 |
Fatty Arbuckle
|
It's a Funny, Funny, Funny, Funny World
Arbuckle & Keaton: Volume 1
Unrated 1917-20, Kino
Before Jackie Gleason starred on The Honeymooners and Chris Farley appeared on Saturday Night Live, a roly-poly comic named Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle became a silent film star.
The dusty annals of film history never appreciated "Fatty" Arbuckle as much as his screen partner, Buster Keaton. Yet Arbuckle began his career as one of Mack Sennett's comedy stars. He was a Keystone Cop, an expert pie thrower and so much more.
In the hilarious short The Bell Boy (1918), Arbuckle and Keaton are a pair of bumbling bell boys who turn a small-town hotel into a complete wreck. The Bell Boy represents what's timeless about silent comedy. It's a celebration of slapstick mayhem and clever sight gags.
Arbuckle stood 5 feet 10 inches and weighed 266 pounds, but he was extremely athletic. He was equal parts acrobat and clown.
In Moonshine (1918), Arbuckle and Keaton battle a bunch of mountain hillbillies to hilarious effect. The highlight of the film is a melodramatic ending that pokes fun at Charlie Chaplin. Watching a clever short like Moonshine, it's clear that Arbuckle and Keaton were quintessential slapstick comedians. Moonshine also hints at the inspired comedy to be seen in Keaton's later features.
Keaton is one of the few stars from the silent era still recognizable to today's public. These two DVDs offer a chance to see Keaton when he was an unknown vaudeville performer getting his first break in film. More importantly, these Comique/Paramount two-reel shorts place a well-deserved spotlight on Arbuckle's comic genius. (Grade: A)
Arbuckle & Keaton: Volume 2
Unrated 1917-20, Kino
Buster Keaton and "Fatty" Arbuckle are all about laughs. It's clear from this second set of Comique/Paramount shorts that there wasn't a serious bone in either body.
In The Garage (1920), Arbuckle and Keaton create new ways to destroy cars. Good Night Nurse! (1918) shows Arbuckle trapped in a nightmare as he tries to escape from the operating table. In this dreamlike adventure, Arbuckle plays a flirting nurse to Keaton's doctor.
Most people remember Arbuckle for the September 1921 scandal when he was accused of a grisly rape that resulted in a starlet's death. He was acquitted after three successive trials, but his career was finished.
Thanks to films like The General and Sherlock Junior, Keaton will always be one the kings of comedy. But these Arbuckle and Keaton shorts show prove that Arbuckle wasn't too far behind. (Grade: A)
And the rest
An army of Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast members come together in support of the silly Coneheads (Paramount). Veteran SNL comics Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain reprise their roles as the Planet Remulak aliens who find new lives in suburban America. Director Steve Barron has made one of the more family-friendly comedies in the SNL series. Of course, a film about aliens with pointy heads has "kid flick" written all over it. ... In the surprisingly serious Stuart Saves His Family (Paramount), SNL vet Al Franken gives the star treatment to his nerdy self-help character, Stuart Smalley. Franken makes the most of his big-screen spotlight as the twitchy Stuart. It's his dysfunctional family who ends up squelching most of the film's laughs. ... The last of the SNL DVD releases belongs to Tim Meadows' The Ladies Man (Paramount). Meadows delivers plenty of laughs as the wannabe womanizer, Leon Phelps. But an ill-conceived story about a cult of jealous men out to get Phelps offers little comic support. By the film's clunky finish, Meadows proves that his "ladies man" is best served by a TV sketch.
Contact Steve ramos: sramos@citybeat.com
