Friday, April 22, 2011

Movie short review – Buster#1 - “The Butcher Boy” (1917) ***

Fatty Arbuckle remains one of the best known silent film stars because of the scandal that effectively ended his career, but he was a really terrific screen comic. He had this great expressive face, a mischievousness about him, the weight of course, and tremendous physical skill. This falls into two halves: shenanigans in a butchers, resulting in a flour fight, and a section in a girls boarding school where Arbuckle (and the rival for his girls' affection) dress up in drag. This is hilarious too. Buster Keaton makes his film debut as Arbuckle's co worker - he's funny, but not as funny as Arbuckle, or that dog on the treadmill at the butchers.

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