Good concept, poorly executed.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

The movie that made the Keystone Cops famous focuses on a simple misunderstanding that causes a complete goof-up. This wasn't the first movie starring the crowd, but it turned them into stars. Producing was Mack Sennett, now known for launching Charlie Chaplin's career (Dan Aykroyd played him in Richard Attenborough's "Chaplin), while the cast included Mabel Normand, Hank Mann (a Storm Trooper in "The Great Dictator") and Edgar Kennedy (the lemonade vendor in "Duck Soup")."Bangville Police" is both a fun time, and a look at the early years of cinema. I suspect that they had fun filming it. I hope to see the rest of the Keystone Cops movies in the future.

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.

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.

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.