The Knockout

Don't Call It a Comeback for Mack Sennett

The Knockout by Mack Sennett, 1914:



Hangdog scarecrows in early 20th-century America / A one-sheet for Caught in the Cabaret presences the background — a poster for Love's Sacrifice, "A Mutual Movie," hangs above; the venue? a town-hall / More unfunny brick pitching, the gag relies on the physical reaction of the target, not much more to the premise than that / Staple and Fancy / At dinner parties did Sennett play raconteur, there freely exercise his wit? / Mack Sennett, Robert Evans? / Chaplin shows up at the 19-minute mark in the secondary role of boxing referee — extraordinary, he moves like slung taffy, bungee-limber and game / Fatty shoots pistols while wearing boxing gloves / It's got lots of little weirdnesses (it's an Arbuckle vehicle, after all), but guess how it ends? bunch of dummies falling in water

The Knockout by Mack Sennett, 1914:




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Previous pieces on Chaplin at Cinemasparagus:

Making a Living [Lehrman, 1914] / Kid Auto Races at Venice, Cal. [Lehrman, 1914] / Mabel's Strange Predicament [Normand, 1914] / Between Showers [Lehrman, 1914] / A Film Johnnie [George Nichols, 1914] / Tango Tangles [Sennett, 1914] / His Favorite Pastime [George Nichols, 1914] / Cruel, Cruel Love [George Nichols, 1914] / The Star Boarder [George Nichols, 1914] / Mabel at the Wheel [Normand and Sennett, 1914] / Twenty Minutes of Love [Chaplin and Maddern, 1914] / Caught in a Cabaret [Chaplin and Normand, 1914] / Caught in the Rain [Chaplin, 1914] / A Busy Day [Sennett, 1914] / The Fatal Mallet [Sennett, 1914]

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