A Thief Catcher | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ford Sterling |
Produced by | Mack Sennett |
Starring | Ford Sterling Mack Swain Edgar Kennedy Charles Chaplin |
Distributed by | Keystone Studios |
Release date |
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Running time | 1 reel c. 7 min, 35 sec |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent film English (Original titles) |
A Thief Catcher is a one-reel 1914 American comedy film, produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone film company, directed by Ford Sterling, [1] and starring Sterling, Mack Swain, Edgar Kennedy, and Charles Chaplin [2] [3] as a Keystone Cop.
Three armed burglars stop atop an embankment to divide the loot from a recent crime. When one of the men complains about how the shares are split, a fight erupts. The complainer is eventually pushed over the embankment by the other two thieves. By chance, a police chief (Ford Sterling) who was out with his dog and his camera, takes a photo of the burglars. They spot him and pursue him. Eventually the police chief flees unknowingly to a barn which the burglars have been using as their hideout. The police chief appears to be cornered in the barn but he dispatches a note with his dog who takes it to police headquarters. The bumbling police force arrives and eventually captures the burglars, but not without considerable difficulty.
The film was believed lost, and Chaplin's appearance was unknown, until a vintage 16mm print was discovered by director/film historian Paul E. Gierucki in 2010 at a Michigan antique sale. [4] [5] Chaplin had stated in interviews that he had played a bit-role as a policeman while at Keystone Studios. [6]
The Keystone Cops are fictional, humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent film slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917.
Tillie's Punctured Romance is a 1914 American silent comedy film directed by Mack Sennett and starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, Charlie Chaplin, and the Keystone Cops. The picture is the first feature-length comedy and was the only feature-length comedy made by the Keystone Film Company.
Keystone Studios was an early film studio founded in Edendale, California on July 4, 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by Mack Sennett with backing from actor-writer Adam Kessel (1866–1946) and Charles O. Baumann (1874–1931), owners of the New York Motion Picture Company. The company, referred to at its office as The Keystone Film Company, filmed in and around Glendale and Silver Lake, Los Angeles for several years, and its films were distributed by the Mutual Film Corporation between 1912 and 1915. The Keystone film brand declined rapidly after Sennett went independent in 1917.
A Busy Day is a 1914 short film starring Charlie Chaplin and Mack Swain.
Mack Swain was a prolific early American film actor, who appeared in many of Mack Sennett’s comedies at Keystone Studios, including the Keystone Cops series. He also appeared in major features by Charlie Chaplin and starred in both the world's first feature length comedy and first film to feature a "movie-within-a-movie" premise.
Ford Sterling was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the 'Big 4', he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops.
Chester Cooper Conklin was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with Mabel Normand and worked closely with Charlie Chaplin, both in silent and sound films.
The Knockout is a 1914 American silent comedy film starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. It also features Charlie Chaplin in a small role, his seventeenth film for Keystone Studios. It is one of only a few films in which Chaplin's Little Tramp character appears in a secondary role, not appearing until the second half of the film. It also stars Arbuckle's wife, Minta Durfee, Edgar Kennedy and Keystone owner, Mack Sennett in a minor role as a spectator. The film was directed by Charles Avery.
His New Profession is a 1914 American comedy silent film made at the Keystone Studios and starring Charlie Chaplin. The film involves Chaplin taking care of a man in a wheelchair. It is also known as "The Good for Nothing".
His Prehistoric Past is a 1914 American short silent comedy film, written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, featuring Chaplin in a stone-age kingdom trying to usurp the crown of King Low-Brow to win the affections of the king's favorite wife. As this film was the final one that Chaplin made at Keystone Studios, it was also the last film he made with most of Keystone's regular roster of comedians. Co-star Mack Swain would not appear in another Chaplin film until 1923 when he had a prominent role in the Chaplin silent film Pay Day.
Mabel's Busy Day is a 1914 short comedy film starring Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin; the film was also written and directed by Mabel Normand. The supporting cast includes Chester Conklin, Slim Summerville, Edgar Kennedy, Al St. John, Charley Chase, and Mack Sennett.
(Sir) Charlie Chaplin (KBE) (1889–1977) was an English internationally renowned Academy Award-winning actor, comedian, filmmaker and composer who was best known for his career in Hollywood motion pictures from his debut in 1914 until 1952, he however subsequently appeared in two films in his native England. During his early years in the era of silent film, he rose to prominence as a worldwide cinematic idol renowned for his tramp persona. In the 1910s and 1920s, he was considered the most famous person on the planet.
Tango Tangles is a 1914 American film comedy short starring Charles Chaplin and Roscoe Arbuckle. The action takes place in a dance hall, with a drunken Chaplin, Ford Sterling, and the huge, menacing, and acrobatic Arbuckle fighting over a girl. The supporting cast also features Chester Conklin and Minta Durfee. The picture was written, directed and produced by Mack Sennett for Keystone Studios and distributed by Mutual Film Corporation.
The Star Boarder is a 1914 American short comedy film starring Charlie Chaplin. The film is also known as The Landlady's Pet, its 1918 American reissue title.
Mabel at the Wheel is a 1914 American motion picture starring Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand, and directed by Mabel Normand and Mack Sennett. The film is also known as Hot Finish.
Caught in the Rain is a 1914 American comedy silent film starring Charlie Chaplin. This film was the first of many movies in which Chaplin both directed and played the lead. The short film was produced by Mack Sennett for Keystone Studios with a running time of 16 minutes.
Gentlemen of Nerve is a 1914 American comedy silent film directed by Charlie Chaplin, starring Chaplin and Mabel Normand, and produced by Mack Sennett for Keystone Studios.
Getting Acquainted, subsequently retitled A Fair Exchange, is a 1914 American comedy silent film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, starring Chaplin and Mabel Normand, and produced by Mack Sennett for Keystone Studios.
Wished on Mabel is a 1915 American silent comedy short or "one-reeler" filmed at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California, and directed by Mabel Normand. The short also co-stars Normand and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle.
The L-KO Kompany, or L-KO Komedies, was an American motion picture company founded by Henry Lehrman that produced silent one-, two- and very occasionally three-reel comedy shorts between 1914 and 1919. The initials L-KO stand for "Lehrman KnockOut".