Won in a Closet

If you are wondering how you can see "Won in a Closet", it currently is available to watch at the National Film Preservation Foundation's website. The reason they have it is that there is a section for films that were recently discovered in New Zealand--and this is one of them. As for me, I didn't like it very much--so much for me telling you about NFPF!

This film is a bit like a reworking of Romeo and Juliet--with Mabel Norman and Charles Avery playing the lovers. Mabel's father and Charles' mother are against the marriage--as are the neighbors. But, the prospective in-laws get locked in a closet together--and Mabel does everything to keep them inside, as she thinks it's a hobo hiding inside. The problem is that none of this really works due to supreme over-acting (even by Keystone Studio's standards!!). A few examples would include folks literally jumping off the car into the creek (they were supposed to fall but it's obvious they were jumping), LOTS of wild gesticulations when acting (particularly by the father) and the over-reliance upon pratfalls since the plot just wasn't very funny. Overdoing these scenes was not unusual for a Keystone film but this one takes it to new heights and had only one mild laugh....just one.