This is one of the funniest and most daring movies of its time. For a short film, it rivals most if not all the feature films shot that year. For a comedy on World War 1, during the war, is not only daring by genius. Chaplin's original humor and art of storytelling proved to young Hollywood that he was the greatest comedian, showman, and film maker that the world had to offer. The story of the common allied solider, living in the trenches of World War 1, under savage conditions with comic relief is terrific. Chaplin captured both the real horrors of the living conditions and made the audience laugh at the same time. The camera work for 1918 is also surprising. The use of montage and double framed shots was beyond 1918, but Chaplin did it. The spoiler of having the movie be the Tramp's dream is also unique for the time. Chaplin re-discovered film making and produced one of the all time greatest comedy shorts of the 20th Century with Shoulder Arms.
Review of Shoulder Arms
