‘The Bank’ Film Poster

This one sheet advertises The Bank, a 1915 silent comedy short starring Charlie Chaplin and produced by Essanay Studios. The poster's bold artwork centres on Chaplin in mid-performance — mouth open, instantly recognisable beneath the studio's banner billing it as an "Essanay Chaplin Comedy" in two acts.

The Bank was Chaplin's tenth short for Essanay, made during a pivotal year in his career. After leaving Keystone Studios in late 1914, he produced fourteen films for Essanay in 1915, and over the course of that year his work evolved from the broad slapstick of his earliest comedies toward a more refined style with stronger story and character. Interestingly, the image used on this poster was drawn from a different Essanay short, The Tramp, rather than from The Bank itself.

Surviving posters from this period are exceedingly scarce. This example is believed to be one of only two known to exist.