Out of nowhere, the film turned up late last year at an antique sale in the Detroit suburb of Taylor. Film historian Paul Gierucki thought he was buying just another Keystone Studios comedy.
He didn't actually watch the 16mm print for months. Then, in March, he realized he had one of Chaplin's earliest films.
The first public screening, perhaps since 1914, comes Saturday at a comedy film festival in Arlington, Va.
