French director Ferdinand Zecca’s The Policemen’s Little Run is a very early example of slapstick comedy and predates Sennett’s Keystone Kops by 6 years. It begins with a dog running from a butcher shop with what looks like a leg of lamb in his mouth. About a dozen policemen immediately give chase.
They follow the dog through the picturesque streets of Paris, into a small basement window, back outside and then (in a rather effective special effect) they follow the dog up the side of a building. You can tell it is just a painting on the ground, shot from above, the dog and men are crawling along, but nonetheless it works quite well.
Next they pursue the dog through an open bedroom window where a man is sleeping. The policemen all jump right on top of the man’s bed, waking him up. The last policeman even knocks the bedside table over. The man simply jumps out the window.
Finally the policemen corner the dog in his dog house. Now, however, the mutt becomes fierce and begins chasing them. The movie ends with all the police rushing inside their station and slamming the door. The final shot is a close-up of the dog with his mutton prize in his mouth and a policeman’s hat on his head.
These incredibly silly and inept police are strikingly similar to the Keystone Kops. Although like any good American entrepreneur Mack Sennett expanded the idea, turning his Keystone Kops into an institution and making lots of money in the process.
