Trying to Recall a Sennett Title

[Tommie Hicks]

I am trying to recall the title of a Sennett short. It is where a woman in a touring car is being chased by some miscreants in another car. Somehow the cars wind up on rooftops and the woman drives over a gap between the buildings. When the woman lands on the other side her car plunges through the roof of the building and crashes through three stories. She lands intact intact on the ground floor which may have been a department store and drives off outside and back onto the street. The pursuers drive down the flights of stairs. My memory seems to indicate this was a late teens title. Thanks in advance.

[Steve Massa]

Hi Tommie
I'm at work so I don't have my murky old VHS dub to check - but I think the film may be CAUGHT WITH THE GOODS (3/11/1917) with Harry Gribbon. I'm sure Brent will know if that's correct (and what it is if it isn't correct).

Steve

[Richard M Roberts]

Hi Tommie
I'm at work so I don't have my murky old VHS dub to check - but I think the film may be CAUGHT WITH THE GOODS (3/11/1917) with Harry Gribbon. I'm sure Brent will know if that's correct (and what it is if it isn't correct).

Steve

That's THIRST (Keystone-Triangle released July 29, 1917) with Mack Swain, Cliff Bowes and Ethel Teare. The clip from that chase has also been used in several compilations, including Paul Killiams THE FUN FACTORY and THE GREAT CHASE.

RICHARD M ROBERTS ( who pulled his print out to go with his morning coffee just to make sure).

[Gary Johnson]

Why does that clip always end up in any retrospective of Sennett Keystones?

Could it be that despite the reputation of Keystones being all 'mayhem and destruction', the reality is that the majority of the shorts produced in the teens were more along the lines of parodies of social comedies of the day with a quick chase added at the climax to wrap up the story with a bang? What I'm suggesting is that there may not be enough clips of wild, sustained slapstick from the Keystones (like the sort we see continually in the Arbuckle-Keaton shorts of just a few years later) to enhance their reknown and thus, the same clips seem to be recycled often.

Or is it more simply a matter of access and that a short such as "Thirst" is readily available?

Gary J.

[Richard M Roberts]

Why does that clip always end up in any retrospective of Sennett Keystones?

Could it be that despite the reputation of Keystones being all 'mayhem and destruction', the reality is that the majority of the shorts produced in the teens were more along the lines of parodies of social comedies of the day with a quick chase added at the climax to wrap up the story with a bang? What I'm suggesting is that there may not be enough clips of wild, sustained slapstick from the Keystones (like the sort we see continually in the Arbuckle-Keaton shorts of just a few years later) to enhance their reknown and thus, the same clips seem to be recycled often.

Or is it more simply a matter of access and that a short such as "Thirst" is readily available?

Gary J.

I think it's used because it's a great clip. I don't think THIRST is any more readily available than any other Sennett, Blackhawk had it early on in their catalog, then discontinued it, and it is nowhere near as easy to find as, say, a print of TEDDY AT THE THROTTLE, WIFE AND AUTO TROUBLE, or DOLLARS AND SENSE (or what I think may be the most available Keystone comedy, the Castle Films print of MUDDLED IN MUD (aka A MUDDY ROMANCE). I do agree that the zaniness in Sennett comedies is parcelled out far more than we think, and who could really do twenty minutes of a Keystone Kop chase? There are indeed rather intricate social comedy plots that lead up to the wild chase at the end, but Sennett's 20's films do far more sustained surrealness and cartoon gags than the Keystones do.


RICHARD M ROBERTS

[Gary Johnson]

It is a great clip! And I've always assumed I've seen the entire film just because I recognize that chase but now I'm not so sure. The fact that Blackhawk had it in it's catalog at one time bodes well since that was my only exposure to Keystones way back then. And that's my main problem with the Keystones - it's all based on memories since I have no comprehensive collection at home that I can refer to (Unlike Richard....who no longer invites me to his home for viewings ever since I accidently burnt his house down. Some people are so sensitive). Is Brent going to have a quick synopsis to each film in his Sennett book? That may help.

Let me take leave (I have to go trick n' treat with my niece) with a question. What Sennett titles would people list as being the zaniest of the Keystone-Triangle years?

Gary J.

[Rob Farr]

Must be something else Gary. I once burned down Richard's house and a year later flooded out his new house in an unfortunate bathroom malfunction. Surprisingly, he still invites me over for screenings when I'm in town, though I am required to wear restraints while watching films.

[Gary Johnson]

Great! Now I'm getting a complex.

Gary J.

[Tommie Hicks]

The reason I was trying to get the title of this short was that in an effort to avoid homework I decided to try to receate from memory the intro montage that KWGN channel Denver would show before the film on their classic comedy film on Saturday morning. This would have been in the mid-70's. The video is more pixilated than the one I uploaded but nonetheless you get the idea. Its amazing I could not remember to mail a letter this morning but I still can remember these clips.