A burgeoning Charlie Chaplin tackles World War I, before the gunsmoke had even cleared from the trenches. Actually, this was released two weeks before the Armistice(!), which serves as a pretty darn good frame of reference. Nobody was really sure how ready the public might be to laugh at such a fresh conflict - most studios opted to steer far clear - but Chaplin, ever the bold one, was perfectly willing to jab at it.

Here he portrays the usual: a sad sack caught in the midst of chaos, racing to stay a half-step ahead of his own inevitable destiny. He stumbles through boot camp, mires in flooded field barracks, mourns a lack of care packages, goes undercover (as a tree) and confronts the enemy; a breakneck tour that maintains a charmingly light attitude despite the grave subject matter. On sharpshooter duty, he notches kills with chalk on a nearby fence, then scrubs the mark when an unexpected return volley blows off his helmet. It’s gallows humor that doesn't allow itself to get too hung up on the gallows.

The whole production is stuffed with this brand of quaint, silly, observational irreverence, but it's short on really big, resonant laughs. Comedy with a light foot, then, which makes sense considering the aforementioned misgivings about the topic. _Shoulder Arms_ is fascinating from a historical perspective, and important in a developmental one, but several steps below the silent movie star's best material.