Charlie Chaplin (1951)

million-dollar contract and first marriage 87 Pickford. On April 8, 1918, a crowd approaching thirty thousand packed the streets around the Sub-Treasury building at Wall Street to hear him speak from its steps. The exuberant "Doug" led the ovation by hoisting Chaplin on his shoulders. After being received in the White House by President Wilson, himself a movie "fan," Chaplin danced with Marie Dressier before more than sixty-five thousand delirious Washington residents, many of whom bought bonds on the spot. Touring the South by himself, Chaplin helped swell bond sales in Dixie. One incident in this campaign proved unpleasant though amusing. In New Orleans a former Secretary of the Treasury, also on tour in the bond drive, insisted on having his name printed above that of a "vulgar movie actor." The issue was settled by arranging separate appearances, Chaplin in the afternoon and the dignitary at night. The "vulgar" movie actor drew an audience of forty thousand; the dignitary drew four hundred. Soon after, Chaplin, tiring of the tour, physically, mentally, or both, canceled the remaining schedule and returned to Hollywood. For his contribution he did not go entirely unrewarded. His visits to training camps, during the tour, provided the material for "Shoulder Arms." An additional contribution (made also by other prominent movie figures), was a propaganda short made for and donated to the government for its Liberty Loan drives. It was distributed in the fall of 1918 without rental charge to all theatres in the United States. It was called "The Bond" and it explained itself as follows: "There are different kinds of Bonds: the Bond of Friendship; the Bond of Love; the Marriage Bond; and most important of all — the Liberty Bond." It is rather interesting for its technique and characteristic Chaplin touches. In each skit simple, white, stylized properties were set up against a black drop. In one allegorical scene Edna