At Coney Island

An early Sennett short for Keystone. He's the rube whose attempts to woo Mabel Normand at Coney Island are repeatedly stymied by Ford Sterling. Works better as a glimpse of the popular attractions than a comedy.

Well, it's mostly Mack Sennett and Gus Pixkey fighting over Mabel Normand, while married Ford Sterling evades his wife and child. It all takes place at Coney Island's Steeplechase Park, and that is a lot of the attraction of the movies. Coney Island was the country's premier amusement park in those days, and it maintained that supremacy in no small part by being in the movies a lot; several of the major motion picture companies were based in New York and environs, so it was easy for them to get to Coney, even if the subway didn't get there until 1920.

So a lot of the attraction of those movie today is looking at the sort of rides they had at Coney Island more than a century ago. They certainly look more dangerous.

Interesting for a number of reasons. For one, it proves that Mack Sennett did in fact shoot films in New York before heading off to LA to become and create movie history. For another, as a Mabel Normand fan, I'm delighted how much it shows off her talents. Sterling and Sennett's acting are really good in this film too, with both having some genuinely funny moments. Some great shots of Coney Island too. I heard/read somewhere that they reused footage shot in 1908 for various scenes, but I could be wrong.

It's interesting to compare and contrast this little one reeler with both Sennett and Normand's Biograph comedies with the Keystones they would go on to produce. "At Coney Island" has the distinct flavor of a Biograph Sennett-directed comedy, but you can tell that Sennett, Normand, and Sterling are giddy with pleasure at the fact that the only people they have to answer to about their films are themselves. All in all, definitely worth a watch that will keep you entertained. It's the beginning of the legendary Keystone tradition!