.

Interesting propaganda reel.

This 1918 Chaplin short about "bonds" is a remarkably boring affair. At first it investigates "bonds" such as the bonds of love and friendship, then it suddenly decides to become a WWI propaganda flick and stresses the importance of "Liberty Bonds". The only funny part is the end, where Chaplin knocks out Kaiser Wilhelm with a big club that says "Liberty Bonds" on it, and then makes a very weird facial expression. How could people think those big mustaches look good?