The dream sequence in The Bank was borrowed from the Fred Karno sketch “Jimmy The Fearless” in which Chaplin starred as Jimmy, a working-class boy who becomes a hero in his dreams.
"You can see Jimmy The Fearless all over some of his pictures--dream sequences, for instance. He was fond of them, especially in his early pictures. And when it comes right down to it, I've always thought that poor, brave, dreamy Jimmy one day grew up to be Charlie the Tramp." (Stan Laurel quoted in John McCabe's Charlie Chaplin)The Bank was Chaplin's tenth film for Essanay.