Easy Street, one of the last films Chaplin made for Mutual, has been described as one of his masterpieces. Unusually, in this film Chaplin takes the role of a policeman who overcomes a terrifying bully on his beat -- Easy Street. Chaplin's truncheon is a key element to his portrayal of a policeman in his film, and is wielded by him with great energy and frequency during his David versus Goliath conflict with the Scourge of Easy Street. The 'apparent' force Chaplin uses when hitting the bully would suggest that in addition to this wooden version, he may also have used a rubber prop baton during the filming. According to Bessy in Dargoll's film, he kept this particular truncheon at his studios for 25-30 years and it was used whenever one was needed as a prop in any of his films.

Chaplin published his thoughts on this role shortly before the film's release: ...If there is one human type more than any other that the whole wide world has it in for, it is the policeman type. Of course the policeman isn't really to blame for the public prejudice against his uniform - it's just the natural human revulsion against any sort of authority...So, to begin with, I make myself solid by letting my friends understand that I am not a real policeman except in the sense that I've been put on for a special job - that of manhandling a big bully. Of course I have my work cut out tackling a contract like that and the sympathy of the audience is with me, but I have also the element of suspence...The natural supposition is that the policeman is going to get the worst of it and there is an intense interest in how I am to come out of my apparently unequel combat with 'Bully' Campbell....


See: Souvenirs Chaplinesques - Un film de Simon Dargolls recontés par Maurice Bessy.