Out West

Much of the material in "Out West" works well, at least as long as you understand its intent. It combines some of the usual Arbuckle/Keaton slapstick with a satirical look at some of the conventions of the Western genre of its time, and it has a decent variety of scenes and settings.

The story starts off with some amusing antics by Arbuckle on a train, and then goes on from there as he meets up with the other characters. Keaton gets some good moments, and Arbuckle regular Al St. John has a funny role as a villainous gun-slinger.

They take some chances with some of the material, and it's easy to see how today's audiences could misinterpret it. There are a couple of morbid gags that work pretty well, but there are a couple of other things are just not at all funny now, even given that they were parodying the Westerns of the time.

Overall, it has some good moments that most fans of Arbuckle and Keaton would enjoy, but there are other parts of it that even their fans will probably find somewhat uncomfortable.

The best part of the whole short--Roscoe's routine: the famous one-handed cigarette roll, striking the match on the train, then leaping into the caboose as the train speeds by--in less time than it takes to read this. Worth the price of admission alone!

Leaving NYC behind for the first time in their partnership, Arbuckle and Keaton turn a satirical eye to the wild west. Out here, amongst the dusty plains and ramshackle abodes, Fatty plays a penniless, train-hopping drifter who's chased into Buster's rowdy cowboy saloon. Taking a job as the barkeep (after a timely disposal of the bullet-riddled previous employee), Arbuckle quickly acclimates to the environment and encourages further chaos in an already out-of-control situation. Keaton doesn't seem to mind, so long as the bodies don't stack so high as to impede his liquor sales.

The change in scenery serves this duo well, inspiring a rush of fresh ideas and cinematic creativity. They're experimenting again, with a greater tendency to explore new locations. Where, in the past, they'd typically pick a room and sit in it, Out West sees them stealing lunch aboard a moving locomotive, exchanging fire with dim-witted outlaws on the street, raiding a kidnapper's home in search of a fair damsel and pouring alcohol into an over-served horse at the bar. Clearly, the horizon is expanding for this pair; they're testing their limits, beginning to appreciate the nuances and advantages of working on-screen, rather than on-stage. Maybe not their best collaboration so far, but it constantly hints at greater things to come.

This is a pretty weird parody of Westerns by Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton. Unlike some of their other films together, Keaton actually plays a larger supporting role.

The film is full of bizarre and violent jokes that kind of work but are a bit atypical of what you'd expect from these usually sweet comedians. At one point, a guy is obviously cheating at poker and bystander Keaton shoots the guy about 5 times and then opens a trap door and kicks the body inside and slams down the lid! THAT was certainly unexpected! Later, Fatty displays gunsmanship that would make anyone proud--if we'd have had him in WWII, the war might have only lasted a week! All in all, a strange but funny departure and worth seeing just for its weirdness.

Out West marks a distinct departure for Arbuckle as a director in that compared to what had come before it had a much stronger, more thought out and developed style and story. It has more genuinely clever and funny ideas than the preceding shorts with Al St John and Buster Keaton put together - the high concept of the western theme clearly releasing the creative genius that Fatty could display.

Keaton and St John also have stronger parts than their usual nameless knockabout side characters that had come before. Visually the sepia rounded-corner 19th century photograph look of it is a stylish stylistic directorial choice from Arbuckle, showing the talent he could display (and would again) rather than simply allowing the action to be the film. You feel the story here from the outset. Excellent.