A propaganda film created by Charlie Chaplin at his own expense for the Liberty Load Committee to help sell U.S. Liberty Bonds during World War I. 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.
Obligaciones, Le lien, El bono, Die Anleihe, Облигацията, Облігація, 본드, 债券, Pożyczka wolności, 債券
USA
USA
Any film that makes me say the phrase "Oh no you don't, you tricky Kaiser!" out loud, can't be that bad.
The Tramp Makes Artsy Minimalism out of War Propaganda
With its slapstick, centered compositions, and minimal white props against a black backdrop, Charlie Chaplin’s “The Bond” is the artsy, stripped-down theatrical Liberty Bonds sales pitch and WWI propaganda short film I imagine Wes Anderson would’ve wished he’d made were he a black-and-white silent film director in the 1910s. At least the British Chaplin doesn’t pretend he’s “100% American” like “America’s Sweetheart” Canadian Mary Pickford did for her counterpart one-reeler for the war effort, and the Tramp hanging his cane on the crescent Moon prop got a chuckle out of me. Still, the propagandist feature he interrupted production on, “Shoulder Arms” (1918), to rush through in a week this advertisement is…
A quintessential example of the gap between "interesting" and "watchable". Charles Chaplin had been on high alert since 1915 that, as a British subject, he was expected and "obligated" to volunteer for the war, but he'd mostly been able to avoid too much criticism, at least in the U.S., by virtue of being the world's most famous and beloved movie star, and being therefore considered more valuable in Hollywood, creating charming and uplifting comedies that kept the boys on the front entertained (and a large part of his enormous salaries in '16, '17, and '18 went to the British government). This split-reel propaganda piece is the most visible contribution he made to the war effort, and you can sort of…
I think Chaplin wanted the audience to buy something, but gosh the message was too subtle to decipher!
First time watch: July 2024
Source: Blu Ray
Length: Split Reel
2024 Challenge: Conquering Chaplin (an autobiographical adventure)
Conquering Chaplin Part Four : The First National Films. 1918 - 1923
Director/Cast/Premise
The Bond is the 1918 silent propaganda film written, directed and starring Charlie Chaplin. With appearances from Edna Purviance and Sydney Chaplin the film focuses on different variations of bonds with an intention to highlight the importance of war bonds.
Quick Thoughts
The film itself is unique due to its use of propaganda but otherwise not great. Still, this continues to be a crucial period in Chaplins career and fascinating information was shared in his autobiography.
"At the end of the Mutual contract I was anxious to get started…
Episodic half-reel propaganda film from Charlie Chaplin, made for and distributed by the Liberty Loan Committee. The value of different bonds are illustrated: the bond of friendship, the bond of love, the bond of marriage, and the Kaiser-crushing Liberty Bond. The film holds some visual interest because Chaplin employs abstract, theatrical settings, with the backgrounds composed of white-on-black cutouts. Throughout the bond of love vignette, Edna Purviance is such a memorable flirty style icon as to be a certified Queen. Later, Purviance strikes a pose as the incandescent Statue of Liberty herself. Charlie Chaplin's brother Syd plays the Kaiser. Double bill with Mary Pickford's equally bizarre, interesting Liberty Bond short One Hundred Percent American.
The Bond aus dem Jahre 1918 dauert nur knapp neun Minuten und ist ein Film, in dem Chaplin für die Zeichnung von Kriegsanleihen zur Finanzierung des Krieges gegen die Achsenmächte – repräsentiert durch Chaplins Bruder Syd als „The Kaiser“ – wirbt. Auch wenn die ersten Minuten von The Bond durchaus komisch sind, so beweist dieser Film doch, daß Kriegspropaganda, egal von welcher Seite sie kommt, am Ende immer zum Holzhammer greifen muß.
In the 43 short films I've watched in Charlie Chaplin's career to date, The Bond may be the strangest one. Not only does it forego everything we've come to expect from a Charlie Chaplin directed and starring film, it's just bizarre watching him make a propaganda film about U.S. Liberty Bonds, also known as War Bonds. Debt securities issued by the government to finance military operations.
The Bond is actually interesting on a visual level. One set locations that show the bonds of friendship and marriage, and eventually the liberty bonds. I quite liked the black background with simplistic white props like trees, park benches and the child in the moon. Strangely, this on a visual level elevates a rather…
