Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Robert J. Maxwell An amusing tour of the flophouses and the seedier side of Los Angeles, circa 1916, when you could REALLY be poor through no weakness of your own.Charlie has just been let out of prison and tries to make his way through this Dickensian milieu without a cent. But he's spirited, enlivened by the challenge, not depressed.A bit of theft here and there, a sad tale for the flophouse owner. When he impudently uses his cane to pull the feet out from under a police officer, the cop does a forward somersault in mid-air. There are pratfalls and then there are pratfalls.The plot doesn't matter much. It rarely does in his earlier short. He is recruited by another criminal to help burglarize a house. They enter it and begin crashing into tables full of silverware, sitting on pianos, setting off alarm clocks and so on.Charlie saves the pretty mistress of the house from harm by his partner and in return she gets him off when the police arrive.

CitizenCaine Chaplin wrote, directed, and starred in this film, his last for Essanay. The company reedited the film after Chaplin left, and it took months more to release as a result. Chaplin is a man released from prison who is immediately swindled by a sidewalk preacher. He meets up with his old cell-mate who is trying to rob him on the sidewalk, and they decide to break into a mansion where Edna Purviance lives with her old, sick mother. Once inside, there are some good sight gags, as the two crooks are discovered by Edna. She'll allow them to take some things and leave as long as they don't disturb her mother upstairs. This doesn't sit well with Chaplin's partner in crime, and Chaplin finds himself defending Edna. The police arrive in time, and Chaplin is set straight by Edna and the lie she tells the police. Chaplin's comedy is more subtle in this film, but there are still some fine brief bits of slapstick. Chaplin was quickly realizing his films were more poignant and successful when the plots were more sophisticated and the slapstick was more restrained. Wesley Ruggles and Snub Pollard have supporting roles in this one. **1/2 of 4 stars.

TheOtherFool The Tramp never had much going on with authority and the police in the first place, but we never saw (well, at least I didn't) Chaplin quite as criminal as in 'The Police'.In the first scene he's released from prison and a minister of some sort wants to guide him on the right path, but Charlie finds himself robbed by this imposter. So out of money and out of hope he runs into his old cell-mate, and the two of them decide to rob a big mansion.When they finally get inside (after an encounter with a police-officer), the young woman living there (a part by Edna Purviance) is being alarmed by some noise, and she calls the police. They don't seem too interested though, as they finish their drinks before checking out the scene.Meanwhile, Edna confronts the burglars and lets them take away some things, as long as they don't go up, as that would scare her mother. Charlie agrees but his mate doesn't, and they get into a fight just as the police finally arrives as well. In the end, Edna feels sorry for Charlie and claims that he's her husband so he won't be arrested, and Charlie finally sees that robbing people isn't the right way to live. Great ending there, with Charlie in love and standing in the sun, of a pretty good Chaplin short about forgiving and living well. 7/10.

rbverhoef Chaplin is released from prison and immediately everyone wants to help him go straight. He runs into his old cell-mate and together they break into a house. Edna Purviance lives in that house and she even helps the guys, but only when they are quiet since her mother is very ill.This Chaplin two reeler is boring in the beginning but once they enter the house it gets pretty entertaining. It is definitely not his best though.