Trying to Get Arrested

A down-on-his-luck tramp decides that the only way to escape a cold night is to get arrested and sleep in the warm, secure cell. He parades through streets and stages small mischief aimed at drawing police attention, but his efforts misfire as officers ignore him or arrest innocent bystanders instead. The film plays these misadventures for laughs, stringing short comic set pieces together with quick cuts and physical humor. It keeps a light tone, focusing on the tramp's increasingly desperate tricks rather than any dark consequences, and ends without big revelations, leaving the gag itself as the main point. John R. Cumpson stars as the tramp, supported by Florence Lawrence and Owen Moore in small roles, in a one-reel comedy.

Released in 1909, the short comedy was directed by D.W. Griffith and scripted for the screen, featuring John R. Cumpson, Florence Lawrence, Owen Moore and Anita Hendrie in brief, comic roles typical of early Griffith shorts, often shown in nickelodeons.

As a 1909 one-reel short, precise box office records aren't available, and it wasn't tracked like later feature films. Any contemporary receipts are undocumented, so commercial impact is unknown beyond occasional local screenings and modest audience exposure in urban theaters.

Though not widely known today, the film shows early slapstick techniques and timing that would shape later silent comedies, and it features Florence Lawrence, one of the first credited screen performers. It survives as a small historical example of turn of century humor and urban social comedy routines on film.

Modern viewers rate it modestly, the IMDb vote average being 3.5/10 from two votes, reflecting its simple comic setup and brief runtime. Thematically it touches on urban poverty, inventive survival tactics, and a playful critique of authority that treats law enforcement as comic backdrop and shows period staging and timing.