The Haunted House
In this 1921 short, Buster Keaton plays a bank teller who is accused of passing Counterfeit Cash and attempted Bank Robbery. While fleeing the law, he stumbles across the real culprits' hideout, a phony haunted house. Hilarity Ensues.
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The bank cashier and his band of counterfeiters have a strong reason for making people believe this house is haunted.
—intertitle
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This movie is available in its entirety at YouTube, or here, on this very wiki.
Tropes used in The Haunted House include:
- Agony of the Feet: How the bank teller establishes that the satanic-looking gent is not the Devil.
- Bank Robbery: Attempted.
- Bavarian Fire Drill: The teller starts blowing a whistle and directing the "ghosts" like a traffic cop -- and they obey.
- Bedsheet Ghost
- Bookcase Passage
- Clear My Name
- Counterfeit Cash
- Dressing as the Enemy
- Help, I'm Stuck!
- Improvised Weapon: A tossed vase.
- The Klutz
- Man On Fire: Twice, neither time serious.
- Le Parkour: Motivated by terror, the teller performs some impressive climbing and vaulting.
- Plucky Girl: The bank president's daughter tracks the chief villain to his lair.
- Produce Pelting
- Scooby-Doo Hoax: Employed by the counterfeiters to protect their hideout.
- Stairway to Heaven
- Sticky Situation
- Surprise Slide Staircase
- The Stoic
- Trap Door