A 1913 silent Keystone Studios comedy, directed by Mack Sennet, who also stars in the film as "a bashful suitor," alongside Mabel Normand as "Mabel sweet and lovely," Ford Sterling as "a villainous rival," and Barney Oldfield As Himself.
The film starts off with Mabel and her very shy suitor falling in love, Sterling's character, jealous as he is, then unsuccessfully tries to woo Mabel for himself. Not taking the rejection well, he decides to have her Chained to a Railway, steal a train and run her over.
Fortunately for Mabel, Real Life racing champion Barney Oldfield just happens to be in town with his trusty car. What follows is a race for a life where Oldfield and Sennet try to reach and rescue Mabel before Sterling has time to enact his unscrupulous plan.
This was one of the first — and one of the most straightforward — "railroad rescue" movies. However the concept — which is still highly associated with silent cinema to this day — was an import from the world of theatre, where it had already been a mainstay for half a century.
The film also features appearances from a squad of Keystone Cops, (all of whom are killed in the climax,) and a pre-Hazards of Helen Helen Holmes, who briefly appears as an extra.
Tropes:
- Angry Fist-Shake: The Villainous Rival does one whenever he's really upset, which — given his temprament — happens quite often.
- Bad Boss: The Villainous Rival is quite Hot-Blooded and physically abuses his henchmen for the slightest mishaps.
- Beard of Evil: The Villainous Rival has his twirly mustache, and the henchman who doesn't abandon him has a full trimmed beard.
- Beware the Silly Ones: The Bashful Suitor comes off like an awkward dork at first, but this doesn't stop him from saving Mabel from an oncoming train.
- Chained to a Railway: The earliest known example of this in film. note It was already considered a tired old cliche, which is why it's used in this satirical comedy. The trope actually dates back to Victorian stage melodrama.
- Choke Holds: The Villainous Rival's preferred means of combat seems to be violent strangulation.
- Damsel in Distress: Mabel. She is strong enough to defend herself against the Villainous Rival's advances, but his henchmen prove to be too much for her.
- Dastardly Whiplash: The Villainous Rival. While he doesn't have quite the look this term conjures up nowadays, he still embodies the tropes with his black coat, Nice Hat, Comical Overreacting, usage of a classic Death Trap, and especially his mustache, which he twirls constantly.
- Driven to Suicide: At the end of the film, the Villainous Rival ends up putting a gun to his head. Though since he turns out to be out of bullets, he makes do with strangeling himself instead.
- Good Counterpart: Barney Oldfield is presented as one for the Villaimous Rival Both have an affinity for fast vehicles, but the former is far nicer to women, lacks the latter's violent tendencies, and is much calmer overall.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Barney Oldfield and the Villainous Rival are both seen chomping on cigars.
- Handcar Pursuit: The villains use a handcar to reach the train station and steal an engine. The Keystone Cops later use the same method of transportation to go after them. However, Mabel has already been rescued by the time they arrive.
- Interactive Narrator: Mabel clearly gets flustered after being described as "sweet and lovely" by her own introductary text.
- Just in Time: Our heroes manage to get both Mabel and themselves off the tracks right before the train engine passes by.
- Mad Bomber: The Villainous Rival throws some lit explosives at Barney Oldfield's car.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: One of the Villainous Rival's henchmen has a Heel–Face Turn after his boss chokes him out and leaves him to die. It's thanks to him that the Bashful Suitor learns of Mabel's kidnapping in time to save her.
- No Name Given: The Bashful Suitor and the Villainous Rival. Plenty of viewers tend to refer to them by the names of their actors as a result.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: The Villainous Rival may be Laughably Evil, and come across as an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain at first, but he racks up quite a body count by the end, and Mabel just barely avoids becoming one of his victims.
- Police Are Useless: The Villainous Rival effortlessly guns down a squad of Keystone Cops — with a six shooter, no less — making them fall over like bowling pins.
- Racing the Train: It's right there in the title. The climax involves Barney Oldfield and the Bashful Suitor racing against the Villainous Rival and his remaining henchman to reach Mabel in time. The Keystone Cops also partake in the chase, but they are of no help whatsoever.
- Railroad Tracks of Doom: More so than usual, as the "engineer" is actually trying to kill people.
- Tree Cover: All three of the villains somehow manage to hide behind a single tree — albeit a big one — before they kidnap Mabel.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Gloriously Averted. Rather than living on to pester our heroes another day, the Villainous Rival meets a very definitive, final end.
- Villainous Breakdown: The Villainous Rival gets increasingly unhinged throughout the film, culminating in him offing his last henchman, a squad of policemen, and finally himself.
- Wolverine Publicity: Barney Oldfield really only appears for the climax, essentially filling the role of The Lancer.
Presumably, his name made it into the title because of his Real Life fame. That said, he plays a ''very'' important role, being almost single-handidly responsible for Mabel's rescue. - World of Ham: There's a fair amount of hamminess in this film, particularily from Sennet and Sterling.
