ironhorse_iv
While it's great to see comedy in the silent film era, this movie fails to deliver the goods promise to me on the DVD cover that feature the Keystone Cops. The Keystone Cops were fictional incompetent policemen, featured in silent film comedies in the early 20th century. The movies were produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917. Directed by Henry Lehrman, everybody thinks that 1913's Bangville Police was the first appearance of the Keystone Cops. The title is says, farce comedy. Indeed it had buffoonery and horseplay and typically including crude characterization and ludicrously improbable situations, but this wasn't Keystone Cops. In truth, while most of the original actors that play the Keystone Cops are here, in no way are they, the Keystone Cops that most people remember. The actors are not in uniform, and look like hillbillies. Plus, there is little to no slapstick in the film. I miss the leaping in the air in surprise, running energetically in any direction, and taking extreme pratfalls in most Keystone Cops had. Instead, we get a precede film that markets itself as a Keystone Cops film. It's like selling a pre-Tramp Charles Chaplin's film and labeling it as a Tramp film to gain a little bit more money or attention to the film. In no way is this the film fault, but the money grabbing people who promote this film. They really milk the idea that is a Keystone Cops film. It's fault advertisement. Plus, when you really think about it, this movie isn't the first movie to feature the actors that would later be the Keystone Cops. A year earlier, in 1912, they were feature in a film call Hoffmeyer's Legacy that seems more like the Keystone Cops then this movie, as of what I heard. Too bad, Hoffmeyer's Legacy is lost due to time. Still, the movie makes me wonder if the Keystone Studios just stole the police idea from the Essanay's "Snakeville" series. Still, Bangville polices did have some funny moments. I do like the idea of miscommunication as a vehicle of humor. Talking about vehicle, I think the car was a lot funnier than the people in here. This movie was a failure to fulfill a commitment. The eight minute movie starts at a farm near Bangville, where a young daughter (Mabel Normand) see strangers in the barn. She quickly rushes to the house and calls the police. The police made out of Fred Mace, Raymond Hatton, Edgar Kennedy, Ford Sterling, and Al St. John engage in a jumbled rush across the countryside to get there in time to find that something is wrong with the picture here. I think the best thing to come out of this movie is the fact that their popularity boom after this flick. Too bad, in 1914, Sennet shifted the Keystone Cops from starring roles to background ensemble, in support of comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle. I thought they could carry a film. Still, the Keystone Cops serve as supporting players for Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, and Chaplin in the first full-length Sennett comedy feature, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), as well as in Mabel's New Hero (1913) with Normand and Arbuckle, Making a Living (1914) with Chaplin in his first screen appearance (pre-Tramp), In the Clutches of the Gang (1914) with Normand, Arbuckle, and Al St. John, and Wished on Mabel (1915) with Arbuckle and Normand, among others. Another great thing to come out of this movie is Mabel Normand. Mabel Normand just missed being another big eyed waif, she was just too damn funny for drama. This 1913 Keystone production which would inspire the Keystone Kops, shows off just how good Mabel's timing was. Mabel Normand was the first famous movie comedienne. She was great at pratfalls and mugging. Unfortunately her talents are not put to good use here. She mostly spent the time hiding in a closet, and acting cowed. By the way, if cops shoot the closet with bullets, wouldn't she be dead? Shooting at the closet should have kill the woman. How did she survive that? Anyways, Mabel Normand is also a looker! Sorry about those 1910's dresses, they cover her figure too much. Still, I couldn't like to be her boyfriend. Throughout the 1920s her name was linked with widely publicized scandals including the 1922 murder of William Desmond Taylor and the 1924 shooting of Courtland S. Dines. Ouch. I do have to note the general sloppiness of the film. The really awful fake mustaches, Mabel's hair band changes color in the course of the movie, and the Sheriffs vest buttons and unbuttons makes me wonder what happen in editing. Still, it was in the early days of cinema, so I can't criticize them too much. Like all silent film of the time, most of the original music is lost. You just have to pick a song that works with the film that not inappropriate, so you can forget about it and concentrate on the film. Overall: I wouldn't pay money for this film. It's in the public domain so you can watch it on free on Youtube or somewhere. While it's technically a Keystone Cops film since it's made by Keystone Studios and it has cops, it's really not the Keystone Cops, most fans are thinking of. So check it out if you want, milk this for all it's worth.
Darren O'Shaughnessy (darren shan)
Very simple, very short Keystone Kops film, about a farmgirl who causes panic when she thinks she spots a couple of burglars. Not as raucous as the wilder Kops films, and thus not as funny. An interesting relic of more primitive times, but in truth this is throwaway fodder.
HAL-57
Not to worry, pretty Mabel, the Bangville Police are on the job! Actually, they resemble the peasant militia in appearances and armaments. However, they always get their man!In this film we see part of the early stage of evolution of the Keystone Cops, which proceeded from rural bungling to big city ineptitude.Although Mabel stands out in acting, the rest of the cast is just fine. The story, however, is bare bones, but that doesn't detract from the film. It is a lot of fun to watch.As an afterthought here, I should say that Mabel Normand is beautifully photographed. I can understand why she was so popular with artists and photographers of her day.
