October
26, 1919 – the day The Hayseed was
released. As far as Keaton-Arbuckle shorts go, this one’s pretty middling and
feels more meandering than usual, but it still includes some fun gags. Here are
my favorites (spoilers.)
Horse Upkeep
Easy but
delightful gag. Buster pulls up to the post office in the horse cart and then
jumps down with an oil can to oil the horse’s legs. The execution is
well-timed, with the horse bending each knee as Buster oils its joints, and
bonus points for Buster ducking underneath the horse to get at the other side.
Dear Departed Whiskey
This gag
is totally random, but it cracks me up. While making his mail deliveries, Fatty
stops to pick some flowers and comes across an empty whiskey bottle. He
immediately buries it, sets up a stone to mark the “grave,” and scatters his
flowers over it. It’s funny enough as it is, but it now occurs to me that Prohibition
would been starting close to the time this short was being made, making the “death”
of this whiskey bottle even more tragic for Fatty!
Ring Size
Cut and
clever. Fatty “discreetly” measures his girlfriend’s ring finger by jamming it
into a piece of cheese. He then sticks a pickle in the hole her finger made,
notes where it “fits” comfortably, and sends away for a ring, with instructions
to fit it to “the third bump on the enclosed pickle” to ensure the right size.
Measuring the Suit
Fatty
sends away for a suit as well, and he enlists Buster to help him with the
measurements. While it’s an obvious comedy bit, that doesn’t stop the various
bits of business within it from being a hoot. I especially like Fatty
repeatedly knocking Buster on the chin as he sticks his arm out and Buster
attempting to measure Fatty’s generous backside with a yard stick.
Cutting a Rug
At the
town dance, Fatty and Buster take turns with an enthusiastic partner. First,
Fatty spins her around the floor like a rag doll (at one point knocking Buster
off his feet.) Then, when Buster takes over and the two of them stumble
together, he does a backward somersault over
the top of her as she goes down. Even in a so-so short, Buster’s comic acrobatics are something to see!
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