It's hard to believe that back in the early 1920s, Larry Semon was one of the top movie comics--as he is practically unheard of today. In fact, I think the only reason I found this short on DVD was because like many of Semon's films, his co-star was Oliver Hardy and this film was part of Passport Video's "The Laurel OR Hardy Collection"--films featuring one or the other before they were permanently teamed in 1927.
As far as this comedy goes, it's a pretty typical film for Semon as it features some amazing stunt work (a trademark for his films) but isn't all that funny. It's really odd, but Semon made a few exceptionally funny films but the vast bulk of them I have seen were at best average compared to the genre. In fact, if you compare most of his films to those of Lloyd and Keaton, the Semon films seem much cruder in style and less funny. I think a lot of this is because his style of films were more like Keystone Kops films with all the chases and stunts and they lacked the polish of Keaton and Lloyd.
This film in particular isn't all that special. Apart from a couple amazingly dangerous looking stunts that Semon and his lady friend used to escape Hardy and his evil gang as well as the odd ending that was NOT typical of the genre, this film has very little to set it apart from any other comedy.
For a better Semon film, try finding THE BAKERY--this is Semon at his finest.
As far as this comedy goes, it's a pretty typical film for Semon as it features some amazing stunt work (a trademark for his films) but isn't all that funny. It's really odd, but Semon made a few exceptionally funny films but the vast bulk of them I have seen were at best average compared to the genre. In fact, if you compare most of his films to those of Lloyd and Keaton, the Semon films seem much cruder in style and less funny. I think a lot of this is because his style of films were more like Keystone Kops films with all the chases and stunts and they lacked the polish of Keaton and Lloyd.
This film in particular isn't all that special. Apart from a couple amazingly dangerous looking stunts that Semon and his lady friend used to escape Hardy and his evil gang as well as the odd ending that was NOT typical of the genre, this film has very little to set it apart from any other comedy.
For a better Semon film, try finding THE BAKERY--this is Semon at his finest.