One of Chaplin’s less cohesive Essanay Studios comedies, _In the Park_ consists of several recurring vignettes with only the loosest of connections. Charlie thwarts and outmaneuvers a pickpocket. Charlie gets in the middle of an ill-fated romantic afternoon. Charlie deftly lifts samples from a hot dog vendor. Charlie does everything in his power to dodge the gaze of a passing police officer. The humor is effortless - slick and simple hijinks with no deeper motive than doling out more beatings than he receives - but it feels like a step back for the star, who’d been toying with better-connected narrative ideas in his previous shorts. Given the film’s chaotic nature and extra-brief running time (its fifteen minutes wasn’t even enough to necessitate a second reel), I wonder if this was just a quick weekend’s work to fulfill a contractual obligation. Light, silly fun and nothing more.