Bangville Police

To appreciate why this comedy is so very funny, you need to stop and think about the story: a youngster, home alone. Gangsters come and break in. Desperately the child calls on the phone for help. Parents race to save the child. No, it's not HOME ALONE, it's several of D.W. Griffith's better known shorts. In THE LONELY VILLA, it is the phone that provides the call for help, and daddy races home in an auto. In THE GIRL AND HER TRUST, she is a telegrapher, and help comes on railroads.

Yes, indeedy. THE BANGVILLE POLICE is a lampoon of a contemporary genre, just like the SCARY MOVIE franchise. And while the police force took on a life of its own, it had its origins in the works of Griffith, for whom Sennett had worked for years, and whom he called 'the Master'. Even if Griffith rarely put cows in his pictures.... at least, not as major supporting actors.

The earliest existing Keystone Kops movie is April 1913's "The Bangville Police." The Kops made their first tentative introduction a year before in "Hoffmeyer's Legacy," but because it's a lost film, movie historians don't consider the movie as their introduction to cinema. Even in "The Bangville Police," the hapless group of pratfallers weren't identified as the Keystone Kops (or known as Cops in the early going). They appear as a deputized group of clumsy chumps responding to farm girl Mabel Normand's plea over the phone to police chief Fred Mace to save her from a couple of burglars roaming about.

The Keystone Kops, an idea originating from Keystone Studio's main comedian Hank Mann's suggestion, appeared in 12 movies, mostly in support roles to the studio's later bigger stars, such as Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle.

In "The Bangville Police," Fred Mace takes center stage as the leader of the Kops. Once reaching stardom as the Keystone police chief, Mace became itchy and left the studio for other acting and film producing endeavors. However, none panned out and he returned to Keystone in 1917, only to get vastly diminished roles. He bemoaned his fate, and in a New York City hotel room, Mace died of a massive stroke on February 21, 1917, at age 39.

In their screen lifetime, Keystone Kops consisted of a revolving troupe of actors supported by some mainstays, including Edgar Kennedy. He had quite a career as a well-known character actor later in his life, appearing with the Marx Brothers and Laurel & Hardy among others.

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.

Bangville Police supposedly marked the debut of the Keystone Kops, named after the studio they worked for. In this one, however, they don't dress in the silly cop costumes or drive the fast-paced car that's their trademark. Anyway, Mabel Normand is a farm girl here who's begged her dad for a calf. She later sees some strange men in the barn and quickly calls the police. One answers and the chase is on. Next, Mabel slams her door just as someone is coming in. Turns out it's her mother who jumps to the conclusion robbers are in there! So while Mabel blocks her door with furniture, the mother and father try to fight their way in! This was perhaps the most amusing part of the short along with some explosions of the cop car. This was a short 7 minutes that went by so fast it's over before it's begun. The only real characterization that's developed is Mabel's who exudes charm with just her face and big eyes and seems so optimistically cheery here except, of course, when she's frightened. It's easy to see why she became a star. It's largely because of her that I'd recommended seeing this at least once and why I'm giving this a 4.

While this movie was made by Mack Sennett and SOME of the elements of the classic Keystone Kops are present, it doesn't look exactly like one of the Kops' movies. That's because instead of an entire police force, there are some cops dressed in normal everyday clothes and only one that really looks like a Kop. Plus, the action in the film is awfully sedate to be one of their films. Instead, it's a slower-paced film about a mistake that snowballs into big trouble. I really liked this aspect of the film--especially when women on different sides of the SAME door think that the other person is a robber coming to get them! It's cute and watchable, but if you are looking for frenetic action and chase scenes, try watching a later Keystone Kops film--the formula just isn't perfected yet in this film.