Top Five Gags: The Butcher Boy

Buster began his film career in 1917, 100 years ago.  This can only mean one thing:  for the next dozen years, all of his classic silent work will have its 100^th anniversary!  In light of that, I decided I wanted to mark the anniversary of each by writing about it on that day.  Of course, it’s not like I figured this out in time to start properly – I missed The Butcher Boy’s anniversary, which was on April 23^rd.  But I’m doing it now, and from here on out, I’ll endeavor to do it on the actual day, swapping out the usual Buster Monday for an anniversary post.  Since I’ve already reviewed all of Buster’s silent shorts and features (my review of The Butcher Boy is here,) I’ll be doing a Top Five, a Favorite Character, or some other write-up for each film.  Here are my highlights from The Butcher Boy.

Fun at the Butcher’s Counter

Fatty, the titular butcher boy, peppers his time at the counter with plenty of fun bits.  I like his fancy knife-throwing and how neatly the knife sticks into the table each time.  The enormous fur coat and hat he dons to go into the cold storage for about three seconds is great, too, and I love watching him lop bit after bit off of a piece of steak to make weight, not realizing his elbow is on the scale.

A Sticky Situation

Buster’s first big moment to shine.  As I’ve said before, it contains elements of the fantastic glue scene in The Haunted House.  Fatty fills Buster’s bucket with molasses, unaware that Buster’s money is at the bottom.  In fishing it out, molasses gets in Buster’s hat, on the counter, and all over the floor.  I especially love Buster’s stuck-to-the-floor acting – his awkward little one-footed hop is a riot, and Fatty trying to yank him out of the molasses is great.

Coming at You Like a Sack of Flour to the Face

Okay, so we had our first big comic setpiece, now how about our first big stunt?  When Fatty throws a sack of flour at Buster’s head, he goes from vertical to horizontal in a split second.  The overall brawl of flour- and pie-throwing gets a little too anarchic for my slapstick tastes, but that moment is perfectly timed and executed for maximum hilarity.

A Foolproof Disguise

This is just a little one, but it cracks me up anyway.  When Fatty shows up at the girls’ boarding school to break his girlfriend out disguised as a student, I like that his disguise is absolute – until he lifts up the tiniest corner of his wig, at which point she immediately realizes it’s Fatty and falls into his arms.  Sometimes, it’s the little things that make it art.

Put ‘Em Up

During the final knock-down drag-out at the boarding school, Buster runs to hide in the headmistress’s office, where he’s met by her gun pointing straight at him.  Buster instantly goes down, on his butt, raising both his arms and legs in surrender.  A great visual, and again, the timing is impeccable.  Right from the start of his movie career, you can see how exacting Buster is in bringing his comedy to bear.