Chaplin's last film for Essanay before he jumped to Mutual for ten times
the salary. Released from prison, Chaplin's ex-convict is determined to
go straight, but the world won't let him: a bogus parson swindles him
out of what little money he has, and an old cellmate ropes him into a
bungled burglary. Inside the house, the family's daughter (Edna
Purviance) takes pity on the would-be thief, giving the short a
surprising streak of sympathy for its outcast hero. Less frenetic than
the earlier Essanays, Police points toward the blend of slapstick and
sentiment Chaplin would perfect at Mutual. As a work published before
1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.
Comedy · Silent
