The Bell Boy

There were parts of this movie I absolutely loved. The hotel elevator sequences were pretty original and funny--especially when poor Buster got his head stuck--it hurt just watching it! Plus, the amazing trolley sequence at the end of the film was amazing to watch. However, at the same time, the film relied too much on run-of-the-mill slapstick and lacked much of a story. In other words, there was, at times, too much slapping and falling. Also, because Fatty Arbuckle was at the time THE star of the film, many times Buster Keaton just looked lost and his talents were somewhat wasted.

Finally, this was from a video from KINO FILMS called ARBUCKLE AND KEATON Volume 1. The music from this short was particularly bad--just too loud and fast-paced. After a few minutes, I turned the sound off because it was just too distracting.

'The Bell Boy' is one of the best (if not the best) Arbuckle/Keaton collaboration. Arbuckle and Keaton star as bellboys in the lavish hotel with the first rate prices and third rate service. Whenever these two show up there's bound to be trouble. 'The Bell Boy' is not overloaded with slapstick, instead this one has much more subtle humor (signs like 'Painless Shaving, Our Specialty') and more action. The bank robbery scene is great example of well staged physical comedy with wonderful acrobatic elements (Buster Keaton finally got to be in his own element).

'The Bell Boy' is not very typical Arbuckle slapstick but rather humorous action comedy that is recommended to every Buster Keaton fan (and 'Fatty' Arbuckle fans as well).

Now filming in Los Angeles, Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton occupy familiar roles: twin slackers working menial day jobs, and doing so very poorly. In this instance, they're a pair of hotel clerks, responsible for scrubbing floors and toting luggage, but also trimming beards and operating heavy machinery. As always, there's a girl involved - object of immediate attention and intense competitive interest - who serves as spark to a set of climactic fireworks.

Arbuckle gives us an entertaining skit involving the barber's chair (transforming a ghastly bearded man into several famous political figures) while Keaton absent-mindedly humiliates an upper-class gentleman with his mop, but the story is scattered and disorganized until the closing moments. That's when the duo (along with their constant supporting man, Al St. John) get mixed up in a bank robbery and literally tear the place down. When it's all over and done with, we find that the bank's in ruins, the hotel ballroom is missing a wall, paper money is casually fluttering through the streets and one of our stars has finally, decisively scored the girl. A big finish for what had otherwise been a rather low-key, by-the-numbers effort.

'Fatty' and Buster are both in fine form in this short feature. It has a couple slow stretches, and many of the scenes are only loosely connected, but it more than makes up for that with some great sequences. The duo of great comics are working as bellboys in a hotel, and they get involved in quite a few scrapes in just half an hour. There are a couple of great gadgets in the hotel that remind you of some of Keaton's later short features, and they get a lot of mileage from them. Watch also for a funny scene where 'Fatty' fills in as a barber. This is old-fashioned manic slapstick, quite unrefined, but if you're a fan of Arbuckle and/or Keaton, it's great stuff.

In my opinion The Bell Boy is the most enjoyable of all the "Comique" productions starring Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton. I'll go farther than that: I think it's one of the best Arbuckle films from any period, and ranks just a notch or two below Keaton's top solo shorts from the 1920s. This is a delightful comedy, free-wheeling and fun, packed with clever routines that display both Buster's and Roscoe's talents to good advantage. Their characters are likable, violence is kept to a minimum, and even Al St. John comes off well. (Luckily, and unlike some of the other Comique shorts, The Bell Boy survives in good condition with decent picture quality and no obvious missing pieces.) It's clear that Buster himself held this effort in high regard, for he continued to reprise its gags throughout his career. In the '30s he reworked entire sections of this film in Love Nest on Wheels, a sound short for Educational that also marked a reunion with Al St. John. And in TV and movie appearances as late as the 1960s, Buster was still polishing invisible panes of glass and mopping the floor from a sitting position, gags that can be traced back to The Bell Boy.

Our setting is the Elk's Head Hotel, which boasts "third-rate service at first-class prices." Roscoe and Buster are bell boys, and Al is the desk clerk. When new manicurist Alice Lake arrives a competition for her attention erupts between the guys, but there's little suspense about the outcome, for she openly prefers Roscoe from the start. Meanwhile, there's plenty of time for goofing around. The most original and unexpected sequence involves a bearded, demonic-looking guest who seeks a shave at the hotel's barber shop. This scene might surprise some viewers when the guest, who initially seems so menacing, proves to be a mincing swish -- watch for Roscoe's quick "fairy" pantomime when the guy isn't looking -- but this sort of risqué humor was not uncommon in the silent era. Things get a little surreal when Roscoe serves as barber, and briskly transforms his customer into the living image of 1) General Grant, 2) Abraham Lincoln, and 3) Kaiser Wilhelm. This comedy has the heady atmosphere of a live-action cartoon, where anything can happen, and the characters seem to be made of unbreakable plastic.

Before you know it we're back in the lobby, where Buster engages in some knockabout with a top-hatted hotel guest (played by his father Joe), and then all the lead players take part in an exquisitely well choreographed routine involving the hotel's faulty elevator, a plank, and a mounted elk head on the wall which winks lewdly at Alice. For most of the film's running time the players are blessedly unencumbered by any sort of plot, and are free to use the hotel setting to stage one great set-piece after another. Towards the end there's a half-hearted attempt to work up a plot about bank robbers, but it's really just a springboard for a wildly staged fight and a frantic chase that ends things on an exhilarating note.

The Bell Boy is available on DVD from both Kino and Image Entertainment. The source material appears to be identical for each of these versions, but the wording of the title cards differs somewhat. More significantly, the musical score supplied by The Alloy Orchestra in the Kino release is so incongruous it practically ruins the movie: it's too raucous in some scenes and inappropriately spooky-sounding in others, and generally calls too much attention to itself. This is precisely what silent film music is NOT supposed to do! But the piano score by Neil Brand heard in the Image release supports the material nicely, so I'd recommend seeking out that version. In any event, this movie is an absolute must for fans of Arbuckle & Keaton, and also an ideal selection for anyone unfamiliar with silent comedy, a newcomer who would like to experience the real thing, demonstrated by experts.