In 1915, the two big stars at The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company were Charlie Chaplin and the western hero Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson. Anderson appeared in Chaplin's The Champion and Chaplin cameoed in this Anderson vehicle, which in the 105 years since has mostly been promoted as a Charlie Chaplin vehicle because nobody cares about "Broncho Billy" anymore.

Broncho stars as a tough-guy criminal who gets in a fight over a girl at a dance hall, eventually redeems himself, etc. Chaplin appears briefly at the dance hall. There's a good moments where Chaplin manually moves a man's protruding ass so he can pass him. Chaplin was and remains the king of ass-based comedy.

This is a pretty straight-forward crime drama, with the exception that Chaplin shows up in one scene and does his thing.

The title, and the Chaplin cameo near the beginning of this made me expect it would be a parody of Walsh's Regeneration... but it turned out to be just another sober & straight-faced version of the "rehabilitated by a pretty girl" trope. Very popular theme in 1915.

PS: Chaplin doesn't do a whole lot but build a couple of gags related to looking at men's butts. What is this butt fetish of his? Similar moments even in the Keystones of 1914...

I am not even sure why this is a "Chaplin" movie. He's barley in it.

Broncho Billy is in modern dress for once in this short drama in which a career criminal shot in a dance hall fight repays the society woman who tended to his wounds. Interesting that the society types in the picture attend the dance hall in order to observe from a gallery the antics of the working class patrons as if they were animals at a zoo. Charlie Chaplin has a comical cameo that is amusing, but which is at odds with the dramatic nature of the rest of the film.

An odd, largely-forgettable short that had some potential, but needed to be longer.

Watched on The Essanay Comedies Blu-Ray Box Set.

Not a Chaplin film as he merely cameos in the first minute or two. Pretty straightforward and dull after that.

My Points: 2.12
My Letter Grade: C+
My Stars: ★★
My Rating: Below Average -> This film is dull, weird (not in a good way) or disturbing in some way.

Average Rating: 2.1486

Some dialogue cards might have helped...

Chaplin briefly cameos in this pretty standard Broncho Billy crime flick, cracking a couple of ass gags before scarpering. Worth noting that Broncho Billy directed the very first pie in the face gag in 1909, founded Essanay Studios in 1907 and appeared in the 1903 film The Great Train Robbery. That being said this film is pretty dull, though the gunshot made me jump, for Completists only.

The title, and the Chaplin cameo near the beginning of this made me expect it would be a parody of Walsh's Regeneration... but it turned out to be just another sober & straight-faced version of the "rehabilitated by a pretty girl" trope. Very popular theme in 1915.

PS: Chaplin doesn't do a whole lot but build a couple of gags related to looking at men's butts. What is this butt fetish of his? Similar moments even in the Keystones of 1914...

Broncho Billy is in modern dress for once in this short drama in which a career criminal shot in a dance hall fight repays the society woman who tended to his wounds. Interesting that the society types in the picture attend the dance hall in order to observe from a gallery the antics of the working class patrons as if they were animals at a zoo. Charlie Chaplin has a comical cameo that is amusing, but which is at odds with the dramatic nature of the rest of the film.

An unrepentant crook enters a dance hall and gets in a fight over a girl. As he, unknowingly, breaks into her house, another bloody mess stains the residence's thick carpets. Can a simple act of kindness pave the way for his regeneration? Solid movie..

A Broncho Billy short where a criminal gets into a squabble over a girl in a bar, and then later breaks into a house to crack a safe and steal a necklace. Charlie Chaplin cameos in the beginning. There’s quite a lot of talking but almost no title cards to let us know what anyone is saying. More of a crime picture than a comedy.

Mildly diverting because of a Chaplin walk on

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This is a pretty straight-forward crime drama, with the exception that Chaplin shows up in one scene and does his thing.