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.

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.

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.

As a comedy, this isn't too bad, and the cast also provides some other good reasons to watch. There isn't much of a story, with what plot there is serving merely as a device for Mabel Normand to demonstrate her charm and for the Keystone Kops to demonstrate their own brand of humor. Mabel is as winsome as ever, and won't disappoint any of her fans. This early, rural rendition of the Kops is rather different from the more familiar form they would take later, but their style is recognizable, and the comedy is all right, some of it routine but with some good moments.

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.