Did Charlie Chaplin film a cell phone in 1928?

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Irish filmmaker George Clarke thinks he’s stumbled across something rather strange: A film clip from a 1928 Charlie Chaplin film that appears to show a woman talking on a mobile phone.

The image comes from behind-the-scenes footage shot during the premiere of The Circus at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Clarke noticed that a woman – or what may be a man dressed as a woman – crosses the shot with her left hand held to the side of her head. As she turns toward the camera, there appears to be a small, square, thin, black object in her hand. She’s clearly talking.

Clarke thinks the simplest explanation is that you’re looking at a time traveler talking on a cell phone.

See for yourself. Clarke begins showing the footage at about 2:37 into this YouTube video.

Of course, there were no cell phones in 1928. And even if this was a time traveler, there would be no cell towers to handle the call. The original AT&T, however, did exist in 1928, so if this is someone using a mobile phone, you know the network connection was almost certainly lousy . . .

Then again, any civilization advanced enough to travel through time doesn’t need a cell tower, since the iPhone XXXIV will have a new feature: A personal wormhole.

I found this item on film critic Roger Ebert’s blog. Clarke says in the video that no one’s been able to give him a good, non-science-fiction explanation of what the woman is really doing. He should read the comments under the Ebert entry – there are plenty of suggestions:

By Jackie Anderson on October 25, 2010 1:19 PM

Electronic hearing aids were invented long before 1928, but were still hand-held devices at the time. The woman’s is shaking it in frustration, I don’t think it’s a time traveler even though that would be way cool.

By Clancy on October 25, 2010 1:25 PM

I don’t see anything that this gentleman sees in this clip. Mostly, he’s presuming an awful lot, and seems rather foolish because of it.

A much more likely explanation for the woman’s behavior is that she’s shielding her eyes or face from the sun (check out the shadows) while also holding something in her hand. She could be holding anything, such as a case for glasses or cigarettes. It is presumptive to suggest either, but much more realistic than a time traveler in drag (talking on a “device” that would not work due to the lack of a supportive infrastructure).

…

By Brian S on October 25, 2010 1:51 PM

Looks to me more like the person is clutching a collar against the wind, and what looks like a phone when the person turns his/her head is a trick of the light, a shadow coming off the hands against the face. I think that’s a more likely explanation than a time traveler using a communications device of some kind. The talking could just be the kind of filling in you ask extras to provide–a person muttering to him/herself while walking down the street.

By Jaime on October 25, 2010 1:56 PM

1924 Siemens pocket sized carbon microphone/amplifier device:

http://hearing.siemens.com/sg/10-about-us/01-our-history/milestones.jsp?year=1924

This reminds me of the recent flap regarding a modern-era hipster apparently captured in a photo taken in 1941. Being a sci-fi junkie, I’d really like to believe time travelers walk among us, but in these particular cases, I think I’ll pass.

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