Bandleader Professor Smelts gets into a romantic rivalry with one of his musicians over a pretty girl's affections.Bandleader Professor Smelts gets into a romantic rivalry with one of his musicians over a pretty girl's affections.Bandleader Professor Smelts gets into a romantic rivalry with one of his musicians over a pretty girl's affections.
Jewel Carmen
- Woman in Audience
- (uncredited)
William Hauber
- Man in Audience
- (uncredited)
Helen Holmes
- Woman outside Theatre
- (uncredited)
Bert Hunn
- Man in Audience
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis is often touted as the first film in which a pie was throne. It is first thrown by Raymond Hatton and it hits Ford Sterling. Later he picks it up and throws it, errantly hitting Mabel Normand, whom he was courting.
Featured review
For Keystone completists only
Unless you happen to be an especially ardent Ford Sterling fan, able to enjoy his antics in absolutely anything -- and what are the odds of that? -- you may not find much to enjoy in That Ragtime Band, which is one of the earliest surviving Keystone comedies but far from the best. There are no gags as such, and no real laughs, just a lot of mugging, gesticulating, and food-fighting. The plot hinges on a romantic rivalry between band conductor Sterling and musician Nick Cogley over a pretty girl, Mabel Normand, but nothing much of interest develops. The pioneer filmmakers who produced this short comedy were still learning their craft, and it looks like the comedians were pretty much left to their own devices while the cameras cranked away. Ford Sterling mugs as vigorously as ever, looking for all the world like a Tex Avery cartoon character come to life, but Cogley, a rather dull figure who wears a big mustache, barely registers as a screen presence at all. Young Mabel is certainly pretty, but is relegated to reacting while the guys do the roughhousing.
Still, there are points of interest here: as the film was re-released over the years the title was changed repeatedly, reflecting the eclipse of ragtime music by early jazz. Even so, the instrumental components of Sterling's band suggest neither ragtime nor jazz but heavily brass-based Germanic oom-pah music. Indeed, the film appears to be set in a German- American neighborhood, for the signs in the rehearsal hall are all in German, yet the signs in the vaudeville theater are in English. When this film was released on May 1, 1913, the European War was still more than a year away; once it had begun, some of these interesting sociological details would be avoided in American movies. Naturally, filmmakers didn't want to offend nationalist sensibilities.
Another point of interest: there's a surprisingly risqué gag (more sordid than risqué, really) during the vaudeville sequence: two acts in a row which showcase women performers turn out to be 'fronts' -- advertising, to put it bluntly -- for local prostitutes. This is revealed when the billing cards bearing the acts' names are flipped over to reveal the women's addresses printed in big block letters, much to the outrage of the stage manager. This gag is probably the funniest moment in the entire film, which should tell you something about the level of quality here. No wonder Charlie Chaplin created such a sensation when he arrived at Keystone a few months later!
Still, there are points of interest here: as the film was re-released over the years the title was changed repeatedly, reflecting the eclipse of ragtime music by early jazz. Even so, the instrumental components of Sterling's band suggest neither ragtime nor jazz but heavily brass-based Germanic oom-pah music. Indeed, the film appears to be set in a German- American neighborhood, for the signs in the rehearsal hall are all in German, yet the signs in the vaudeville theater are in English. When this film was released on May 1, 1913, the European War was still more than a year away; once it had begun, some of these interesting sociological details would be avoided in American movies. Naturally, filmmakers didn't want to offend nationalist sensibilities.
Another point of interest: there's a surprisingly risqué gag (more sordid than risqué, really) during the vaudeville sequence: two acts in a row which showcase women performers turn out to be 'fronts' -- advertising, to put it bluntly -- for local prostitutes. This is revealed when the billing cards bearing the acts' names are flipped over to reveal the women's addresses printed in big block letters, much to the outrage of the stage manager. This gag is probably the funniest moment in the entire film, which should tell you something about the level of quality here. No wonder Charlie Chaplin created such a sensation when he arrived at Keystone a few months later!
helpful•52
- wmorrow59
- Mar 23, 2002
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- That Rag Time Band
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime10 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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