The Noise of Bombs (1914) User Reviews

They Go Boom

[boblipton · 7/10 · 8 September 2012]

There were some movements during the late silent era to tell a story so compellingly, through acting and editing, that no titles would be necessary. Sometimes these efforts were pursued to such an extent that no one could tell what was going on -- or cared to do the work to figure it out. One such effort, THE OLD SWIMMING HOLE, destroyed Charles Ray's career. Another, Lupu Pick's NEW YEAR'S EVE, with two titles, is my personal choice for worst silent picture ever made. There are two titles in THE NOISE OF BOMBS....

While this is certainly not the best movie ever made at Keystone, it is a perfectly fine one, with some great gags, lots of thrills and a plot that makes perfect sense -- insofar as it doesn't take much to motivate the nitwits and zanies of Mack Sennett's studio. In addition, at this time, Sennett had the best editors in the business working for him and they understood precisely what they were doing. When the Academicians in Russia wrote their books, they looked at what was going on in these movies and offered it in high-falutin' terms. Take a look at this one and see if you agree with me.

Bombs and cops- as Keystone as you get!

[orasidagic · 7/10 · 10 May 2020]

I recently bought the 8mm print of this movie, and sat down to watch. I had seen the movie previously, but didn't remember much, so I was thoroughly surprised at how entertained I was throughout. As strange as it may be, the part that made me laugh the hardest was when the chief of police, his wife, and nurse are tearing apart their house looking for a bomb. The sheer terror of the three of them produced some hearty laughs. The ending was also decent.

Speaking of bombs, I the Blackhawk print mentioned in the beginning that the movie was originally titled "The Blackhanders", which made my mouth drop open in surprise. The movie was released on November 3rd, 1914... Five months after Archduke Ferdinand was assonated by the Black hand gang in Sarajevo, prompting the start of WW1. Initially, the assassins tried to use a bomb to kill the archduke by throwing a bomb in his car. I know that Keystone liked to spoof and make fun of everyone and everything, but had no idea they'd go that far. Luckily, someone renamed it "the Noise Of Bombs" before it was released.

The third anarchist film of the night!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 9 September 2012]

Tonight on Turner Classic Movies, they showed a bunch of early Mack Sennett comedies. Oddly, this was the third one they showed tonight which featured insane anarchists! A group of foreign-looking anarchists are chased out of the park. So, they plot their revenge and return a bit later--taking a cop and a baby prisoner. They force the cop to deliver bombs--or else they'll hurt the baby! This is a very dark plot and gives insight into the terror folks felt about the anarchist movement (which isn't a surprise based on some very high-profile murders by the group). However, it really ISN'T all that funny. In fact the only good thing about the film is an early appearance by Charley Chase as one of the villains.

Lesser Keystone Film

[Michael_Elliott · 9 September 2012]

The Noise of Bombs (1914)

** (out of 4)

Keystone film has a police chief (Edgar Kennedy) beating up on some punks who later decide to get revenge by kidnapping his child and putting a bomb in his house. While watching THE NOISE OF BOMBS I really couldn't figure out if it was wanting to copy the suspense films of D.W. Griffith or if it was a comedy that just wasn't funny. In the end I think it was trying to be a comedy and if so the thing just didn't feature enough laughs to keep me entertained throughout its 12-minutes. I think a big problem is that there's really not much going on for the majority of the running time. There's a funny gag with the police chief getting knocked upside his head by his own man but outside of this the entire opening doesn't contain much. The next few minutes deal with the gang talking among themselves and nothing funny happens here or nothing too interesting for that matter. The second portion of the film turns into more a dramatic thing as we wait to see if the bomb will go off or not. Kennedy shows good comic timing in his role but he's given very little to do. Charley Chase can be spotted as one of the bad guys but he doesn't really have any memorable scenes except for one inside their hideout where he's holding a gun on someone. I mention this because it seems like Mr. Chase had never held a gun before in his life and you'll see what I mean when you watch this.

The situations become laughable

[deickemeyer · 5 May 2019]

A careless maid, a stolen baby, a policeman, and a lighted bomb are some of the ingredients in this typical number. The situations become laughable and exciting toward the close. Photography good. - The Moving Picture World, November 28, 1914