Ten Dollars or Ten Days

Back in the 1970s there was a building in Greenwich Village with a stylized eye on a pole in front of it and a poster of Ben Turpin in the front window. It was the Church of the Exquisite Panic, one of the eccentric landmarks of the Village and a homage to Mr. Turpin, who managed to parlay a decent ability as a fall-taker and the trick of crossing his eyes into a long and successful career. He was hardworking and a good family man and thanks to Mack Sennett's expert staff, he flourished for a long time. While most of Sennett's big names left as soon as they could for more money, Turpin was content to collect an ample paycheck until his wife fell ill and he retired to nurse her.

Here, teamed with Harry Gribbon and fighting over Irene Lantz -- her on screen career lasted only a couple of years but she would return to the movies in the next decade to a long career in the costume department under just her given name -- Sennett's staff compiled a rather disjointed movie out of three separate bits -- Ben fights with cats, Ben louses up in a department store and Harry tries to rob the store. The sequences are individually well done and the last has some good thrill comedy in it. However, just about any of Sennett's large troupe could have taken Ben's role.