Zepped | |
---|---|
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).
Two copies are known: one 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 second copy was found in a tin of assorted items bought from a secondhand shop in Sheffield in July 2011.[4]
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]- ^ a b c d e f g h "Lot 350". Bonhams. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
- ^ a b c "Rare Charlie Chaplin film fails to sell". BBC News. 30 June 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Felicia R. Lee (30 June 2011). "No Buyer for Chaplin Film at Auction". The New York Times.
- ^ "Charity shop Charlie Chaplin find could earn man £100,000". Shields Gazette. Retrieved 6 June 2017.