The Bond

The Bond is a half-reel short created by Chaplin at his own expense for the Liberty Loan Committee, to aid in the World War I effort. As you can guess, its purpose was to promote the sale of U.S. savings bonds.

The short's sketches depict various kinds of bonds:

* friendship (Albert Austin plays an old acquaintance who greets Charlie on the street, ostensibly to have some laughs and discuss old times, but eventually to hit him up for cash);

* love (Edna Purviance, at her most lush, woos Charlie on a park bench, with a little help from a cute cherub playing Cupid from behind a cardboard moon);

* marriage (Edna has now wooed Charlie to the point of matrimony, but he doesn't look very happy about it -- perhaps a portent of Chaplin's future, real-life marriages); and finally,

* the Liberty Bond (Chaplin's real-life brother Sydney plays The Kaiser, whom Charlie knocks cold with an oversized mallet labeled "Liberty Bonds," just in case we haven't gotten the message by now).

Among The Bond's many interests is its stylized look, with its actors and tiny settings glowing against black backgrounds -- it's like the sunny version of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Also a delight is Chaplin's genuine laughter in the final shot, giving evidence that he enjoyed making this out-of-the-norm bauble.

Obviously the movie's message has dated, but its considerable charms have not.

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