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Shoulder
Arms
(1918)

This collection contains the last of Charles Chaplin’s short films, made under his First National contract.

CBS/Fox Home Video
2000 DVD edition

Charles Chaplin: A First National Collection (1918-1923), black & white, 206 minutes total, not rated, including Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, 45 minutes, not rated.

CBS/Fox Home Video, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID9177CUDVD, UPC 0-14381-91772-7.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 4.6 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 1.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 11 chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $29.99.
Release date: 8 February 2000.
Country of origin: USA •

Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.

This DVD edition has been mastered from archival 35mm print materials. It appears that the masters from the 1993 Chaplin: A Legacy of Laughter laserdisc series have been utilized for this and other year 2000 Chaplin DVD releases.

The films are accompanied by music scores supervised by Chaplin from the soundtracks of his approved rerelease prints.

Supplemental material includes Chaplin’s noncommercial short film Nice and Friendly (1922); rejected footage from Shoulder Arms; and footage of General Leonard Wood’s visit to the set of Shoulder Arms.

This disc is now contractually out-of-print to make way for another Chaplin family-authorized compilation of these films. This edition is still available as a previously-owned item but the costs asked are usually outrageous.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .

Park Circus
2010 DVD edition

The Chaplin Revue (1918-1923), black & white, 323 minutes total, BBFC Classification U, including Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, ? minutes, BBFC Classification U.

Park Circus, PC0019, UPC 5-060203-34019-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD disc (two DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase in cardboard slipcover; £15.99.
Release date: 15 November 2010.
Country of origin: Scotland

This PAL DVD edition of The Chaplin Revue, from a Scottish distribution company and produced for home video by MK2 Diffusion, has been mastered from 35mm print materials controlled by the Estate of Charles Chaplin.

The film is presented with the established music score composed by Charles Chapli n.

Supplemental material includes an introduction by David Robinson.

This being nearly identical in content to the 2004 Warner Home Video edition noted below, owners of that edition may not feel the need to acquire this Park Circus edition. With no high-definition home video option, we recommend this edition. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

This Region 2 PAL DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .

Warner Home Video
2004 DVD edition

The Chaplin Revue (1918-1923), black & white, 288 minutes total, not rated, including Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, 36 minutes, not rated.

Warner Home Video, 34460,
UPC 0-85393-44602-4, ISBN 0-7907-9111-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 NTSC DVD disc (two DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English, Spanish and Portuguese language menus; English language intertitles, optional English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Korean and Thai language subtitles; chapter stops; cardboard wrap case with plastic trays in cardboard slipcase; $29.95.
Release date: 2 March 2004.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition has been mastered from the 35mm prints and negatives from Chaplin’s own film collection. The detail and greyscale ranges are consistently very-good. However, we have had problems with the disc displaying properly to a 16:9 high-definition television when played from one of our DVD players. The picture fills the 16:9 monitor in width (already wrong for a 4:3 format picture) and crops the top and bottom of the picture to do so. No amount of manipulation of the picture settings ideally resolves the issue. Other DVD players will not have this issue.

Be aware that that isn’t the only issue with the production of this set. Despite how they are labeled, disc 1 is disc two and disc 2 is disc one. Confused? So were we.

The disc includes the option to view the films in the Chaplin Revue form that Chaplin assembled for release in 1959 (including Chaplin’s overview introduction) or as the individual films themselves — appealing to collectors who want the individual films presented as closely as possible to their original form.

Supplementary material includes introductions by David Robinson; the unreleased Chaplin film How to Make Movies; the war bond comedies The Bond and [Harry Lauder] (1918); outtakes from Shoulder Arms and Sunnyside; informal momento films; stills and posters galleries; and trailers.

This Region 1 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .

Alpha Video
2018 DVD edition

Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, with His Trysting Place (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Sunnyside (1919), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, and A Day’s Pleasure (1919), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 8065D, UPC 0-89218-80659-8.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised to $8.98).
Release date: 17 April 2018.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print.

The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.

Supplemental material includes three Charles Chaplin short comedies.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .

Delta Entertainment
2003 DVD edition

The Essential Charlie Chaplin Collection (1917-1918), black & white, ? minutes total, not rated, including The Adventurer (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, Triple Trouble (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Bond (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, and Shoulder Arms (1918), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Delta Entertainment, 82 462, UPC 0-18111-24629-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.99.
Release date: 18 March 2003.
Country of origin: USA

This budget DVD edition follows the suit of other Chaplin collections: put as few films onto as many discs as possible, regardless of print quality and sell them as cheap as possible. And don’t expect them to be mastered from anything but subpar 16mm and 8mm reduction prints.

Don’t consider buying this collection for the Chaplin Mutual films. The Mutual films have all been released on DVD home video in far superior editions transferred from 35mm prints. Cobra Entertainment (successor to Delta) rereleased remaining stock of this disc onto the market in 2010.

DELTA ENTERTAINMENT has discontinued business and this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is . . .

Other silent era CHARLES CHAPLIN films available on home video.

Other silent era JACKIE COOGAN films available on home video.

Other SHORT COMEDY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Charles Chaplin filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List