Entertaining, but not among Chaplin's best.
Interesting plot: the Tramp becomes a policeman! (It could happen...). From here many adventures ensue.
Has the usual Chaplin slapstick and sight gags but also has some darker themes: bullying, abuse of power, power-madness, instant fame and even drug abuse (though here it appears more of an advert for drugs - it was 1917 I guess, so they didn't know better).
However, it is not as powerful, clever or laugh-a-minute as Chaplin's later stuff. Chaplin's gags seem less well thought-out and more about cheap laughs here. I guess he was still honing his craft and exploring his own boundaries.
Good performances. Eric Campbell is scary as the bully, he of the fearsome eyebrows.
Interesting plot: the Tramp becomes a policeman! (It could happen...). From here many adventures ensue.
Has the usual Chaplin slapstick and sight gags but also has some darker themes: bullying, abuse of power, power-madness, instant fame and even drug abuse (though here it appears more of an advert for drugs - it was 1917 I guess, so they didn't know better).
However, it is not as powerful, clever or laugh-a-minute as Chaplin's later stuff. Chaplin's gags seem less well thought-out and more about cheap laughs here. I guess he was still honing his craft and exploring his own boundaries.
Good performances. Eric Campbell is scary as the bully, he of the fearsome eyebrows.