Bangville Police

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.

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.

Mabel Normand recruits the mad Kops to get rid of strangers in her barn; this is a very short piece (around 7 minutes) which isn't as frenetic as some of the others in the series. Normand has a fair bit of emoting to do and the Kops get their chase, but overall it feels like there is something missing.

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.