The Policemen's Little Run (1907)
"La course des sergents de ville" (original title)

A policeman spots a dog stealing a piece of meat from a butcher's shop, and gives chase. Soon several more policemen have joined the pursuit. But the chase does not turn out as the policemen expect.

Director:

Ferdinand Zecca

Writer:

André Heuzé

Storyline

A squat, muscular dog steals a leg of lamb or mutton from a butcher shop, and the local constabulary, armed with truncheons, gives chase. Man's best friend, keeping a firm-jowled grip on the meat, leads the town's finest down streets, across boulevards, through a cellar and up the side of the building to a steep roof, then down again, and to his doghouse. The cops gingerly surround the place, then out bursts the canine and chases the entire force back to their station.

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Plot Keywords:

chase | butcher shop | dog | building | policeman | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

9 February 1907 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Policemen's Little Run

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pathé Frères

Technical Specs

Runtime:

6 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Birth of Hollywood: Episode #1.1 (2011)

User Reviews

Amusing Chase Comedy

This chase comedy is amusing, and it is rather interesting historically in that it has a noticeable resemblance to the Keystone Cops comedies that would not appear until a few years later.

Its premise and some of the content also bear a similarity with those of several earlier pioneering chase movies, going back at least to 1901's "Stop Thief", and it seems very possible that this feature was conceived as a more involved and entertaining version of those earlier movies.

The story starts with a bunch of bungling policemen chasing a dog, and there's not too much more to it than that. The chase has some very good moments, although it starts to run out of steam after a while. Some of the sets are a bit plain, but there are some outdoor sequences and some special camera effects that work rather well for the era.

It's a familiar idea, but it's not bad at all, and its relation to other early comedies is interesting. It's the kind of feature that is worth a look if you enjoy these very old films.