I was fortunate enough to be at Slapsticon 2010 where this unknown Chaplin picture -- removed from his filmography by BFI edict in 1938 -- was re-premiered. I would like to tell you of Chaplin's brilliance, but really, it is a fine Ford Sterling piece as the chief Keystone Kop in civvies, this time, takes his dog out for a run and gets waylaid by baddies Mack Swain and Edgar Kennedy. It's fine stuff if you enjoy Ford Sterling in snarling mode. I do.
Charlie is present as a cop on the beat who runs into the bad guys and is quickly driven off and he is unmistakable -- until his half-brother Syd showed up the following year, no one at Keystone moved like him and as the third film in which he had a role and the fourth released, there was no Chaplin mania and no imitators yet.
As a previously lost Chaplin it's an important film, but if you enjoy it, it won't be for Chaplin. But it's a good one nonetheless.
Charlie is present as a cop on the beat who runs into the bad guys and is quickly driven off and he is unmistakable -- until his half-brother Syd showed up the following year, no one at Keystone moved like him and as the third film in which he had a role and the fourth released, there was no Chaplin mania and no imitators yet.
As a previously lost Chaplin it's an important film, but if you enjoy it, it won't be for Chaplin. But it's a good one nonetheless.