If you’re a Charlie Chaplin fan, and you’re going to be in the D.C. area this weekend, then I’ve got some news for you. THR.com reports that the 1914 film, A Thief Catcher, in which Chaplin makes a cameo as a Keystone Cop, was recently discovered. Furthermore, it will be screening at a comedy film festival on Saturday in Arlington, VA. Out of nowhere, the 10-minute film turned up late last year at an
antiques sale in Taylor, Mich. Film historian Paul Gierucki thought
he was buying just another Keystone Studios comedy and didn’t watch
the 16mm print for months. Then, in March, he saw Chaplin bumble onto the screen and slap
around some hooligans in the film starring Ford Sterling, Mack
Swain and Edgar Kennedy. Chaplin is on screen for all of three
minutes.
Even if you can’t make that showing, however, Gierucki is said to be making plans to offer the film to wider audiences via DVDs and other film festivals down the line. A Thief Catcher is the first film to be added to the Chaplin catalog in some 60 years. The festival in Arlington will also be playing outtakes from other Chaplin comedies, as well as featuring a tribute to Abbott and Costello and Fatty Arbuckle’s first feature, The Round Up, which has a cameo from Buster Keaton.
You can click over here for more details.