Keystone Cops

History

The idea for the Keystone Cops came from Hank Mann, who also played police chief Tehiezel in the first film before being replaced by Ford Sterling. Their first film was Hoffmeyer's Legacy (1912) but their popularity stemmed from the 1913 short The Bangville Police starring Mabel Normand.

As early as 1914, Sennet shifted the Keystone Cops from starring roles to background ensemble, in support of comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle. The Keystone 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 his first screen appearance (pre-Tramp); 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. Comedian/actors Chester Conklin, Jimmy Finlayson, Ford Sterling and director Del Lord were also Keystone Cops.

In 2010, the previously lost short A Thief Catcher was rediscovered at an antique sale in Michigan. The short, filmed in 1914, stars Ford Sterling, Mack Swain, Edgar Kennedy, and Al St. John and includes a previously unknown appearance of Charlie Chaplin as a Keystone Kop.

"Bag o' Rags," the Keystone Kops' unofficial theme music, was composed in 1912 by William "Mac" McKanless (1879-1937), an African-American orchestra leader, pianist and songwriter.

Original lineup

The original Keystone Cops numbered only seven: George Jeske, Bobby Dunn, Mack Riley, Charles Avery, Slim Summerville, Edgar Kennedy, Hank Mann.

Revivals

Mack Sennett continued to use the Keystone Cops intermittently through the 1920s. By the time sound movies arrived, the Keystone Cops' popularity had waned. In 1935, director Ralph Staub staged a revival of the Sennett gang for his Warner Brothers short subject Keystone Hotel, featuring a re-creation of the Kops clutching at their hats, leaping in the air in surprise, running energetically in any direction, and taking extreme pratfalls. This footage 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. However, during his own silent film career, the nearest Keaton had appeared in a "police comedy" was The Goat (1921) and Cops (1922). Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) included a lengthy chase scene, showcasing a group of stuntmen dressed as Sennett's squad. (Two original Keystone Cops in this movie were Heinie Conklin as an elderly studio guard; and Hank Mann as a prop man. Sennett also starred in a cameo role-as himself.) Mel Brooks directed a car chase scene in the Keystone Cops' style in his comedy film Silent Movie.

By the 1950s surviving silent movie comedians could be pressed into service as Keystone Cops regardless of whether they 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.

In popular culture

The name has since been used to criticize any group for its mistakes, particularly if the mistakes happened after a great deal of energy and activity, or for a lack of coordination among the members. For example, the June 2004 election campaign of the Liberal Party of Canada was compared with "the Keystone Kops running around" by one of its parliamentary members, Carolyn Parrish. 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 Kops, uncertain about what they were supposed to do or uncertain how to do it." 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; after the Australian Federal Police committed a series of blunders, the Premier likened their actions to those of the "Keystone Kops". A 2012 U.S. National Transportation Safety Board report investigating Canadian energy company Enbridge's handling of a July 2010 pipeline spill in the Kalamazoo River compared it to the Keystone Cops.

In sport, the term has come into common usage by television commentators, particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The rugby commentator Liam Toland uses the term to describe a team's incompetent performance on the pitch. The phrase "Keystone cops defending" has become a favorite catchphrase for describing a situation in an English football match where a defensive error or a series of defensive errors leads to a goal. The term was also used to describe the play of the New York Jets against the New England Patriots in the Buttfumble game, with sportscaster Cris Collinsworth declaring "This is the Keystone Cops" after the Jets gave up 21 points in 51 seconds.

According to Dave Filoni, supervising director of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the look of the police 'droid is based on the appearance of the Keystone Kops.

Video games

In 1983, a video game called Keystone Kapers, released for the Atari 2600, 5200, MSX and later Colecovision, by Activision, featured Keystone Kop Officer Kelly.

The Keystone Kops appear in the computer game NetHack.

The Keystone Cops can be seen in The X-Files Game of 1998.

In music

In the NOFX song "I, fatty" the lyric "chased by Keystone Cops, through L.A's endless backdrops" can be heard.