Charlie Chaplin in His First Million Dollar Picture -- April 15, 2018

Rock Island Argus, 27-April-1918

Charlie Chaplin and Brownie (playing Scraps) were the stars of Chaplin's first movie for First National release, "A Dog's Life."

Rock Island Argus, 27-April-1918

The Spencer Square Theater in Rock Island, Illinois featured the short film prominently in its advertising.

Moving Picture World, 06-April-1918

I like the image in this ad.  "The One and Only."

Moving Picture World, 06-April-1918

Charlie was inspired by a stray which sought refuge in the studio, but used a bigger dog for the movie.

Moving Picture World, 20-April-1918

Charlie got a visit from TL Tally, a Los Angeles-area exhibitor and Vice President of First National.

Moving Picture World, 20-April-1918

Someone mentions Charles Joshua Chaplin, the Nineteenth Century painter.  The author has his dates a bit off.  CJ Chaplin lived from 1825 to 1891.  He was a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.  Read about him in Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Joshua_Chaplin

Moving Picture World, 20-April-1918

Three reels was an unusual length for a comedy.

Moving Picture World, 27-April-1918

"His first picture for 8 months."  "And it's a 3 reeler without a foot of padding and only 11 short sub-titles." 

Moving Picture World, 06-April-1918

With Chaplin gone for more than a year, Essanay released Chase Me Charlie, a feature compiled in Britain from several of Chaplin's Essanay shorts.  They referred to it as "A Chaplin Jingle."

Moving Picture World, 06-April-1918

"The sub-titles are in verse form and the comedy is a Chaplin jingle, although the main title is "Chase Me, Charlie." George Kleine distributed the film.  

Moving Picture World, 13-April-1918

At the same time, Essanay continued to rerelease Chaplin's individual comedies.  Some of these were also part of Chase Me Charlie, such as "His New Job," "The Tramp," "In the Park," "The Champion," "A Woman" (listed as "The Woman"), "By the Sea" and probably others.  

Moving Picture World, 13-April-1918

This article says that Chase Me Charlie was six reels.  The previous article said it was five reels.  The IMDB says it is seven.

Moving Picture World, 20-April-1918

"While there is a lack of continuity, there are many laughs."  "This picture was originally presented in England, and many of the subtitles have a distinctive English flavor and refer to English location."

Moving Picture World, 27-April-1918

In this ad, Charlie juggles a bunch of Charlies and drops one Charlie.

Moving Picture World, 20-April-1918

Chaplin left Mutual, but his short comedies were still in distribution, legally or not.

Moving Picture World, 13-April-1918

Meanwhile Charlie toured the country with his friends Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford to promote sales of Liberty Bonds to pay for the war.

Moving Picture World, 20-April-1918

It appears that Chaplin was going to pay a solo visit to Atlanta to promote war bonds.

Moving Picture World, 27-April-1918

Chaplin did not wind up in the US Army.