A Strong Revenge

A Strong Revenge is a brief silent comedy centered on a petty romantic rivalry. When grocer Schnitz plans to accompany Mabel to a lively house party, his competitor Meyer, who patches shoes for a living, decides to sabotage him. Meyer slips a wedge of Limburger cheese into Schnitz's footwear, knowing the pungent smell will ruin Schnitz's chances and keep him from the event. The prank sets off a string of awkward encounters and comic misunderstandings as Schnitz copes with sudden odor and social embarrassment, while Mabel and her father react to the unfolding disruption. The film plays its gag for laughs, relying on timing, gestures, and exaggerated reactions rather than dialogue. Scenes move quickly and rely on visual comedy exclusively.

Directed by Mack Sennett, A Strong Revenge was released in 1913 and features Sennett alongside Mabel Normand, Ford Sterling, Nick Cogley, and Laura Oakley, representing the short, sight-gag comedies of the silent era. It circulated as a one-reel silent short.

No reliable box office records survive for this 1913 short. As with many early shorts, distribution was limited and commercial tallies were rarely recorded, so gross figures aren't readily available. Researchers rarely recover such earnings data for short films today.

While not widely known today, the film shows techniques that shaped slapstick cinema, like exaggerated physical reactions and food-based gags. It also preserves early screen collaborations between Sennett and Normand, performers who influenced later comedy and the Keystone-style approach to farce. Film historians reference such shorts when tracing slapstick origins.

Contemporary reviews are scarce, and modern ratings are thin, with a 5.0/10 average from two votes. The short leans on rivalry, social embarrassment, and smell-based humor, showing how simple premises could still drive physical comedy in silent shorts. Modern viewers see it as an example of silent-era comedy mechanics today.