An unemployed man has discovered a rare Charlie Chaplin film among a junk shop job lot.
Brian Hann, 40, found the 35mm nitrate film at the Second Time Around shop in South Shields. The seven-minute footage is part of a first world war propaganda movie titled Zepped which Chaplin filmed in 1917 in an effort to help defuse the terror inspired by Zeppelin bombing raids over London. Last week, what was believed to be the only copy went on sale at Bonhams auction house in London for £100,000.
"When I read about the auction in London, and saw the footage, I realised it was exactly the same as I had picked up at the charity shop," Hann told the Shields Gazette. "I couldn't believe it. The only thing missing is the Zeppelin footage at the start.
"There's Chaplin reading a newspaper while leaning against a tree, then a bathing beauty comes into shot and there's a wartime message about saving food. I'm not greedy, I'm not expecting £100,000 for the film, but it should be worth more than what I paid for it."
Now one of Bonhams' film experts is to examine the footage to authenticate it. Feeling rather less fortunate than Hann is the owner of Second Time Around, Lindsey Whitey.
"I can't believe it," she told the Gazette. "It looks like I will never be a millionaire, but good luck to him. I hope he gets a lot of money for it. I'm no expert on film, I think it was in a box with a load of other stuff. This place is like an Aladdin's Cave."
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