Another of the fast and furious slapstick comedies produced for Keystone that is long on speed and mugging and short on jokes. Gussle and his wife decide to go mountain climbing and shoot at each other in a not very interesting effort. Syd does not even manage his usual graceful surprise movements in this, but spends, like most of the cast, a lot of time falling down.
3 Reviews
"What do we do for a film? I know...let's go to Big Bear Valley and start shooting and slapping the crap out of each other!"
planktonrules15 February 2021
In 1914, Charlie Chaplin began his film career and was almost instantly a big star with Keystone Pictures. So, it's not at all surprising that the studio would also try out Charlie's half-brother, Syd, as he, too, had a long career on stage as a comic. Of the almost three dozen films he made, many were as the character 'Reggie Gussle'...the term 'gussle', which means an idiot. This character wasn't much like Charlie's Little Tramp, though his outfits and getup were also pretty outrageous. Gussle had a funny mustache, an ill-fitting jacket, a dopey hat and slicked back hair...and looked a lot like Harold Lloyd's later character, Lonesome Luke. But Gussle never really caught on with theater audiences and Syd later tried other film roles after making about ten of these films.
The plot, such as it is, finds Gussle out west (it was filmed in Big Bear Valley...a lovely mountainous region due east of Los Angeles). There he goes mountain climbing with some others. While there is no reason for it other than it's slapstick, there's bonking, kicking and, most importantly, people shooting guns like crazy. Most of it simply isn't funny in the least....and the film wastes a nice location with few laughs.
By the way, originally this was to be a longer film and was instead split into two films..."Gussle's Backward Way" and "Gussle Tied to Trouble".
The plot, such as it is, finds Gussle out west (it was filmed in Big Bear Valley...a lovely mountainous region due east of Los Angeles). There he goes mountain climbing with some others. While there is no reason for it other than it's slapstick, there's bonking, kicking and, most importantly, people shooting guns like crazy. Most of it simply isn't funny in the least....and the film wastes a nice location with few laughs.
By the way, originally this was to be a longer film and was instead split into two films..."Gussle's Backward Way" and "Gussle Tied to Trouble".
A lot of good, clean fun
deickemeyer21 January 2020
Syd Chaplin and company do some amazing mountain climbing stunts in this number. The snow scenes are good and the humor abundant. Well photographed and contains a lot of good, clean fun. - The Moving Picture World, June 5, 1915
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