Top Five Shorts: Fatty Arbuckle & Buster Keaton

Before he started creating his own shorts, Buster Keaton cut his teeth in cinema with the help of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle (for the uninitiated, a popular silent comedian of the time.)  He began as an apprentice/bit player for Arbuckle and quickly became a partner in front of and behind the camera.  Of their extant collaborations, these are my top picks.

 

Out West (1918) – This rough ‘n’ tumble comic western marks one of Buster’s first major rolse in an Arbuckle movie.  Like many Arbuckle shorts, it’s more of a set piece than a story, mostly an excuse to perform as many Wild West gags as can be crammed into two reels.  Fatty rides the rails to a frontier town, and with the help of sheriff/saloon owner Buster, he saves his girl from an unsavory character in a big, climactic blowout.

 

Best Buster Bit:  When the loutish Wild Bill Hickup first shows up in the saloon, making trouble, Buster’s attempts to oust him are as dogged as they are ineffectual, and it’s wondrously funny.

 

 

The Bell Boy (1918) – This might be my favorite of the lot.  Here, Fatty and Buster run amok as jacks of all trades in a two-bit motel.  There are tons of Buster-ish mechanical gags, including some fantastic stuff with the elevator, and I love the shaving sequence.

 

Best Buster Bit:  In a moment of peril, Buster executes this amazing, almost muay thai move and then launches instantly into a series of proto-parkour tumbling that’s simply stunning to watch.

 

 

The Cook (1918) – Fatty is a short-order cook with a knack for juggling (one who can apparently produce anything from the same pot,) and Buster is a loudmouth waiter who can catch anything on a plate.  The long string of spaghetti gags is particularly noteworthy.

 

Best Buster Bit:  There’s some fabulous dancing that I can hardly believe anyone was doing in 1918.  It’s both delightful and awesome.

 

 

Back Stage (1919) – Buster’s vaudeville background was probably instrumental in the creation of this short, which sees Fatty and Buster as stagehands at a low-rent playhouse.  They get up to enough hijinks behind the scenes, but the real fun starts when the talent backs out and the crew has to put on the show themselves.  

 

Best Buster Bit:  It’s a tie between some impressive acrobatics in a dress and a daring aerial apprehension.  The things he did were just incredible.

 

 

The Garage (1919) – At the garage/firehouse where they live and work, Fatty and Buster cause some havoc, anger some motorists, and get into lots of trouble.  Lots of mechanical gags here, thanks to a massive turntable, spring-action beds, and a collapsing car.  Buster’s shimmying on the firemen’s pole is terrific, and there’s a fun rescue.

 

 

Best Buster Bit:  Everything involving Buster losing his pants.  It sounds cheap/shallow, but it’s hilarious and creative, and I love his seamless coordination with Fatty in the sequence’s last gag.