The Hayseed

Buster Keaton's second movie after WW1 with Arbuckle turned out to be a career highlight for the pairing, October 1919's "The Hayseed." Buster had a lightbulb moment that followed him throughout the remainder of his career. He designed and shaped a new pork pie hat, a style he wore throughout his most popular years in cinema. The material stood up to the abuse the comedian had heaped upon himself for all those skits.

Arbuckle is a mailman while Buster is the owner of a general store. The villain of the movie is actor John Henry Coogan Jr, a lithesome, tall statured performer who had appeared as a dancer in "Back Stage." Here, he takes cash from a letter and later claims Fatty stole it. As a sidenote, John Coogan was the father of Jackie Coogan, who plays the little boy in Charlie Chaplin's 'The Kid,' as well as Uncle Fester in television's 'The Adam's Family.' Also starring was Luke the Dog, a Staffordshire Terrier who was the personal pet of Roscoe and his wife Minta Durfee. For six years Luke made several appearances in Fatty's movies, including "The Hayseed." He demanded and received a high salary of $150 a week, over $2,200 in today's dollars. When Minta split with Roscoe in 1921, the divorce agreement treated Luke like a treasured child, where Fatty had visitation rights with Minta winning custody of him.

One of the many gags in the film is a dance set that is not to be missed.

A case of small town drama as the local mailman (Fatty Arbuckle) fends off the amorous advances of a conniving sheriff with eyes on his girl. Buster Keaton slides into the mix as a tangentially-involved general store owner who becomes aware of the lawman's inherently slimy nature, but it's mostly Arbuckle's show. The two stars (plus Fatty's famous dog, Luke) give us plenty of sight gags, often of the daring physical variety, but there isn't much to the plot and most scenes overstay their welcome. There's a good recurring bit at the end, where Buster convinces his buddy to chow down on a bushel of onions before an important choral recital and his foul breath causes all sorts of comic misunderstandings. Otherwise, it's a whole lot of flashy derring-do without much substance to back it up.

Roscoe Abruckle delivers the mail, while Buster Keaton manages the general store. While delivering the mail, Roscoe visits his girlfriend (Molly Malone), and the engage in the game of hide and seek. Local dirty lawman (Jack Coogan Sr.) who is also interested in Fatty's girlfriend, steal the money from the post office to buy her a diamond ring. After winning the popularity in talent contest, Fatty is wrongfully accused in stealing.

Arbuckle and Keaton's later collaborations were more concentrated on the storytelling, rather just setting up another slap stick gag after another. 'The Hayseed' also doesn't include many hilarious stunts in great scale, but there are plenty of clever and subtle amusing moments.

Great fun indeed. Arbuckle and Keaton rarely disappoint.

A low-budget-looking film starring one of the greatest paired talents in screen history is not their best, but makes itself enjoyable none the less. Molly Malone makes a convincing love interest who's not as innocent and sweet as most female characters in these sorts of films are. The hide-and-seek scene is great, as is the bit inside Molly's house, at the melodeon, and the final dancing party in the store. The ending got a bit random and confusing, but otherwise the movie works very well and holds up alright by modern (2003) standards.

I found out about "The Hayseed" while looking at Buster Keaton's filmography. It's actually more of a Fatty Arbuckle vehicle, with Keaton in a supporting role. Still enjoyable, nonetheless, as the guys are performing their jobs until an interference sends things wacky. It's not a laugh-out-loud comedy, as much of the humor comes from gags here and there. Without a doubt, those two were masters of physical comedy. That makes it all the more saddening that Arbuckle saw his career ruined by a scandal a few years later, resulting in most of his works either getting forgotten or suppressed. At least we have some of them available on the internet. You'll probably like this one.