Last Four Shorts: Fatty Arbuckle & Buster Keaton

Rounding off Buster Keaton’s early films with Fatty Arbuckle, these knockabout comedies aren’t the best Arbuckle-Keaton shorts (in my opinion,) but there’s always fun stuff to be had.  And honestly, it’s just interesting to see Buster doing silent slapstick in films that aren’t his. 

The Rough House (1917)

It’s just tons of fighting, with and without food, over all sorts of things.  Oh, and fire.  Not much plot to describe, so I’ll hit on noteworthy gags.  Fatty tries to put out a fire with a teacup, and fun camera trickery lets him roll a full service out of a table cloth.  And, for a Fatty Did It First, he does the dancing bread-roll routine later popularized by Chaplin (and, much later, Benny & Joon.)  Buster is a hardworking bit player, playing a few small roles and taking lots of hard licks.

Best Buster Bit:  While playing a cop, Buster and his cohorts get knocked down when they run into a guy on their way out of the station.  The others pick themselves up and dash off, but the 5’5” Buster sticks around to straight-up kick the guy in the face – from a dead stop, I might add.

Oh Doctor! (1917)

Fatty plays a (married) doctor who gets in trouble when he falls for another woman with a no-good boyfriend.  Buster, hilariously, in Fatty’s son – hilarious because he plays him as a legitimate tyke, in short pants and everything.  Although, since Buster spent his childhood mimicking his dad, maybe it’s fitting that he played a child in adulthood.

Best Buster Bit:  Fatty pushes Buster into a table, over which he somersaults backwards and lands in a chair.  When the camera cuts back to him from Fatty no more than a few seconds later, he’s casually lounging with his legs crossed, his feet on the table, and a book in hand.

Good Night, Nurse! (1918)

Fatty is sent to a hospital to be cured of his drinking.  His doctor, Buster plays, instills confidence as he roams about in a blood-spattered coat while brandishing a meat cleaver.  Fatty’s attempts to bust out include disguising himself as a nurse, for whom Buster naturally falls.

Best Buster Bit:  Buster’s shy flirtations with “Nurse” Fatty are fantastic, especially when Fatty gets overenthusiastic with the playful nudging and sends him literally head-over-heels.

The Hayseed (1919)

This one’s fairly aimless.  Fatty and Buster work at a general store, and as usual, Fatty is competing with another guy over a girl.  He does, however, come up with one of the more creative ways I’ve seen for measuring a girl’s ring finger.

Best Buster Bit:  As Fatty spins his girl at the village dance with her legs in the air, he spins her right into Buster, knocking him on his back.