Unknown Chaplin Film Turns Up At Michigan Antique Sale - How Did We Miss It?

If you call yourself an "antiquer" and you live for the occasional discovery of a long-forgotten piece of history you're like us and you ask yourself: "Why didn't I find that?" when something juicy turns up out of a closet or garage.

One very nice little item emerged from its hiding place in Michigan recently, film of this silly looking little guy with a very recognizable mustache and wiggly way of walking.

Collector Paul Gierucki found the 16mm print at an antiques show. He thought it was another old Keystone comedy and didn't bother to research it until early March, when he realized he'd stumbled onto Charlie Chaplin's "A Thief Catcher," ground out in 1914.

Chaplin makes a cameo appearance in "A Thief Catcher," the 36th film he made at the outset of World War I.

The movie, released by the Mutual Film Corporation was thought to be among the half of all silent films lost to history. The short actually stars Ford Sterling, Mack Swain and Edgar Kennedy. Chaplin appears for perhaps 2 minutes of the 10-minute film.