Keystone Kops facts for kids

The Keystone Cops in In the Clutches of the Gang 1914

The Keystone Kops were fictional policemen. They were clumsy and not very well organized. They were in silent comedy movies in the 1910s. The movies were produced by Mack Sennett between 1912 and 1917. Their first movie was Hoffmeyer's Legacy in 1912. They became popular from the 1913 short movie The Bangville Police.

One of the Keystone Kops movies was A Thief Catcher, made in 1914. That movie was lost for a long time. In 2010, it was found at an antique sale in Michigan. Charlie Chaplin has a small role in it as a Keystone Kop. Before the movie was found, people didn't know that Charlie Chaplin had played a Keystone Cop.

"Bag o' Rags," the Keystone Kops' unofficial theme music, was composed in 1912 by William "Mac" McKanless (1879-1937), an African-American orchestra leader, pianist and songwriter.

Keystone Studios where many important actors started their careers with Sennett including The Keystone Cops

According to Dave Filoni, supervising director of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the look of the police 'droid is based on the appearance of the Keystone Kops. In 2017-18 the Keystone Cops were featured characters in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Selected movies

• Tillie's Punctured Romance 1914, Mack Sennett's first full-length comedy movie
• Making a Living 1914, with Charlie Chaplin in his first starring role

Images for kids

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  The Keystone Cops in The Stolen Purse (1913). Pictured (left to right): Robert Z. Leonard, Mack Sennett, Bill Haber, Henry Lehrman, ⸻ McAlley, Chester Franklin, Ford Sterling, Fred Mace, and Arthur Tavares.

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  The Thief Catcher (1914) with Charlie Chaplin (left) as a Keystone Cop