Good old Keystone rough and tumble. Chaplin himself would not have liked this film, as he thought the only thing that justified Keystone's existence was a dark-eyed girl that weaved in and out of their pictures, Mabel Normand. Clearly, Mabel isn't in this one, so it qualifies as rubbish. However, all Keystone films made money, so what WE think today is immaterial. Those that handed over their 7 cents entrance fee undoubtedly thought they'd had their money's worth. That's what matters. The film brings out most of Keystone's ammunition: kicks in the rear, heads stamped on, flashes of petticoat, spraying with a hose and a ballet dancer's legs, what more could be wished for. They must have been rolling in the aisles. I would guess the film is a sort of remake of 'That Ragtime Band', albeit minus the charming Mabel.
The prop man is Charlie Chaplin, and he has a mission – to cause as much disruption in his little theater as possible. Film-goers eyes must have popped out of their heads – the entrance prices are 9c,19c, 29c, 49c with box seats reduced to 98 cents. Sennett is telling us that this place is so lousy they've had to reduce prices. At the start the deadbeat prop man and an aging janitor with a Zee-Zee Top beard, are drinking beer from a jug. There follows an argument with an act that has not been put on the bill poster. When the lady part of the act goes to the star dressing room she finds it empty and resplendent with graffiti (written by actresses? never!). Things get worse when the lady assistant of Garlico The Strongman enters the dressing room and finds the first lady there. While the ladies get violent, Garlico is bouncing Charlie off the walls. Enter the Goo Goo Sisters (the what!) and Charlie soon spills his beer down his trousers and, seemingly down a sister's dress as well. In an act reminiscent of The Fatima Sisters from Ragtime Band, the Goos indulge in some titillating dancing, giving Charlie an eyeful of petticoats. Garlico performs his strongman act, but his assistant gets knocked out during some ludicrous slapstick – twice. The strongman himself is laid out by little Charlie using a dumbbell as a club. Mack Sennett appears in this film as a member of the audience, but, unsurprisingly, he disappears just before the theater-goers get a hosing down. The majority of the film is composed of endless crazy slapstick, which would have had regular Keystoners in stitches. For present-day fans of slapstick, this film is still a must.
As in 'That Ragtime Band' small-time theaters are not treated kindly by Keystone (they were the competition after all). They tell us the theater is a dirty, disgusting place, staffed by alcoholic hobos, and the acts comprise psychologically unstable miscreants and lewd women. For this you will pay much more than in a cinema. This is no illusion though, for Mary Pickford described the theaters of the day, where the actresses would throw makeup at the walls and smash mirrors if their performance did not go down well (the sign in this film 'If your act is rotten do not take it out on the props' is a genuine one). When Pickford got her first star dressing room she was furious to find it dirty, covered in graffiti and with every convenience trashed. She got so hysterical that her mother had to slap her face to bring her round. Of course the theater staff would never clear up after spoiled, unstable, swelled head actresses – let them wallow in their own filth.
Garlico's assistant was played by Peggy Page, an actress who has been identified with the Helen Carruthers that attempted suicide in 1915. Charlie and Helen appeared together in 17 films for Keystone, and they seem to have been very lovey with each other – so much so that Peggy / Helen might have followed him to Essanay. The actress was never a star, but came close in Chaplin's His Prehistoric Past. It is rather curious that Chas never mentioned her in his autobiography, but then he only ever mentioned 'the greats'. Was Peggy/ Helen of the class of actress that Mabel Normand labeled as only able 'to enter a scene and flirt with the comedian?' The film was criticized in the press for being too brutal. 'Is kicking an old man in the head actually funny?' They asked.
