La noce de Fatty

A strictly routine Arbuckle comedy in which most of the laughs are to be found following the belated entry of a young Buster Keaton, who is mistaken for store assistant Roscoe's bride-to-be. Modern-day viewers will no doubt find some racist gags and a scene in which Roscoe deliberately chloroforms a young woman so that he can kiss her as she sleeps offensive.

Buster Keaton posing after trying on the wedding dress is hilarious, and worth the price of admission. Roscoe Arbuckle using chloroform to knock a woman out and then kiss her is not. Giving the black customer charcoal as a skin product was regrettable too. On top of those things, not much of the exaggerated antics work, e.g. The rival for the woman's affections choking people and trying to gnaw their faces when angry (Al St. John, Arbuckle's real-life nephew). Arbuckle tries to get the most he can out of each bit though, like randomly taking a sip from the gasoline pump as if it were a garden hose at the end of that scene, or sticking his head between the donkey's legs from behind in the effort to get it to move. He's not that appealing, but it's watchable for Buster Keaton. Just seeing Buster smile and wink at the end in this pre-Great Stone Face period was fantastic.

In something of a thematic follow-up to The Butcher Boy from just a few months prior, Fatty Arbuckle plays a drug store clerk with a thing for the owner's daughter. Despite the sweetness of his immediate wedding proposal and the usual array of silly antics and messy customer confrontations, Arbuckle's character explores some strangely dark corners in this one. Price-fixing the gasoline and taking swigs from the pump may be one thing, a disconcerting throwaway gag, but swapping perfume samples for chloroform is another, especially when he uses the opportunity to make advances on the kayoed shoppers. It's weird and out of place, a dirty turn for what's, otherwise, a very light-hearted romp around the soda fountain. Buster Keaton is kicking around the store, too, as a harried delivery boy recruited to model gowns for the bride-to-be, but he's a less active participant than usual and the comedy suffers for his absence. The best scene, pictured in most promotional materials, involves Arbuckle's ill-fated attempts to somehow get a live mule up on his shoulders. Strange but mostly amusing.

This is another hilarious offering from Arbuckle, who plays a drugstore clerk in love with the pharmacist's daughter Alice (Alice Mann). Al St. John plays Fatty's rival for Alice. Buster Keaton plays a delivery boy who brings the wedding dress via bicycle. Buster models the wedding dress. St. John, thinking Buster is Alice, has his gang kidnap her ... er, him. This sets up a wild slapstick finish at the home of the Justice of the Peace.

There are crazy stunts galore in this two-reel film.

Some of the scenes probably could not be done today. Fatty pours chloroform into a perfume bottle and waits for a female customer to spray herself. He then springs a kiss on the unconscious girl. However, the gag is reversed somewhat when another female is apparently immune to the spray, and even drinks from the bottle. Another gag involves a male customer who is wildly effeminate. Also, St. John tries to choke out Alice.

For me, the cleverest gag is when Buster first arrives at the drugstore, and his eye is twitching. Fatty takes this as a "wink," winks back in understanding, and pours Buster a beer.

His Wedding Night (1917)

** (out of 4)

Fatty once again has to fight for the woman he wants to marry. Going through these films in order I've noticed that each one basically has the same storyline and always has a food fight. This is getting a tad bit boring but Buster Keaton has a small role and brings some laughs.

Oh Doctor (1917)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Dr. Fatty gets in trouble when a woman he flirts with turns out to be a thief with his wife's jewelry on her mind. The best aspect is Buster Keaton playing Fatty's son and being constantly abused by daddy.

Out West (1918)

*** (out of 4)

Spoof of the western genre has Fatty Arbuckle landing in a small town being over run by thugs. Buster Keaton plays the timid sheriff. There are minor laughs throughout the film but it really works due to its wonderful charm and the fact that the spoofs work for westerns even made within the past few decades. There's some off colored racial humor, which might insult some.