Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Petri Pelkonen Charlie works as a janitor at a bank.But when Charlie is holding the mop it means only more mess.Edna is the secretary of the bank and Charlie has a big crush on her.But she has a fiancé, the cashier that's also called Charlie.A big misunderstanding happens but Charlie gets to safe the day when he gets to rescue Edna from the bank robbers.But then he wakes up and realizes it was only a dream.The Bank from 1915 is Charles Chaplin's tenth picture for Essanay films and it's a departure from the tramp character.Tramp or no tramp, Charlie does his thing good.It's great to watch him mopping the floors and constantly hitting those big shots with his mop.It's most tragicomic when Charlie finds Edna's message to Charlie, that other Charlie, and he thinks it's for him.He gets her a rose and writes her a message and then finds out it's not him she loves.Chaplin works with his usual cast here.Edna Purviance is naturally the woman he loves.Leo White is Clerk.Billy Armstrong is Another Janitor.Lloyd Bacon plays Bank Robber.Carl Stockdale is Charles, the Cashier.This Chaplin short will make you laugh...after more than 90 years.

Baxter Martin "The Bank" (1915, Chaplin) "The Bank" was one of Charlie's 1915 Essanay films. While these group of films are more watchable than their 1914 counterparts, this one seems a bit below average. The gag with the janitorial double combo-locked vault and the tough-luck ending that has Charlie waking up from a dream, in which he is stroking the lead lady's hair, only to be stroking the head of a mop he had used as a quasi pillow, are both classic Chaplin moments. They are both ironically the beginning and the end. The middle is filled in with fighting with the rival co-worker janitor and busting up a bank robbery to win the girl. The mop is probably the greatest physical prop of this movie and Charlie uses it to expert comedic effect whether while it is the intention of his character or not. The mop seems to be Charlie's alter-ego doing things he wishes he could do but wouldn't with his own two hands. Interesting stuff but there's better.

marshallscott-owens The Bank- In an art that isn't completely lost today in big time Hollywood, yet quite possibly hasn't been perfected since, Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed, and starred in his own films. Chaplin shows off his ability to let his actions speak for him. While watching the film it seemed almost as if the music was the dialogue for the movie. Every emotion that Chaplin and the other actors were conveying in the film only seems to be enhanced by the music. Every action by each actor seems as if it is mirrored flawlessly and in sync with the film. No doubt that is the whole concept of silent film; nonetheless it hadn't been completely utilized in cinema during the early part of American film history. The story itself is funny throughout, but still produces emotions from opposite ends of the spectrum. Charlie, the janitor, carries himself with so much pride, as he goes to work, that you are initially under the impression that he is the owner of the bank or the person who runs it. Oddly enough he is nothing more but a janitor and poor janitor at best. His own follies make work harder on him. He doesn't get along with co-workers well and makes bigger messes then he has to clean up. A misunderstanding with another employee over a note to a different Charlie causes him some confusion. Charlie is flattered by the love letter left by the female employee and leaves flowers for her. Then she leaves them behind for Charlie to find. He is hurt by this discovery, so like the good janitor that he is he needs to take a nap while on the job.Suddenly during the middle of his nap he is awoken by robbers trying to steal money from the bank. Charlie, in his clumsy fashion, intends to save the day. He battles his foes displaying a superior boxing talent. He triumphs over his adversaries one at a time, the he saves his lady. A robber almost gets the best of Charlie when his new lady saves him which leads to the discovery of her old man hiding under the desk. Charlie goes in for a heroic victory kiss with his gal, for he had just showed the world he is capable of more than being just a janitor. He is a hero; surely a new promotion at the bank will await him. As the kiss occurs in what seems like the final shot of the movie Charlie finds himself swapping spit with the mop that was by his side during his nap. Charlie is still nothing more than a janitor, and he is still all alone.Throughout the movie you see Charles' ability to showcase comedy. He has an extraordinary talent for making each shot unique with his body movement alone. His writing, editing, and directing all have a profound sharpness to them. The continuity is almost perfect. He shot parts of the film at slower speeds which, when played in real time, make the scene look almost impossible for a human to perform naturally. This technique is something that works best in silent film because there is no sound to manipulate. It is as if Chaplin was able to link real time with sped up motion. This is a directing technique that isn't always possible in modern movies, although it is an old trick. Chaplin was known for never using a working script; this only adds to his creativity and his ability to construct greatness on the fly. The ending surely had to be a twist, a janitor goes from the bottom of the totem pole, to top dog, and in the end you find out that he is nothing more than a janitor once again. Chaplin at one point in his life was a butler, a servant in some ways, much like a janitor. You would think that he would want the little man to come out on top, but Chaplin was also a man who didn't care about riches. Instead of displaying a humorous case of sadism, Chaplin could be showing that people should be happy with what they have. Not that you should settle for less, but as a janitor he in no way showed that he deserved any type of promotion, and sadly enough the only way the janitor could come out on top was in his dreams. To understand The Bank you first have to understand Charles Chaplin. His comedy was more than just humor, was a drive for a better outlook on life. The Bank makes you wonder what the janitor would do to better himself. Maybe making us all ask ourselves the question, how can we better ourselves? With creative shots for the time period and technology you see the genius that Chaplin was and the greatness of the film The Bank.

MartinHafer Apart from the very end of this short, I think this might be one of the very best Chaplin shorts I have seen. The pacing was excellent, the story cute and involving and everything seemed to fit together just right--until the ending. MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!Some may like the way the film ended, but I felt REALLY disappointed and irritated at the way they chose to conclude the film. You see, Charlie is a janitor and when the bank is later robbed, Charlie foils the robbers and gets the girl--this works out so well and everything is perfect. However, this all turns out to be a dream! I think Chaplin did this because of his infatuation with pathos in many of his films and while this did make the ending very poignant and sad, it also seemed to undo and ruin everything that occurred before he awoke and found he was just a lowly janitor and not a hero after all.