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The Keystone Cops in a typical pose in The Gangsters (1913). The desk officer using the telephone is Ford Sterling. The policeman directly behind Sterling (in extreme background, left) is Edgar Kennedy. The hefty policeman at extreme right is Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. The young constable with bulging eyes, fourth from right, is Arbuckle's nephew Al St. John. The casting of the Keystone police force changed from one film to the next; many of the individual members were per-diem actors who remain unidentifiable.
The Keystone Cops in a typical pose in The Gangsters (1913). The Gangsters is a 1913 short Comedy film featuring Fatty Arbuckle as one of the Keystone Cops. The desk officer using the telephone is Ford Sterling. Ford Sterling ( November 3, 1882 – October 13, 1939) was an American actor The policeman directly behind Sterling (in extreme background, left) is Edgar Kennedy. Edgar Livingston Kennedy ( April 26, 1890 — November 9, 1948) was an American comedic Film Actor, known The hefty policeman at extreme right is Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle ( March 24 1887 &ndash June 29 1933) was an American Silent film Comedian The young constable with bulging eyes, fourth from right, is Arbuckle's nephew Al St. John. Al St John ( September 10, 1893 - January 21, 1963) in his persona of Fuzzy Q The casting of the Keystone police force changed from one film to the next; many of the individual members were per-diem actors who remain unidentifiable.

The Keystone Cops was a series of silent film comedies featuring a totally incompetent group of policemen produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917. A police officer (also known as a policeman or policewoman) is a warranted employee of a Police force. Mack Sennett ( January 17, 1880 &ndash November 5, 1960) was an Academy Award -winning director and was known as the innovator Keystone Studios was an early Movie studio founded in Edendale California in 1912 as the Keystone Pictures Studio by The idea came from Hank Mann, who also played police chief Tehiezel in the first film before being replaced by Ford Sterling. Hank Mann ( - was a comedian and silent screen star who is best known as the last surviving member of the Keystone Cops. Ford Sterling ( November 3, 1882 – October 13, 1939) was an American actor Their first film was Hoffmeyer's Legacy (1912) but their popularity stemmed from the 1913 short The Bangville Police starring Mabel Normand. The Bangville Police is a 1913 comedy short starring Mabel Normand and the Keystone Cops ( Fred Mace, Raymond Hatton, Edgar Kennedy Mabel Normand ( November 9, 1892 - February 23, 1930) was an American Film actress and the most popular

As early as 1914 Sennett shifted the Cops from starring roles to background ensemble, in support of comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle. Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle ( March 24 1887 &ndash June 29 1933) was an American Silent film Comedian The Cops serve as supporting players for Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, and Chaplin in the first full-length Sennett comedy feature, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914), as well as in Mabel's New Hero (1913) with Normand and Arbuckle, Making a Living (1914) with Chaplin, In the Clutches of the Gang (1914) with Normand, Arbuckle, and Al St. John, and Wished on Mabel (1915) with Arbuckle and Normand, among others. Marie Dressler ( November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was an Academy Award -winning Canadian actress Mabel's New Hero is a 1913 short Comedy film featuring Fatty Arbuckle. Making a Living is the first film featuring Charlie Chaplin. It premiered on February 2, 1914. In the Clutches of the Gang is a 1914 short Comedy film featuring Fatty Arbuckle. Al St John ( September 10, 1893 - January 21, 1963) in his persona of Fuzzy Q Wished on Mabel is a 1915 short Comedy film directed by Mabel Normand and starring Fatty Arbuckle.

Mack Sennett's Keystone film studio always used the spelling "Cops" whenever publicizing their films, never "Kops", as some more recent secondary sources have rendered the name. No contemporary citation of the "Kop" spelling has ever surfaced, whereas film historian Kalton C. Lahue and others have found many documents issued by the Keystone studio which retain the spelling "Cop". Universal Pictures changed the spelling to "Kops" in 1955 for the feature Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops. Universal Studios (sometimes called Universal Pictures or Universal City Studios) a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is a major Global American Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops is a 1955 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.

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Revivals

Mack Sennett continued to use the Cops intermittently through the 1920s. By the time sound movies arrived, the Keystone Cops were an anachronism; symbolic of dated, lowbrow humor. In 1935 director Ralph Staub staged a revival of the Sennett gang for his Warner Brothers short subject Keystone Hotel, featuring a magnificent re-creation of the Cops clutching at their hats, leaping in the air in surprise, running energetically in any direction, and taking extreme pratfalls. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and This footage is so well filmed that it has been used countless times in later productions purporting to use silent-era material.

The Staub version of the Keystone Cops became a template for later re-creations. 20th Century Fox's 1939 feature Hollywood Cavalcade had Buster Keaton in a Keystone chase scene. Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton ( October 4 1895 &ndash February 1 1966) was an Academy Award -winning American Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) included a lengthy chase scene, showcasing a hardy group of stuntmen dressed as Sennett's squad. Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops is a 1955 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. Even Mel Brooks directed a Keystone car chase in his comedy film Silent Movie. Mel Brooks (born Melvin Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American director, Writer, Composer, Lyricist Silent Movie is a 1976 Comedy film directed by and starring Mel Brooks.

By the 1950s any surviving silent-movie comedian might be pressed into service as a Keystone Cop, regardless of whether he appeared with the troupe authentically. In the This Is Your Life TV tribute to Mack Sennett, several Sennett alumni ran on stage -- dressed as Keystone Cops. This Is Your Life was a television documentary series hosted by its producer Ralph Edwards. Mack Sennett ( January 17, 1880 &ndash November 5, 1960) was an Academy Award -winning director and was known as the innovator

The Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance features a platoon of incompetent and cowardly policemen engaged by hero Frederic to arrest the pirates. Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian era partnership of Librettist W Operetta is a genre of light Opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter The Pirates of Penzance, or The Slave of Duty is a Comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and Libretto by W Although the stage show dates from 1879 and the Keystone Cops appeared a quarter-century later, it is now customary for the policemen in the show to be portrayed in the style of the Keystone Cops.

"Keystone Cops" in popular usage

The term has since come to be used to criticize any group for its mistakes, particularly if the mistakes happened after a great deal of energy and activity, or if there was a lack of coordination among the members of the group. For example, the June 2004 election campaign of the Liberal Party of Canada was compared with "the Keystone Cops running around" by one of its parliamentary members, Carolyn Parrish. The Canadian federal election 2004 (more formally the 38th General Election) was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of The Liberal Party of Canada ( Parti libéral du Canada) colloquially known as the Grits (originally " Clear Grits " is a major Canadian political Carolyn Parrish BA, BEd (born October 3, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian Politician In criticizing the Department of Homeland Security's response to Hurricane Katrina, Senator Joseph Lieberman claimed that emergency workers under DHS chief Michael Chertoff "ran around like Keystone Cops, uncertain about what they were supposed to do or uncertain how to do it" [1] Another example is a statement by Peter Beattie, Premier of the Australian state of Queensland, on the counter-terrorism investigation into Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef in July 2007. Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest in the history of the United States Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman (born February 24 1942 is the junior United States Senator from Connecticut. Michael B Chertoff (born November 28, 1953) is the current United States Secretary of Homeland Security, and co-author of the USA PATRIOT Act Mohamed Haneef (born 29 September 1979) is a 29-year old Indian Physician who was accused of aiding terrorists and left Australia upon cancellation After the Australian Federal Police committed a series of blunders, the Premier likened their actions to those of the "keystone cops".

The Keystone Cops re-emerge every year in the town of Cedar Springs, Michigan during their Red Flannel Festival, and also in Sitka, Alaska during the annual Alaska Day festival. Cedar Springs is a city in Kent County in the US state of Michigan, 20 minutes north of Grand Rapids, Known as "Red Flannel Town" Alaska Day is a legal holiday in the US state of Alaska, observed on October 18.

The Police Academy movies that began in 1984 are frequently considered a modern day version of the Keystone Kops. A police academy is a Training School for new Police Recruits also known as a law enforcement academy

In the first season of The West Wing in the episode In Excelsis Deo, the White House Chief of Staff's character Leo McGarry refers to Sam Seaborn and Josh Lyman as the Keystone Cops. " In Excelsis Deo " is the 10th episode of the first season of The West Wing. The White House Chief of Staff is the highest-ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President Leo Thomas McGarry is a Fictional character played by John Spencer on the television serial Drama Samuel Norman "Sam" Seaborn is a Fictional character played by Rob Lowe on the Television serial Drama The West Joshua "Josh" Lyman is a Fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing.

In Ian McEwan's Enduring Love, the actions of the police are described as 'Keystone Kops style'.

In an episode ("Syzygy") of the US Television series, The X-Files. " Syzygy " is the thirteenth episode of the third season of television series The X-Files. The X-Files is a Peabody, Golden Globe and Emmy Award -winning American Science fiction television series created by Chris Carter A Keystone Cops movie is showing on all of the channels on Mulder and Scully's hotel room TV. It is also shown on every TV in the video game which the series inspired, The X-Files: The Game. The X-Files Game is an Adventure game for the PlayStation video game console PC, and Macintosh and is based on the television series

Video games

In 1983, a video game called Keystone Kapers was released for the Atari 2600 and 5200. Keystone Kapers was a 1983 game published by Activision for the Atari 2600, and later ported to Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit The Atari 2600 is a Video game console released in October 1977 The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, or simply the Atari 5200, is a Video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc Playing as Keystone Cop Officer Kelly, your object is to stop would-be robber Hooligan Harry from escaping Southwick's Mall. The game, which became a hit, was produced by Activision. Activision Inc is an American Video game developer and publisher. The Keystone Cops also appear in the computer game NetHack, usually when the player steals from one of the shops. A personal computer Game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a Video game played on a Personal computer, rather NetHack is a single-player Roguelike computer game originally released in 1987. They are more dangerous than their cinematic inspiration, however; they typically surround the player's character so escape is impossible, and then mercilessly beat the player with rubber hoses from all directions, while temporarily blinding the player with cream pie. A cream pie is a type of Pie typically made of usually firmer versions of dessert-style Puddings.

External links: Movies featuring the Keystone Cops

Further reading

See also

Heinie Conklin, born Charles John Conklin ( July 15, 1889 - July 30, 1959) was an American actor of the Silent James Henderson "Jimmy" Finlayson ( August 27, 1887 – October 9, 1953) was a Scottish-American Actor
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