Hank Mann Movies
American comedian Hank Mann was a product of the turbulent tenement district of New York in the 1880s, where a kid had better learn to be handy with his fists or lose all his teeth by the age of 12. Putting his physical prowess to practical use, Mann became a circus acrobat, then headed westward for a job at Mack Sennett's Keystone studios. His junkyard-dog face was softened a bit by a huge paintbrush mustache, which emphasized his expressive, almost wistful eyes. Seldom a star comedian at Sennett, Mann quickly learned how to "catch flies" -- steal scenes, that is. In the most famous example of this, Mann played the foreman of a jury where Chester Conklin was on trial for his life; as Conklin energetically pleaded his case, Mann grabbed the audience's attention by silently yanking up his necktie in a hanging motion. Mann left Keystone for his own starring series at Fox, thence to a career as a character comic in feature films. He had the potential to be one of the top comedy stars of the era, but bad management and worse judgment left him broke by the late '20s. Mann was given a good break as Charlie Chaplin's contemptuous boxing opponent in City Lights (1931), and was provided with a meaty role as a house detective in the 1935 two-reeler Keystone Hotel, which reunited such former Sennett headliners as Ford Sterling, Ben Turpin, Chester Conklin and Marie Prevost. But Mann's talkie career consisted primarily of bit parts. He worked steadily in the films of Frank Capra, a friend from the silent days, and appeared prominently in two Three Stooge comedies, 1934's Men in Black (as a long-suffering janitor) and 1937's Goofs and Saddles (performing some bone-crushing pratfalls as a confused cattle rustler). Mann also showed up briefly in the two-reelers of such Columbia contractees as Andy Clyde, Buster Keaton and El Brendel. When jobs were scarce, Mann farmed out his services as a makeup artist, and also ran a small California malt shop. During the '50s, Hank Mann could always be relied upon for newspaper interviews about the good old days, and he was cast along with other silent comedy vets in such nostalgic feature films as Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) and Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1926
Thunder the Dog, one of the worthier rivals of canine star Rin Tin Tin, heads the cast of Wings of the Storm. Curiously, the plot is quite "human," with a cowardly, pampered German Shepherd becoming a hero when he's adopted by a rugged forest ranger (Reed Howes). The daring doggie not only rescues his former owner (Virginia Brown Faire) from an untimely death but also exposes the treachery of a villainous lumber-camp superintendent (Bill Martin). The climactic sequence, in which the bad guy unloads a supply of logs on the helpless hero and heroine, is the equal of anything ever seen in a Rin Tin Tin opus. Wings of the Storm was directed by John G. Blystone, whose gallery of cinematic collaborators ranged from Tom Mix to Laurel and Hardy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Russell, Reed Howes, (more)
- 1926
Skyrocket was a vehicle for non-actress Peggy Hopkins Joyce, a former Ziegfeld dancer who managed to get herself into the headlines by romancing and marrying a series of millionaires. Here Ms. Joyce plays Sharon Kimm, a girl of tenements who through a combination of luck and determination becomes a movie star. Unfortunately, once she's made it to the top, Sharon sabotages her career with her prima donna behavior. Plummeting to obscurity, Sharon realizes that there are more important things in the world than fame or fortune, so she settles for middle-class security as the wife of her childhood sweetheart Mickey Reid (Owen Moore) -- who happens to be the screenwriter of the film which made Sharon a star in the first place! Contemporary reviews indicate that Peggy Hopkins Joyce was as endearingly awful in Skyrocket as she was opposite W.C. Fields in 1933's International House. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gladys Brockwell, Charles H. West, (more)
- 1925
To spite her domineering father, Eastern girl Lucy Fox pursues an unsuitable suitor to a small Western hamlet where she obtains a job as a manicurist. A local rancher (Buck Jones), who has fallen for the girl, does his best to persuade her not too marry the bounder. She is determined, however, and leaves town with the man. The rancher, in a final heroic gesture, leaps from his horse to the speeding train and declares his undying love for the girl, who finally accepts. More a romantic comedy than a true western, this silent film's only interesting aspect is the name of the unsuitable suitor: "John Wayne"! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Maine Geary, (more)
- 1925
Lady Gwendolyn (Blanche Sweet, who, at the time, was married to Marshall Neilan) is the daughter of Sir Alfred Grayle, a wealthy Scotsman (Edward Martindel). Because her mother is dead and Sir Alfred wanted a boy, Gwendolyn grows up sharing his passion for sports. When she meets commoner Donald McAllen, a medical student, (Ronald Colman), she falls in love with him. Prince Carlos (Lew Cody), who is heavily in debt, contrives to get his hands on her fortune. McAllen goes away to war and when he returns, Carlos informs him -- falsely -- that he is engaged to Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn cannot understand why McAllen is treating her so coldly, and she buries her depression in a round of wild parties. She eventually does agree to marry Carlos, but her lawyer discovers his game and she unceremoniously dumps him. Her lifestyle has weakened her health, and she returns to Scotland. McAllen -- now a wealthy man -- rescues Gwendolyn, who has become delirious and jumped into the water. The couple are at last reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Blanche Sweet, Ronald Colman, (more)
- 1924
Claire Endicott (Norma Shearer) throws a wild party and her father (Charles Clary) walks in to find her flirting with the very married Milt Bisnet (Ward Crane). In an attempt to straighten her out, Endicott sends Claire to the Canadian northwoods, where his field engineer, Grimshaw (Jack Holt), is working. While fishing, Claire is swept over the rapids and Grimshaw tries to rescue her. Both of them wind up in a remote gorge, and Grimshaw goes about building a hut as a shelter. Although Grimshaw is strongly attracted to Claire, he turns her down when she offers to make love to him. An airplane finally rescues them, and when they return to New York, Claire finds herself named corespondent in the Bisnet divorce case. A scandal sheet prints a rumor that she is marrying Grimshaw to avoid the divorce scandal. As a result, Claire turns down Grimshaw's proposal, but he won't take no for an answer. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Holt, Norma Shearer, (more)
- 1924
Track star Frank Merrill stars as Jack Melford in this hackneyed melodrama. Jack wins the track meet at the local college before being notified his father is on his deathbed. He arrives to find his father has died and left all his money to Dr. Delhi (Alphonse Martell), the shady physician who was treating him. Jack discovers the doctor uses hypnotism to victimize his patients and steal their money. He exposed the crook and gives the despicable doctor a dose of justice and revenge. Margaret Landis, Milford Morante, and May Sherman co-star with Otto Lederer and Kathleen Calhoun in this feature written specifically to highlight Merrill's athletic talents. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- 1924
In spite of the depressing, often tragic, circumstances in this drama, director Finis Fox somehow managed to add in comic relief featuring the likes of Hank Mann, Snitz Edwards, Cissy Fitzgerald, and Hugh Fay. Wall Street operator and all-around bad guy Morgan Wallace has his wife (Irene Rich) locked up in an insane asylum so that he can live the life of a carefree bachelor. He decides he wants to get his hands on the wife (Mae Busch) of a minister (Lucien Littlefield) and convinces her to join him for a yacht party. When the ship leaves port and the wife is forced to spend the night on board, she feels that she has been disgraced and leaves home so that her husband and child believe she has died. Fifteen years later, she gets her revenge on the man who wronged her by having him sent to prison for defrauding the government. When he is released, he is murdered by his own wife (proving that perhaps she was a little crazy after all). The son of the minister (Rex Lease), who joins the clergy himself, is instrumental in bringing his mother back to the family. In a coincidental note, Rex Lease studied for the ministry before becoming an actor. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Morgan Wallace, Irene Rich, (more)
- 1924
William Scott inherits half of a valuable mine from a friend, and prospector Matt Black (Buck Jones) goes undercover as a lowly miner to get the goods on Bertie Spofford (Wanda Hawley), the owner of the other half. They fall in love, and Matt saves Bertie from the nefarious foreman Spangler (Howard Foster). After killing the villain in a fight, Matt comes clean and tears up his half of the property. But Bertie offers to marry him, and all ends well. Leading lady Wanda Hawley was usually seen lolling about on tiger skins in DeMillian splendor, and was reportedly Cecil B. DeMille's mistress. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buck Jones, Ben Hendricks, Jr., (more)
- 1923
Viola Dana stars in this rags-to-riches comedy-drama. She plays Martha Mason, who is such an underdog in her little home town that when she graduates from school, she doesn't get a diploma because there aren't enough to go around. Having inherited 2,000 dollars, Martha convinces her father (Bert Woodruff) to let her study art in New York City. Seven years pass, in which time she becomes a huge success and is surrounded by loads of admirers. One young man in particular wants to marry her, but her only thought is of going back home, to show up all the naysayers and to reunite with her childhood sweetheart, Ben Colwell (David Butler). She returns, only to find the place as dreary as before, and Colwell -- who has never taken her seriously -- engaged to Anne Paisley (Eva Novak), daughter of the town's most wealthy citizen (Alfred Allen). Colwell has become a lawyer playing dirty politics, and Martha hands this information over to a dying local newspaper in need of a scoop. This creates the "noise" referred to in the film's title, and Colwell is chased out of town. Martha, redeemed, returns to New York to accept the proposal of the city guy she left hanging. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Viola Dana, David Butler, (more)
- 1923
After receiving excellent training through working alongside Maurice Tourneur, Clarence Brown became a full-fledged director in his own right with this sophisticated, independently made drama (although he had already really shown his mettle by taking over for an ill Tourneur on The Last of the Mohicans). After landing a job as a modiste for a fashionable Fifth Avenue shop, Marion Whitney (Rubye DeRemer), wins millionaire Peter Smith (House Peters). Marion finds that life with Smith isn't romantic enough for her, and she becomes easy prey for Crane Martin (Cyril Chadwick), a society hanger-on who makes a business out of seducing bored, wealthy wives and then blackmailing them. Before things get too far, Smith catches wind of Martin's scheme and orchestrates the situation to expose him for what he really is. Marion proves to be true to her husband after all and dumps the scoundrel. After this routine little picture, there was nowhere for Brown to go but up, and he went on to direct some of the silent era's most memorable films, including The Eagle with Rudolph Valentino and several of Greta Garbo's best films. He made the transition to sound films and had a long and memorable career at MGM. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- House Peters, Rubye DeRemer, (more)
- 1923
The blend of comedy and melodrama in this picture did not work very well; perhaps that was because the material on which it was based -- an unsuccessful play by Paul Dickey and Mann Page -- wasn't very good to begin with. A pair of crooks -- High Shine Joe (Ben Deely) and Hair Pin Annie (Ruth Stonehouse), rob an Austin, TX, bank but Joe takes off without giving Annie her share of the loot. Annie believes that a large black bag carried by Eggs Winslow (Theodore Von Eltz) may have some of the money, and she follows him through a Pullman car. While on the train she meets Sea Bass (Walter McGrail), who says he's also got a score to settle with Joe. It turns out that the black bag contains nothing but screenplays -- Winslow is a writer -- and the crooks work out a scheme. Winslow writes a serial and the crooks use it to frame Joe with the use of a double. Joe, who is in South America, sees the serial and dashes back to the States to kill the writer. But another one of Joe's victims shows up with the police, which saves Winslow's life. Sea Bass reveals he's a detective and he wins Annie, who has decided to go straight. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Kelsey, Hank Mann, (more)
- 1923
A young and still inexperienced Norma Shearer was originally cast in the lead role of Myra Hastings in this society drama -- it was her first film for Metro, and Irving Thalberg, vice president and Louis B. Mayer's right hand man, had high hopes for her. But director John M. Stahl didn't see much potential in Shearer and insisted that contract player and former Mack Sennett star Marie Prevost take the role of Myra. Shearer was demoted to a supporting role. The story was trite, so the future MGM star (who eventually married Thalberg) didn't miss much by losing the lead. Myra is the maid in a wealthy home who dreams of the better things in life. One day while she is secretly trying on her mistress's gowns she is discovered by Elliot, the Worthington scion (Robert Ellis). He falls in love with her, but she is fired. The headstrong Elliot marries her and brings her back home, much to his family's chagrin. They promptly snub poor Myra, who runs away. Elliot goes after her and saves her from being hit by a train. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1923
This comedy-drama starring Gladys Walton used the stale premise of the suddenly-wealthy working class family who are trying to move into society. Nora Schultz (Walton) is a manicurist in a Greek barber shop run by Standuppolus Kornpoppulus (Harry Mann). Her father, Herman (Otis Harlan), is a butcher who invents a sausage machine that makes the family rich overnight. The Van Bibbers (Emmett King and Henrietta Floyd) are a prominent family with financial troubles. They meet up with Schultz and his wife (the always-dependable character comedienne, Kate Price), and decide that Nora should be engaged to their son, Basil (Jerry Gendron). The young couple agree to the plan only for their parents' sake. Much to their surprise (but not the audience's), they fall in love. They try to hide their growing affection for each other, and Basil fakes being drunk in an attempt to get Nora to break the engagement. But eventually they confess their love and marry. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Price, Florence Drew, (more)
- 1922
Based on the popular novel of rural life by Charles Felton Pidgin, this motion picture featured most of the star names that Paramount had in 1922. After meeting a pretty girl in the park, Quincy Adams Sawyer, a young, up-and-coming lawyer, is called to the village of Mason's Corners by his father's friend, Deacon Pettengill (Edward Connelly). An older woman, Mrs. Putnam (Claire McDowell), is being swindled by her lawyer, Obadiah Strout (Lon Chaney, who was a master villain with or without makeup). The woman's daughter, Lindy (Barbara LaMarr), tries to vamp Sawyer, but he discovers that the girl he met, Alice (Blanche Sweet), is Pettengill's niece, and she has gone blind since the time they met. A romance develops between Alice and Sawyer nevertheless. Strout, afraid of being exposed, convinces the village blacksmith, Abner Stiles (Elmo Lincoln), that Sawyer means him no good, so Stiles offers his aid. Lindy leads Alice onto a ferry, and Stiles cuts the rope and sends the little boat adrift. Lindy, however, repents her actions and tells all to Sawyer, who goes to Alice's rescue. He saves her just before the ferry goes over the falls. In the excitement, Alice's eyesight returns. Stiles, discovering that he has been duped, kills Strout. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Bowers, Blanche Sweet, (more)
- 1916
A society girl (Vivian Edwards) has a sweetheart (Reece Gardner), but that doesn't stop a corrupt attorney (Hank Mann, who also directed) from going after her. He blackmails the girl's guardian (Glen Cavender), and they kidnap the sweetheart. But the girl's affection now turns to the village blacksmith (the imposing Tom Kennedy) who forgets his own washerwoman sweetheart (Polly Moran) in favor of the young miss. The blacksmith winds up as the honored guest at a fashionable dinner party, and his crude manners make the society girl reconsider her engagement to him. Then the washerwoman crashes the party and breaks things up in a manic Keystone Studios climax. Needless to say, everyone winds up with their original mates. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Although better known as Charlie Chaplin's 17th appearance in a Keystone comedy, The Knockout is really a Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle film. The big event in Fatty's town is a prizefight in which champ Cyclone Flynn will meet all comers. Fatty is tricked into accepting the fight by two hobos who are making book on the fight. Through a note ostensibly from Flynn, they offer Fatty a split if he throws the fight, but Fatty, thinking one of the hobos is Flynn, refuses. The real Flynn arrives and dispatches the impostors. The match proceeds with heavy betting going on and Fatty's girlfriend dressed as a boy in order to gain entrance to the arena. Charlie is the referee who is constantly being knocked down by the fighters because he keeps getting in between them. Angered by losing after a short count, Fatty grabs two six-guns from a gambler at ringside and begins firing in all directions. Cyclone takes to his heels and a classic rooftop Keystone chase ensues, with the Keystone Kops in pursuit of Fatty, in pursuit of Cyclone. When the Kops lasso Fatty, he drags six of them along the ground by the rope until he leaps off a pier taking them all with him. With everyone treading water, the Kops surround Fatty as the film ends. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Minta Durfee, (more)
- 1914
Tango Tangles is an impromptu Keystone comedy which exploited the current "tango craze." A tango contest and exhibition prompted Mack Sennett to send a crew out to a local dance hall where some of the film was shot. Charlie Chaplin appears in a tuxedo, sans the famous Tramp makeup and costume, as a drunk who flirts with the hat-check girl, and he gets into fights with Ford Sterling and Roscoe Arbuckle, both musicians at the dance hall who are also enamored with her. Although slight in plot, the film is interesting because the three principal Keystone actors appear without comic makeup and because the audience can observe the mirthful reactions of the real dancers in the hall to the comic fight between Chaplin and Sterling. Also of interest is the blending of location and studio footage, noticeable due to differences in lighting and set. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Chaplin, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, (more)
This Keystone comedy, Charlie Chaplin's 33rd, is the first feature-length comedy ever made and contributed to making Chaplin and his co-star Marie Dressler major stars. Chaplin plays a con artist (not the Tramp) who talks Tillie, an innocent country lass, into taking her father's savings and running off to the city with him. Once there, he re-establishes his affair with the beautiful Mabel Normand, abandoning Tillie, who must begin working at a restaurant, while Charlie and Mabel spend her father's money for new clothes. Meanwhile, Tillie's millionaire uncle is reported to have died in a mountain-climbing accident. When the opportunistic Charlie learns that Tillie has just inherited three million dollars, he immediately rushes over to propose. She joyfully accepts, but is suspicious when she learns of her inheritance. Later, at a wedding gala at Tillie's new mansion where Normand has begun working as a maid, Charlie sneaks off for a little tete-a-tete with the latter. Trouble erupts when Dressler catches them smooching. Suddenly all the slapstick craziness for which director Mack Sennett is famous erupts as Tillie grabs a pistol and begins chasing Charlie and Mabel, firing randomly. Just as the wayward Charlie is to be strangled to death, the "late" uncle suddenly appears and ejects all the celebrants. Charlie and Mabel, chased by Tillie, race out of the ruined mansion to a pier where they are followed by the ubiquitous Keystone Kops whom the uncle has summoned. Tillie ends up in the drink, and when rescued after numerous attempts, she rejects Charlie while consoling Mabel, saying, "He ain't no good to neither of us," as the Kops drag Charlie away. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Dressler, Charles Chaplin, (more)
- 1914
Charlie Chaplin's 12th film for the Keystone company was also his directorial debut, receiving co-directing credit with co-star, Mabel Normand. Chaplin plays a waiter in a seedy cabaret who is always in trouble with his boss, Edgar Kennedy, and at odds with another waiter, Chester Conklin. While walking his dachshund in a park during his lunch break, he rescues rich-girl Mabel from the clutches of a thief who has chased away her boyfriend, Harry McCoy. Charlie introduces himself as O.T. Axle, Ambassador from Greece, (the first of Chaplin's "impersonation" roles) and is brought home to meet her parents and receive their thanks, much to the chagrin of Mabel's boyfriend. He receives an invitation to return later for a garden party. The suspicious boyfriend follows Charlie back to work and discovers the truth. Back at work Charlie deals with a bullying customer, Mack Swain, by serving him a drink and knocking him out with a large mallet when Swain tilts his head back to drink. Later, at the garden party, Charlie misbehaves, getting drunk, flirting with Mabel and singing loudly along with the band. The boyfriend, watching from a distance is now determined to expose him. When Charlie takes his leave to return to work, Harry suggests that the party go slumming to the very cabaret at which Charlie works. When the upper-class guests arrive, they are treated like royalty by the workers and other patrons. When Charlie discovers them at his table he hides the apron he's wearing and sits down next to Mabel, pretending that he's another guest. When the boss scolds him for sitting down on the job, Charlie is exposed as a lowly waiter, much to the shock of Mabel and her father. A melee then ensues between Charlie and his pistol-wielding Boss, whom Charlie knocks out while Mabel hides under a table. Charlie protests his love for Mabel, but she responds with a final knockout blow. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
- 1914
In his 19th film for Keystone, Charlie Chaplin plays a somewhat more sympathetic role as the husband of comedienne Mabel Normand. As so many of his Keystone comedies do, it begins in a park where Mack Swain, dressed in a sporty outfit and carrying a tennis racquet, leaves his wife seated on a bench and goes off to a neighboring saloon. Charlie and Mabel are seated on a nearby bench arguing about the state of Charlie's worn out shoes. Charlie goes off for a drink in the saloon, passing Mack on the way in, who returns to the park and begins to flirt with Mabel. She is first bemused by his attentions but then is outraged when Charlie returns and is unable to rescue her. In fact he isn't even able to get Mack's attention despite increasingly hard kicks to Mack's posterior, anticipating Charlie's confrontation with the bully in Easy Street. Mack eventually flings Charlie's top hat off in the direction of the bench where Mack's wife is seated. While Charlie retrieves the hat, Mack takes Mabel over to the lake shore where, despite her protestations and calls for Charlie to help her, he persists in mashing her. Mack's wife hears the commotion and, with Charlie, she confronts Mack and Mabel, accusing Mabel of flirting with Mack. Charlie, angry with Mabel, sends her home. Mabel, angry with Charlie for his weakness in not defending her, buys a prizefighter's dummy, which is dressed just like Mack, from a sporting goods store. Meanwhile, Charlie has returned to the saloon where he is harassed by the other patrons including Mack. Finally, Charlie is drunk enough to defend himself which he does by felling all four patrons with one well-placed kick. The dummy is delivered to Charlie and Mabel's apartment, and when Charlie comes home, he drunkenly believes the dummy to be Mack. He is intimidated by the dummy and tries to pacify it, offering it a drink. Whenever he pushes it, it rebounds and knocks him to the floor. Finally, Mabel enters from the bedroom and shows her soused husband that he's been afraid of a dummy. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
- 1914
The Face on the Bar-Room Floor, Charlie Chaplin's 22nd Keystone comedy, was based on a well-known poem by Hugh Antoine D'Arcy, "The Face Upon the Floor." The film begins in a saloon where Charlie, a destitute Tramp, is bumming drinks. He offers to tell the story of his downfall to the other patrons, and the story goes into a long flashback sequence. The Tramp was once a successful artist. The audience sees him dressed in a tuxedo, at work in his studio, painting a portrait of his wife (Cecile Arnold). His next client is a portly man who is obviously well to do. When the wife comes into the studio, she and the client fall instantly in love. Later they run off together, leaving a note pinned to the nose of the portrait. Charlie returns to the studio and upon finding the note, flies into a rage, destroying the portrait. Time passes. Charlie is now a Tramp in a park. His former wife and her lover come into view with four children in tow and another in a baby carriage. She is berating her new man and doesn't notice Charlie, but her husband looks at him enviously. Charlie wipes his brow, looking relieved and strolls off. Back in the bar room, the flashback finished, Charlie is handed a piece of chalk. Now quite drunk, he attempts to draw his ex-wife's picture on the floor. He is ordered out of the bar by the other patrons, and a fight breaks out, ending with Charlie collapsing, unconscious on the face upon the floor. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
- 1914
Charlie Chaplin once said, "All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl." In this, his 11th film for Keystone and arguably his first original screenplay, his milieu is just that -- Westlake Park, where most of the Keystone park films were shot. The Tramp makes fun of a romantic couple (Minta Durfee and Edgar Kennedy) kissing on a bench then goes over to pester them and insinuate himself with the girl. Meanwhile another couple on another park bench (Chester Conklin and Vivian Edwards) argue because he has no ring to give her. To get the funds he needs for her ring, the fiancé steals a pocket watch from a sleeping man while his naughty girlfriend flirts with Charlie. Trouble erupts when the fiancé sees them together. In the ensuing shuffle, Charlie gets the watch. A merry chase follows, involving the suitor, the tramp and the ubiquitous park policeman. During one flight scene, Charlie raises his right leg and skids to a stop (the first time Chaplin used this signature gag). In the midst of all the chaos, Charlie proclaims his undying love for the girl. After many comic shenanigans, the policeman and the fiancé end up all wet, while lucky Charlie finds himself with a new watch and a new lady love. ~ Phil Posner, All Movie Guide
