Zepped
| Zepped | |
|---|---|
Title card | |
| Starring | Charlie Chaplin |
Release date |
|
Running time | "Over six"[1]–seven minutes[2][3] |
| Language | Silent |
Zepped is a 1916 propaganda comedy[1] short film about a German Zeppelin attack on London during the First World War. Charlie Chaplin appears in the film, although it is unlikely he himself was involved in the production.[3] Making use of stop-motion animation,[1] Zepped may have used previously-unknown outtakes of three[3] or four[1] earlier Chaplin films: His New Profession (1914), A Jitney Elopement (1915) and The Tramp (1915), and according to Bonhams, By the Sea (1915).
Plot
[edit]Charlie Chaplin goes on an espionage adventure. When his neighbor mistakes a passing German Zeppelin for a giant aerial bomb, Chaplin a disguises himself to thwart enemy spies and save the day.
Cast
[edit]Unique Reel
[edit]There is only one copy in existence. It was unknowingly purchased by a collector who bought an old film reel tin on eBay for £3.20 (about $5) in September 2009 and found the nitrate film inside.[1][2][3] He put it up for auction in June 2011 but the sole bid did not reach the £100,000 ($160,000) reserve price.[2][3] The film reel is the original version physically edited by splicing together outtakes of old Chaplin movies and sequences. No other copy is thought to exist.
Exported to Egypt
[edit]Although a 1917 advertisement in the Manchester Film Renter announced a trade viewing, it may only have been shown in Egypt.[1] An October 1917 entry in the British Board of Film Censorship's Ledgers says it was "For Export Only", and a Ministry of Interior film censorship certificate displayed at the beginning of the film states it was "Passed for Exhibition in Egypt".[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Lot 350". Bonhams. Archived from the original on May 5, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Rare Charlie Chaplin film fails to sell". BBC News. June 30, 2011. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Felicia R. Lee (June 30, 2011). "No Buyer for Chaplin Film at Auction". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
- 1916 films
- 1916 American films
- 1916 animated short films
- 1916 comedy films
- 1910s American animated short films
- 1910s rediscovered films
- 1910s stop-motion animated films
- American animated black-and-white films
- American aviation films
- American silent comedy short films
- American silent war comedy films
- American World War I propaganda films
- Animated films set in London
- Charlie Chaplin
- Rediscovered American films
- Surviving American silent films
- Animated short film stubs