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a simple, realistic piece, recounting the mishaps of a family holiday outing — the sort of thing W.C. Fields later did on the stage and in his early sound films. It was made quickly for laughs alone and as such is successful, though at the time it was considered too mild and slowpaced for the Chaplin public. Much is made of the comedy device of repetition: A gag will be repeated over and over, the audience anticipating what is going to happen and laughing with the thrill of recognition — only to be pleasantly shocked with a surprise variation. Examples of this are the Ford car whose motor stops when it shouldn't, the folding chair with which Charlie patiently struggles, unfolding it only to have it collapse under him each time (a gag borrowed by Keaton and others). Perhaps some of these gags were overworked and the seasick scenes may be in bad taste, but the picture certainly has rewarding passages. The scene where Chaplin and the cop are stuck in the tar is particularly amusing.
Charlie, his wife, and two kids (dressed as miniature junior Chaplins) set out for a day of recreation in the family jalopy — a model-T Ford, of course. There is the usual trouble starting the motor of the stubborn "flivver." With each turn of the crank, mother and children bounce and shake. The auto out-shimmies the shimmy (the shuddering dance that was the ballroom rage of the period). When Charlie gets the motor running, every time he puts his foot on the running board the motor stops.
At last the car starts and does well up to its arrival at a busy intersection. Mistaking the traffic signals Charlie is about to turn when the cop bawls him out and sends him back. Waiting meekly at the head of a line of cars he stays motionless when the cop signals him to start and starts at the stop signal. Sent back once more the car stalls and traffic piles up behind it.