By this time, Jean Durand and his comedy unit at Gaumont were undoubtedly familiar with what was happening in the US; not only the French-inspired stuff that Mack Sennett had been turning out at Biograph and -- quite probably -- the outrageous farce at Keystone, but the comedy unit at Essannay, including the popular 'Snakeville' series that would wind up at Universal.So he took his popular Onesime series, which specialized in wild special effects, and moved him to the American West, with a few Max-Linder style gags and a couple of outrageous but realistic ones -- check out those snails. The net effect is good, but the Italians were still more outrageous than any French comedy could hope to become.